The Climate Ambassador Podcast

Laura Burke is the Director General of the Environmental Protection Agency Ireland. Laura is also the chair of the European Environment Agency and member of the Climate Change Advisory Council. In this wide-ranging discussion, we cover many environmental themes – including how Ireland is performing, the issues and solutions. With agriculture, we discuss the importance of looking at the ‘how’, as well as the significance of the Food & Drink industry’s emissions. Laura calls for the ceasing of continued illegal industrial peat extraction, alongside the need to speed up and scale up the reduction of carbon emissions across every sector.

With transport, adding to the mantra of avoid, shift and improve, Laura discusses the importance of looking at freight transport, which will have different requirements to travel solutions. In regard to thoughts and opinions in Ireland, we explore some surprising results, while links are made to what we can do and how action leads to hope and well-being. A thought provoking and inspiring chat with Laura, a very experienced leader of climate action in Ireland.

Links:

EPA Ireland website: https://www.epa.ie

Twitter: @EPAIreland

Instagram: @epaireland

YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/epaireland

EPA Ireland on LinkedIn: search “Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland”

EPA State of Environment Report (2020): State of Environment Report | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)

Climate Opinion Maps | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)

Climate Change in the Irish Mind | Environmental Protection Agency (epa.ie)

Laura Burke - Session 2: Climate Change in a broader Environmental Context - EPA Ireland - YouTube

European Environment Agency European Environment Agency's home page (europa.eu)

Climate Change Advisory Council Climate Change Advisory Council (climatecouncil.ie)

Looking at ways to enhance, restore or rewild our biodiversity, although crucially important for many ecosystem services that we depend upon for survival, they should not be seen as separate issues to actions to adapt or mitigate against any impacts of climate change.

In this engaging discussion from two very experienced, passionate and eloquent voices, we hear from Ray O’Foghlu, a Nuffield scholar, Wild Atlantic Rainforest Project Lead & Farm Programmes Coordinator at Hometree. We are also joined by Rob Gandola, a Legacy4Life Pond Development Officer, Senior Science Officer of The Herpetological Society of Ireland, Wildlife Consultant and occasional TV presenter.

In this open and honest discussion, Ray spoke about the need of getting communities on board with any work on land to enhance, restore or rewild it and listen to their genuine concerns. Also, the need for getting the basics rights, enacting and enforcing what we should be doing now, is a crucial first step in improving our biodiversity in Ireland.

Rob also spoke about the importance of getting buy-in from all stakeholders, through awareness raising, while listening to the concerns of the local people impacted on any biodiversity enhancements or rewilding, thereby building trust and enabling a much better outcome for all concerned.

Both Rob and Ray would love to see a National Wetland Restoration Scheme set up, which could go a long way to restoring lost wetlands, while providing many ecosystem services, such as improving habitats and enhancing our carbon sink capabilities.

Links:

Hometree website - https://www.hometree.ie

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hometreecharity/

Twitter – @hometree__

Instagram - @hometreecharity

Legacy4Life website – https://www.antaisce.org/legacy4life

Facebook – Legacy4Life_An Taisce

Twitter – @Legacy4LIFEAnT

Instagram - @legacy4lifeantaisce

The Herpetological Society of Ireland website - https://thehsi.org

Ever wondered what actually causes our climate to change or what’s the difference between weather and climate? Head of Climate Services Keith Lambkin and Meteorologist Joanna Donnelly, whom you might recognise from RTÉ weather forecasts, join us to do what we all love to do – talk about the weather. We cover links of weather to climate change as you might expect and amongst other things, we debunk some of the common myths surrounding climate change and explore what work MET Éireann are doing to react to and prepare for extreme weather events.

Links:

MET Éireann website: Climate Change - Met Éireann - The Irish Meteorological Service

MET Podcast: The Met Éireann Podcast - Met Éireann - The Irish Meteorological Service

Twitter: @MetEireann

Instagram: @meteireann

The Great Irish Weather Book: Gill Books - Children's - The Great Irish Weather Book

Science Blast: Home - ESB Science Blast

Professor Brian Cox podcast: BBC Radio 4 - The Infinite Monkey Cage - Downloads

Informing ourselves is one of the most important and effective ways of figuring out what climate actions we can take, while also helping to understand the bigger picture and how we can hold decision makers to account.

Niall Sargent is a very knowledgeable journalist, with compassion and a deep sense of fairness, which comes across in his work with Noteworthy.ie and also shines through in this podcast about some of the important work Niall and his team carry out. We cover a lot of the big-ticket items like agriculture, forestry, peatlands, land use, biodiversity, energy, politics and storytelling, with Niall sharing in-depth knowledge, insights and solutions across a wide range of topics.

Links:

Twitter: @Niall_Sargent & @noteworthy_ie

www.noteworthy.ie

www.kateraworth.com/doughnut/#

https://degrowth.info/degrowth

In this air quality podcast, we first hear from Dr Clare Noone, Senior Postdoctoral researcher at ICARUS, Maynooth University, giving an overview of air quality in Ireland and the interconnectedness of air quality to other issues such as climate & biodiversity breakdown. Clare talks about her work with the EPA on Five-Year Assessment Reports for Ireland, the importance of Methane and how that could be the best way for some quick wins with air quality and climate action, while also sharing some of her approaches to communicating the science.

In the second part, we hear about the incredible work Aileen Bright, Sabrina Moore and the GLOBE team are achieving around Ireland with air quality, through citizen science, measuring and communicating with local schools and communities. They share stories behind the statistics, highlighting some success anecdotes and the power that has for both themselves and the schools and communities involved.

Links:

GLOBE

Food – it fuels us, can make us healthy & happy and is a great way of bringing people together, what’s not to like? To look at food through an environmental lens, we are joined by Tony Keogh, head chef of Cornucopia, Ireland’s longest running vegetarian & vegan restaurant, who’s cookbook won at the An Post Book of the Year Awards, along with Roisin Fitzgerald, a registered Associate Nutritionist and chair of sustainable diets at Irish Doctors for the Environment.

In our broad discussion we talk about the links between human and planetary health, as well as the links between food, climate change and food security. We explore what exactly is sustainable food, why we should reduce our meat & dairy and what benefits that brings, along with advice on how to reduce our food emissions and how to run a business more sustainably. We hear lots of tips and swaps for more sustainable food approaches and favourite sustainable recipes, including how to please those fussy eaters in our lives.

Links:

Cornucopia & Tony’s Instagram: @cornucopia_restaurant / @plantplaytes

Rosin Instagram: @roisin.fitzgerald

Irish Doctors for the Environment Instagram: @irishdocsenv

Irish Doctors for the Environment Twitter: @IrishDocsEnv

Roisin’s email: [email protected]

Tony’s email: [email protected]

The Green Cookbook | Cornucopia's Latest Vegan Cookbook

Our Team – Irish Doctors for the Environment (ide.ie)

The Danish Official Dietary Guidelines (fvm.dk)

Veganuary 2023 | Home | The Go Vegan 31 Day Challenge

Home - Meat Free Monday (meatfreemondays.com)

We are joined by Minister of State with responsibility for Public Procurement, eGovernment and the Circular Economy, Ossian Smyth, who is also a Green Party TD for Dún Laoghaire. Minister Smyth joins us to discuss the Circular Economy, which is gaining traction at European, national and local levels. Did you know for example by repairing items or buying second had are part of the circular economy? Did you know that businesses currently don’t have to segregate their waste, and don’t have green, brown and black bins unlike domestic waste segregation?

Join us to learn more about the circular economy, anaerobic digestion, deposit returns for cans and bottles, the latte levy, incineration, waste management and what the government are doing to help make the circular economy become a stronger reality in our lives.

Links:

https://www.ossiansmyth.ie/

https://www.repairmystuff.ie/

www.gov.ie/en/campaigns/a7976-circular-economy/#

www.gov.ie/en/publication/824c3-national-food-waste-prevention-roadmap-2023-2025/

Irish Men's Sheds Association | Mens Sheds Ireland

Comedian Colm O’Regan has a great balance of being honest, self-aware, insightful and funny all at the same time. Colm has a wonderful grasp of what it’s like to start on a journey to become more environmental, while appreciating he’s not perfect and nor preachy.

This is a very honest and funny insight into one person’s journey on how to try to make the world a bit better, while negotiating being a parent, managing consumption, and navigating social media.

Colm has lots of practical advice for how to build community locally and make positive changes while bringing people along with you, how to cope when he’s feeling hopeless and how to collaborate better with local authorities. Along with the wisdom of informing ourselves, having respectful conversations and debates, checking our privilege, leaning into joy and learning lessons from the good bits of our past.

Essential listening for those who would like to share a podcast with their friends and families, to help them begin their journeys. Hopefully you’ll agree that this chat is also a great bit of craic!

Links:

Twitter - @colmoregan

Insta - @colmwriter

Facebook - www.facebook.com/thecolmoregan/

Website - https://www.colmoregan.com/

Book - Climate Worrier. Publisher: HarperCollins Ireland.

Podcast – The World Etc. With Colm O’Regan

We perhaps take our energy systems for granted a little but it permeates everything we do. Join us as we hear from Hannah Daly, Professor in Sustainable Energy and Energy Systems Modelling at University College Cork. 

Hannah shares some of her wealth of knowledge on a wide range of topics, with insights on our energy systems, renewable energy and their benefits, what we need to deploy high scale offshore wind, fossil fuels, the energy crises, why our household energy bills are so high - and some quick measures to help, links to the houses crises, blackout risk, data centres, energy targets, district heating, sustainable transport, the Climate Action Plan, what solutions we should enable and her vision for a post-fossil fuel society. 

We also hear some of Hannah’s personal story of trying to live sustainably in her rural home with her young family.

Links:

Website: https://hannahdaly.ie/

Twitter: @HannahEDaly

UCC: https://research.ucc.ie/profiles/D021/[email protected]

MaERI: https://www.marei.ie/people/dr-hannah-daly/

SEAI home energy saving tips: https://www.seai.ie/home-energy/energy-saving-tips/

SEAI Home Energy Grants: https://www.seai.ie/grants/home-energy-grants/

Books recommended – Eoghan Dalton’s ‘An Irish Atlantic Rainforest’ and George Monbiot’s ‘Regenesis’.

We are honoured and delighted to have Dr. Renée Lertzman join us for this podcast on Turning Climate Anxiety into Action. Renée is a researcher, educator and engagement strategist who uses psychological insights to unlock action on global climate and environmental crises. A pioneer and leader at the intersection of psychology, climate and environment, Renée applies psychosocial insights to drive engagement and action on ecological issues. With over two million people and counting have watched her incredible TED Talk “How To Turn Climate Anxiety Into Action”.

Delving deeper into Renée’s work and what lessons we can learn for our own lives to be more effective, we discover many insights from Renée’s research and practice. Translating psychology and social science best practices into tools, resources and guidance that unleash the potential for creativity and courage, to inspire action, ingenuity and resilience in facing one of the biggest challenges of our time. Renée’s message is one that we can all take some meaningful action with climate change, using this time as an opportunity to grow, while avoiding burnout and living purposeful lives with empathy and compassion.

Links:https://projectinsideout.net/getting-started/https://www.ted.com/speakers/renee_lertzmanhttps://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/26/how-to-discuss-climate-change-productively.html