S01E22 - Carbon bubbles - are we headed for a crash? Guest - Mark Campanale, Founder, Carbon Tracker
Join Simon Messenger and David Carlin as they sit down with Mark Campanale, the Founder of Carbon Tracker, a leading think tank analyzing the financial implications of climate change. Do terms like "carbon budget," "carbon bubble," and "stranded assets" mean very little to you? Or even a bit, but you're not really sure what the global implications are? Then tune in to this podcast episode!Mark, Simon and David will unpack these critical concepts, exploring how the world's limited carbon budget is creating a potential "carbon bubble" that could lead to trillions of dollars in "stranded assets."Listen now to gain a deeper understanding of the financial risks of climate change and what we can do about it.
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S01E22 - Will Biden's climate policies survive?
Today's Big Question: what's Big and Beautiful? A bill, apparently!Making its way through US legislative process is a bill called, without any irony, "One Big Beautiful Bill". It's largely a bill to repeal many of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act decisions, many of which are linked to "green" decisions, and offer new tax breaks (in short).What might this mean for the average American? What might this mean for global emissions? What's likely to actually make it all the way through to a final Act and governmental decision? Tune in to find out! [and as an update after we recorded the episode, the Bill did actually fail to advance through the committee though this was more because a few legislators argued the cuts did not go far enough and torpedoed the measure]
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S01E21 - Is global sustainability momentum building up again?
Today's episode is a whistle-blow tour of what's been happening in the last few weeks in terms of elections in the world (well, at least the English-speaking world in terms of today's discussion). There's been a lot of understandable talk about sustainability being on life support in terms of politics and corporate action but a few recent elections show that maybe, after all, the sustainability boat has wind in its sails and momentum is building again in some regions.Maybe it's a false dawn. And there's definitely clear signals that, even if people support the concept, policies which carry the population will them will be critical or a backlash will happen pretty quickly.
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S01E20 - DEEP DIVE - So what just happened in Spain?!
At 12.33pm on Monday 28 April, a large chunk of Spain and Portugal were plunged into chaos by a major blackout. So what happened? Lots of actors and media jumped on a bandwagon to blame net-zero, renewables or the energy transition. Was that fair? What was does this mean in terms of future resilience of renewable-energy based grids? (Spain and Portugal are two of the world's leading nations for renewables) How can policy makers right now and in the future strengthen interconnectedness between grids yet build up local resilience. What's the role of battery storage in the future? What's the role of AI?Join us this week for a short deep-dive on what just happened to get some of the answers to these Big Questions!
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S01E19 - can the world's economy transition in a just manner ? - Guest - Nick Robins
In this episode, Nick Robins, a veteran in climate change and sustainable finance, discusses with Simon Messenger and David Carlin the critical importance of a Just Transition for successful climate action. As Professor at the London School of Economics and pioneer in sustainable finance, he highlights how the concept emerged from the labour movement to ensure fairness for workers and communities during the shift to a green economy. Nick helps us understand how the Just Transition isn't just about environmental policy but also about human rights, labour standards, and community development.Join us to find out more about how governments, corporations, and financial institutions can play a role in ensuring a fair transition as well as the potential pitfalls, such as poorly designed climate policies that disproportionately affect low-income populations. This episode is a must-listen for understanding the complexities and opportunities in achieving a fair transition to a low-carbon economy.
Welcome to the The Big Questions, a new podcast hosted by Simon Messenger and David Carlin delving into the policies, ideas, and technologies that will shape our future.
Is there any hope in our fight again climate change? Will geoengineering save us? Is the world big enough? Are we doomed?
Ever asked yourself some big questions about climate change? We bring experts. And we bring answers, in a digestible format..
Join us for conversations that matter, insights that inspire, and solutions that could change everything.
It’s time to rethink the future.
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