Full show notes, transcripts, and more at wickedproblems.earth

Welcome to Belém, where the world (with some notable exceptions) has gathered to talk about saving the Amazon as if it weren’t already on fire. 

Cataloguing the chaos leading up to COP30 Ben Cooke of The Times. His team’s reporting makes clear why the mood isn’t exactly jubilant: the clean-power alliance with zero members, the rainforest pledges with little progress, and the renewed swagger of fossil petrostates. 

Even potential bright spots, like the Tropical Forest Forever Facility announced last week, were somewhat dimmed by the spectacle of UK prime minister Keir Starmer reversing an earlier decision not to go to COP, only to make the trip to then announce his government wouldn’t be part of the hoped-for signature initiative out of this event.

We chat with Ben about all of that and more.

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Shipping is one of those things that’s just supposed to work. Post-Titanic, we created a set of rules that currently are looked after by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), which successfully removed much of the drama from shipping — so successful that Britain’s “Shipping Forecast” is now soothing ASMR for bedtime listening. 

But last month at the IMO in London, what should have been a procedural meeting on decarbonising shipping turned into something far messier. According to a Financial Times investigation, U.S. officials didn’t just lobby against a global carbon levy on shipping — they allegedly threatened, intimidated and black-mailed delegates from smaller nations. 

Developing-country delegates said they were warned their ships would face higher U.S. port fees, their officials denied visas, and their trade punished if they didn’t abandon support for the Net Zero Framework the IMO had endorsed only six months earlier. “It was like dealing with the Mob,” one diplomat told the FT.  

In the end, it worked. The deal — the world’s first carbon-pricing mechanism for global shipping — was postponed for a year. The IMO, normally the most technocratic of international bodies, was left “in a state of complete shock.” 

For the uninitiated this may sound arcane. But shipping matters. Roughly 90 % of global trade moves by sea; the sector accounts for about 3 % of global CO₂ emissions — more than Germany — and until now has been largely outside the reach of meaningful climate regulation.  

The Net Zero Framework was meant to change that. It had already been provisionally agreed by a majority of countries in April. But by October, something changed. Countries like China, India, Panama, Liberia — and even Greece and Cyprus, who broke with the EU line — suddenly voted to adjourn. news.wickedproblems.uk

And the shift didn’t come from nowhere: it came from pressure. From a U.S. administration that now treats climate policy as an existential threat to American interests.

🎧 Who we spoke to

• Carly Hicks (Chief Strategy & Impact Officer, Opportunity Green) explains how the IMO had once seemed one of the last genuinely global forums where climate ambition could meet technical reality — until the process was capsized by politics. 
• Ariane Morrissey (Senior Editor, Ship.Energy) was in the building as the talks imploded, describing a surreal scene where delegates who came to discuss fuel standards found themselves under threats of sanctions and visa bans. 
• Professor Tristan Smith (University College London) gave the longer-view: this is less a failure of climate tech than a warning shot about the fragility of multilateralism itself. He argues the US may have bought time — but may also have triggered the rise of regional regulation. The EU’s carbon-trading scheme now covers shipping; Singapore and Japan are exploring carbon levies. The patchwork world is arriving faster than the ships can adjust.  

🎵 Outro music: “Sailing By” (1963) layered with a long-wave “Shipping Forecast” transmission — that calm voice reading “Viking, North Utsire, South Utsire…”

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Overshoot, a new four-part documentary series from climate strategist and Wicked Problems alum Laurie Laybourn—goes further than nearly anyone has before. And he came back to unpack some of the key ideas in Overshoot and what he hopes people will do with it.

In Overshoot the story starts with the fact that we can no longer avoid the storm, we’ve enetered it. How to survive and steer through it—generation after generation—is the conversation we urgently need to have now. 

Drawing on interviews with diplomats, scientists, and communities on the frontlines, Laybourn dismantles the win/lose logic that has dominated climate politics since Paris and asks what it means to live in an age of overlapping crises and hard adaptation choices.

Our conversation ranges from the myth of Easter Island to the politics of “carbon sucking,” from managed retreat in Wales to the legal aftershocks of 1.5°C’s failure. It’s a clear-eyed look at what comes next—and why, even at the moment of “net zero,” we’ll be living in the most dangerous period in human history.

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

For full show notes, bonus content, and ad-free listening, check out wickedproblems.earth

In this episode of Wicked Problems, host Richard Delevan welcomes Dave Jones and Kostantsa Rangelova from the energy think tank, EMBER. They've spent the past year spreading the good news about the impressive advancements in solar and battery technology, particularly focusing on global trends and potential game-changers in regions such as Africa and Mexico. Despite solar only contributing to 6.6% of Mexico’s electricity, EMBER simulations indicate it could rise to 90% with optimal efficiency. In some spots like Muscat, Las Vegas, or Mexico City, almost all their power, day and night, can now be generated from just solar + battery.

The discussion covers the rapid progress and cost reductions in battery technology, the promising shift towards 24/7 solar power, the surge of solar adoption in Africa, and the significant untapped potential in Mexico. The episode highlights the transformative impact of solar and battery technologies on global energy landscapes and emphasizes the urgent need for effective policies to accelerate this transition.

00:00 Introduction to Mexico's Solar Potential

00:00 Global Governance Breakdown

00:36 Welcome to Wicked Problems

00:39 Introducing the Guests: Dave Jones and Constanza Rva

01:05 The Rise of Solar and Battery Technology

01:33 24/7 Solar Power: A Game Changer

01:54 Advancements in Battery Technology

02:51 Economic Competitiveness of Solar and Battery

04:38 Challenges and Innovations in Battery Production

08:17 Global Adoption and Market Dynamics

15:20 Grid vs. Battery: The Trade-Offs

21:05 Solar and Battery in Different Climates

24:27 Implications for Policy and Future Outlook

26:09 Evolution of Battery Storage

27:29 Africa's Solar Boom

27:59 Chinese Solar Exports to Africa

28:52 Utility Scale Solar in Africa

37:50 Challenges and Opportunities in Mexico's Solar Sector

47:26 Global Solar Trends and Future Outlook

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 Dr. Lorna Gold is the executive director of the Laudato Sì Movement, which was inspired by the late Pope Francis’ 2015 letter. That document, considered pretty radical for the leader of the Catholic Church to issue at the time, was credited by former Irish president Mary Robinson and others with influencing the Paris Agreement - and you can hear echoes of it as recently as the advisory opinion issued this summer by the International Court of Justice. 

On its 10th anniversary, Francis’ successor Pope Leo will lead the Raising Hope Conference, 1-3 October in Rome - but also available via livestream - talking about the relevance of its ideas for the situation we’re in now. More than a “Catholic” thing, it will feature people as diverse as Brazil’s climate minister Marina Silva (in the runup to COP30), climate scientist Dr. 

Katharine Hayhoe, Bill McKibben, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tuvalu climate minister Dr Maina Talia, Bianca Pitt of SHE Changes Climate, Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty president Kumi Naidoo, and more. Somehow, Lorna was able to take a break from organising the event to speak to us. 

Lorna earned a PhD in economic geography from Glasgow University and author of Climate Generation: Awakening to our Childrens’ Future.

It’s a great chat and we think you’ll enjoy it.

01:22 Introduction to Dr. Lorna Gold 

02:21 Personal Tragedy and Resilience 

05:29 Hope vs. Optimism 

09:17 Relevance of Laudato Si' 

13:01 International Court of Justice Ruling 

15:21 Economic Systems and Climate Action 

21:51 Pope Francis, Pope Leo and COP 30 

22:31 Upcoming Conference and Call to Action 

24:25 Personal Reflection on Climate Impact 

27:56 Discussing Future Conversations 

28:40 Mother's Role in Climate Action 

29:39 Women of Faith for Climate Justice 

31:37 The Raging Grannies and Activism 

33:12 The Sharing Economy and Climate Generation 

34:42 Sufficiency and Economic Inequality 

41:17 The Role of Storytelling in Climate Education 

44:34 Hope and Action in Climate Movements 

47:31 Pope or Nope Quiz

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In this episode of 'Wicked Problems,' host Richard Delevan speaks with Dr. Hannah E. Morris, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and author of 'Apocalyptic Authoritarianism.' They discuss the use of apocalyptic language in politics, the resurgence of Cold War-era narratives, and how these tropes are being weaponized to block climate action and shore up existing power structures. The conversation delves into the intersections of media, politics, and climate crisis, featuring insights on the impact of journalism on these global issues.

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00:00 Trump's Apocalyptic Obsession

01:19 Introduction to Wicked Problems

01:32 Guest Introduction: Dr. Hannah E. Morris

01:57 Weaponizing Apocalyptic Language

02:45 Defining Apocalyptic Authoritarianism

03:06 Trump's Influence and Climate Movement

05:13 Nostalgia and Climate Journalism

06:30 The Green New Deal and Media Narratives

11:47 Challenges in Climate Journalism

24:28 Covering Climate Now Initiative

30:02 Senator Eric Schmidt's Speech Analysis

32:59 Nationalism and American Identity

34:27 Fascist Ideologies and Historical Context

37:26 Media's Role in Shaping Nationalism

39:30 Climate Change and Political Narratives

47:26 Global Perspectives on Climate Journalism

51:37 Apocalyptic Imagery in Modern Politics

54:09 Influences and Future Directions

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