The US election winner has all but been formally declared, with Joe Biden on the cusp of electoral victory. But after all the votes are counted, we see that there was record turnout for both Democrats and Republicans. What mandate does a Biden administration have to lead again globally on climate action? This week we talk with two experts with first hand experience in US climate policy. Ben Rhodes, former Deputy National Security Advisor for President Obama, and Todd Stern, who was the United States Special Envoy for Climate Change leading up to the Paris Agreement. Stick around to the end for a special music performance by MF Tomlinson! ---   MF Tomlinson Facebook | Instagram | Twitter |  Sum of Nothing Music Video Check out FEAT, the world-first initiative for artists to take ownership over accelerating our clean energy future at a critical time in human history.   ---   Ben Rhodes  Twitter | Missing America   ---   Todd Stern Twitter   --- Keep up with Christiana Figueres here: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Facebook   —   Tom Rivett-Carnac: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn   —   Follow @GlobalOptimism on social media! Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | LinkedIn   —   Don't forget to hit SUBSCRIBE so you don't miss another episode of Outrage + Optimism!

77. U.S. Election Special: A New Optimism with Ben Rhodes and Todd Stern

Face the climate crisis head on, but understand that we have the power to solve this. From former UN Chief Christiana Figueres and the team who brought you the Paris Agreement, this podcast about issues and politics will inform you, inspire you and help you realize that this is the most exciting time in history to be alive.

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This week, our hosts each arrive with one specific issue they feel freshly outraged or optimistic about. Tom talks about how Earth Day 2024 will come to be known as the beginning of the end of the climate crisis. Christiana is outraged (and a tiny bit optimistic) about the plastics pandemic. And Paul gets fired up about investor and corporate transition plans - can he convince his co-hosts to ‘light the blue touch paper’ and ignite their own optimism? Music comes from Cosmo Sheldrake with his song, “Soil”. Cosmo is a UK-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, live improviser, and field recordist. As part of the Museum for the United Nations – UN Live’s new initiative Sounds Right, Cosmo has shared this new track “Soil (feat. NATURE)”, a homage to the powerful transformative and generative capacities of subterranean ecosystems.  Money raised will go towards conservation projects around the world.   NOTES AND RESOURCES The  Babies vs Plastics Report 23 - 29 April 2024 in Canada - The Fourth Session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution More on Earth Day 2024 The IEA’s World Energy Outlook 2023 on how it expects CO2 emissions to peak “in the mid-2020s” First Colour Photograph of  the Earth from space The danger of the very serious person By Pilita Clark in the Financial Times    PAUL’S BOOK TIPS  The Corporation that Changed the World by Nick Robins   MUSICAL GUEST Cosmo Sheldrake Website | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter (X) | Spotify | YouTube   NATURE  Spotify | Apple Music   Check out the  feat. NATURE playlist on Spotify   Sounds Right Website | Facebook | Instagram | LinkedIn | YouTube Listen to Greg Cochrane speak with Brian Eno about EarthPercent + Sounds Right on  Midnight Chats   Learn more about the Paris Agreement.   It’s official, we’re a TED Audio Collective Podcast - Proof! Check out more podcasts from The TED Audio Collective   Please follow us on social media!  Twitter | Instagram |  LinkedIn

243. Microplastics, Transition Plans and The Beginning of The End of The Climate Crisis?

To mark Earth Day, Christiana shares her conversation with the incredible young climate justice activist, indigenous rights advocate and author Xiye Bastida. From the Otomi-Toltec indigenous community in Central Mexico, Xiye’s life and work demonstrate how indigenous wisdom and principles unearth solutions to the climate crisis. She is driven to create a climate movement that is more inclusive and more diverse.   Since 2019, Xiye has been actively involved in organising climate strikes with Fridays For Future, including for their largest youth-led march in New York City.  In her role as Co-founder and Executive Director of Re-Earth Initiative, Xiye supports frontline youth across 27 countries, whilst also studying for an​​ Environmental Studies degree with a concentration in Policy and a Minor in Latin American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.  Recently listed in TIME100 Next as a phenomenon (we agree!), she holds the UN Spirit Award. This episode is the full, unedited version of a conversation recorded for the recent mini series Our Story of Nature - From Rupture to Reconnection, co-hosted by Christiana Figueres and Isabel Cavelier. This is a wonderful and moving insight into Xiye’s story of nature, on how to slow down, and how we might keep past and future generations in our minds - and hearts. We hope you enjoy it!    Background on Earth Day:   The first Earth Day was on April 22nd 1970. Across America, twenty million people took to the streets to protest against environmental destruction. Many people were motivated by the devastating impacts of a recent oil spill in California, others campaigned to reduce air pollution. The spirit, scale and power of the protests were inspired by student anti-Vietnam marches. Denis Hayes, who coordinated the original Earth Day, remembers how the day unified diverset groups:   "By the time it finally came around, it was in virtually every town, every village, in the United States. It took this basket of issues that we now call 'the environment' and elevated them spectacularly in the public consciousness." Earth Day 1970 is described as the dawn of the modern environmental movement. Events that day resulted in political changes: landmark environmental laws were later passed in the United States - the Clean Air and Water Acts - and the Environmental Protection Agency was created. Many other countries subsequently adopted similar laws. In 2016, the United Nations chose Earth Day as the day to sign the Paris Climate Agreement into force. Earth Day is now the biggest civic event in the world, with billions of people participating in events to highlight the urgent need to protect our planet. Its theme this year is Planet vs. Plastics - calling for widespread awareness on the health risk of plastics, for an end to single use plastics, and for a robust UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution.   NOTES AND RESOURCES  More on Xiye Bastida, Co-founder and Director of Re-Earth Initiative More on Earth Day Links to Our Story of Nature episodes:   Our Story of Nature - From Rupture to Reconnection - Episode 1 Our Story of Nature - From Rupture to Reconnection - Episode 2   Our Story of Nature - From Rupture to Reconnection - Episode 3 Our Story of Nature Intro Music - Catalina by Tru Genesis Other full, unedited interviews from the mini-series can be found HERE   Learn more about the Paris Agreement.  It’s official, we’re a TED Audio Collective Podcast - Proof! Check out more podcasts from The TED Audio Collective Please follow us on social media!  Twitter | Instagram |  LinkedIn

242. Xiye Bastida: Her Story of Nature (Earth Day Special)

This week, the hosts discuss the much celebrated ruling last week at the European Court of Human Rights when over 2000 women aged 64 and up, took the Swiss Government to court for failing to protect them from the growing effects of climate change which proved detrimental to their health. The court in Strasbourg ruled in favour of the women, opening up a pathway for other similar cases to now be heard. The hosts briefly discuss the ruling as well as the backlash experienced among some MPs in the UK and Switzerland and why their accusations of infringement upon country sovereignty is false. We are then joined by the incredible Paul Goodenough, an award-winning, purpose-driven storyteller and entrepreneur, working in the environmental, charity, peace-building and entertainment sectors. In 2019, Paul co-founded Rewriting Earth (formerly Rewriting Extinction), a global collaboration of 300+ of the most influential storytellers creating non-political, non-judgemental content to reach mainstream audiences not typically engaged with environmental issues. It was a brilliant, fun and inspiring interview - make sure to listen to hear how Paul G describes how he hopes the stories he helps bring to life ‘throw an arm around people’ and welcome them into the climate space. The more the merrier we say!      NOTES AND RESOURCES   GUEST Paul Goodenough, an award-winning, purpose-driven storyteller and entrepreneur, working in the environmental, charity, peace-building and entertainment sectors Website | LinkedIn | Twitter (X) | Instagram Rewriting Earth Website | Facebook | Twitter (X) | Instagram   Rewriting Earth’s book, The Most Important Comic Book on Earth: Stories to Save the World, launched in the UK in 2021 and is available at  Bookshop.org. The book is launching in Germany next week and is available at  Panini Shop.   To listen to our recent mini-series, Our Story of Nature: From Rupture to Reconnection visit the dedicated Website page, which includes unedited versions of interviews with our wonderful guests.   Learn more about the Paris Agreement.   It’s official, we’re a TED Audio Collective Podcast - Proof! Check out more podcasts from The TED Audio Collective   Please follow us on social media!  Twitter | Instagram |  LinkedIn

241. 40 Seconds to Save The World! with Paul Goodenough

The How To Academy Podcast is the biweekly show from London’s home of big thinking. Each episode they take a deep dive into the life and ideas of one of the most significant thinkers, artists, or leaders of our time – from Gordon Brown and Bill Clinton to Mary Beard and Marina Abramovic. This episode features a live, on-stage conversation between Christiana Figueres and the former CEO of Unilever, Paul Polman, on the fight to keep the planet within 1.5 degrees of warming. Visit howtoacademy.com for more podcasts, live events, and livestreams with the world’s leading thinkers. --- To listen to our recent mini-series, Our Story of Nature: From Rupture to Reconnection visit the dedicated Website page, which includes unedited versions of interviews with our wonderful guests.   Learn more about the Paris Agreement.   It’s official, we’re a TED Audio Collective Podcast - Proof! Check out more podcasts from The TED Audio Collective   Please follow us on social media!  Twitter | Instagram |  LinkedIn

Presenting: ‘How To Academy Podcast with Christiana Figueres - Facing the Climate Crisis Live In Conversation with Paul Polman’

In this week’s episode, Tom files an exclusive report live from London, where he's on the ground covering Simon Stiell's highly anticipated Chatham House speech, "Two Years to Save the World". Not stopping there, Tom also snags a quick interview with Simon right after the event.  Back in the studio, Christiana, Paul, and Tom dive headfirst into the heart of Simon's speech. They navigate through the maze of mixed public reactions it sparked, delving into the underlying tensions it brought to light.    NOTES AND RESOURCES   GUEST Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary at United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) LinkedIn | Facebook |  Twitter   Here are two links to excellent initiatives seeking to help investors evaluate government performance on policy: ASCOR: https://www.ascorproject.org/  Climatescope: https://www.global-climatescope.org/   Check out Greg Cochrane’s  LinkedIn Post on Billie Eilish’s Vinyl Release Extended Listening - Be sure to listen + subscribe to both Sounds Like A Plan + Midnight Chats Listen + Subscribe to The Way Out Is In!   To listen to our recent mini-series, Our Story of Nature: From Rupture to Reconnection visit the dedicated Website page, which includes unedited versions of interviews with our wonderful guests.   Learn more about the Paris Agreement.   It’s official, we’re a TED Audio Collective Podcast - Proof! Check out more podcasts from The TED Audio Collective   Please follow us on social media!  Twitter | Instagram |  LinkedIn

77. U.S. Election Special: A New Optimism with Ben Rhodes and Todd Stern

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