The Climate Briefing

Critical raw materials - like rare earths, cobalt and lithium - play a central role in the energy transition and profoundly influence geopolitical dynamics. Their extraction may also amplify conflict and fragility risks in host countries. In this episode of the Climate Briefing, Ruth and Anna speak to Olivia Lazard (Fellow at Carnegie Europe) and Sophia Kalantzakos (Global Distinguished Professor, Environmental Studies and Public Policy, NYU Abu Dhabi) about the interlinkages between critical raw materials and geopolitics, the challenges associated with extraction, and what a 'good' strategy for securing future access might look like.

Brazil is presiding over the next UN climate change conference, COP30. In this episode, Anna and Ruth are joined by the Chief Executive Officer of COP30, Ana Toni, to discuss what the aims of the conference are, what Brazil's COP30 diplomatic strategy looks like, and what the UNFCCC's post-negotiation phase' means.

China is the world's largest emitter and dominates the production of low-carbon technologies worldwide. It thus plays a key role in global efforts to address the climate crisis.

How has China obtained its leading position in the production of green technologies? What role does China play in international climate negotiations? How important has the US-China relationship been in global efforts to reduce emissions, and what will happen now when Donald Trump is back in the White House?

To discuss this and more, Ruth and Anna are joined by Li Shuo (Director of China Climate Hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute) and Chris Aylett (Research Fellow at the Environment and Society Centre at Chatham House).

To read Chris Aylett's report on UK-China cooperation on climate, please click here

Former US Climate Envoy Todd Stern and Director of Chatham House's Environment and Society Centre Ana Yang join hosts Ruth Townend and Anna Aberg to talk about prospects for climate action in 2025. Following Trump's inauguration, what are the likely consequences for climate diplomacy, and how will Brazil balance domestic demands against international obligations as COP30 and BRICS president this year?

Chatham House's Environment and Society Centre reassembles to discuss the outcomes of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, what this means for climate finance and multilateralism, and how Ben's Christmas jumper sums up the interconnected challenges developed countries face in balancing global resilience with domestic obligations. With Chris Aylett, Richard King and Ruth Townend, and special guest host Ben Horton.

As COP29 kicks off in Baku, Chatham House's Environment and Society Centre assembles on the airwaves. The team talk Azerbaijan's climate leadership, World Leader vibes, prospects for the conference, and why working on climate change makes you a terrible dinner party guest. Special guest hosted by Climate Briefing Alumnus, Ben Horton.

Coming fresh from a discussion of how private finance might close the climate finance gap, Ruth Townend is joined by Dr Nicola Ranger, Director of the Resilient Planet Finance Lab at Oxford University, and Professor Patrick Bolton, professor of finance and economics at Imperial College London.

In the run up to COP29, we explore how public international finance might be deployed to most effectively mobilise private finance, why so much private finance is still going to hydrocarbon-intensive energy investments, and the destiny of the World Bank.

Migration is top of mind and front of rhetoric in many countries, particularly as elections approach and geopolitical trends of increasing polarisation take hold.

Ruth Townend is joined by Professor Ian Goldin, author of 'The Shortest History of Migration', and by Shelterbox CEO Sanj Srikanthan to discuss personal histories of migration, global trends, and the future of migration in the face of increasing pressure from climate change.

With a UK a general election rapidly approaching, as announced by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the pouring rain, it seems that the commitment of both main parties to tackling climate change is looking almost as bedraggled as the prime minister himself.

Ruth Townend is joined by Rachel Brisley, Ipsos's Head of Energy and Environment and Olivia O'Sullivan, the director of Chatham House's UK in the World Programme to discuss what role the environment will play in elections, what the public really think, and whether the UK can still stake a claim to climate leadership.

Ruth Townend is joined by Antony Froggatt, Deputy Director and Glada Lahn, Senior Research Fellow, both of the Chatham House Environment and Society Centre to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition in key under-attended-to sectors, including non-energy-uses of fossil fuels.

The podcast builds upon a series of four Chatham House roundtables kindly supported by AIG. The series explored topics including chemicals, fertilizers and plastics, the impact of the energy transition on the financial sector, rising geopolitical and market concerns about critical materials, and the phase-down of fossil fuels.