
Bob has been the executive director of the Solar Electric Light Fund (or SELF for short) since 1997. Under his leadership, SELF has installed over 650 solar energy systems in 25 countries, making it one of the world’s leading nongovernmental organizations that designs and implements solar energy-based solutions for those living without access to electricity. An early advocate of access to energy as being essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, he is widely considered an authority on the subject of energy poverty. During his tenure he has broadened SELF’s mission and vision to address the broader implications of energy poverty. In 2000, he developed the Whole Village Development Model, an innovative approach for using solar energy to help communities improve their health, education, food and water security, and economic development programs. In 2008, Bob received the King Hussein Leadership Award from Her Majesty Queen Noor.Links______________________SELF: https://www.self.org/Partner with SELF: https://www.self.org/partner-with-us/Bob's Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-frelingTimestamps__________________0:00 - Introduction1:12 - What is energy poverty and why is it important?7:58 - Where is energy poverty most prevalent around the world?11:08 - How much progress has been made with energy access over the past few decades14:20 - What does life without electricity look like?20:02 - What do people use at heat/light sources instead of electricity?23:08 - The profound consequences of energy poverty32:40 - Why can’t more communities be connected to the grid? 38:59 - What work does the Solar Electric Light Fund? 44:21 - What are the unexpected benefits of electrification? 47:36 - What is the road ahead for eliminating energy poverty and SELF?53:20 - Final takeaways
Jul 28, 2025
56 min

IntroductionToday I am joined by Dr. John Cook. Dr. Cook is a Senior Research Fellow with the Melbourne Centre for Behaviour Change at the University of Melbourne. He obtained his PhD at the University of Western Australia, studying the cognitive psychology of climate science denial. His research focus is understanding and countering misinformation about climate change.In 2007, he founded Skeptical Science, a website which won the 2011 Australian Museum Eureka Prize for the Advancement of Climate Change Knowledge and the 2016 Friend of the Planet Award from the National Center for Science Education.John authored the book Cranky Uncle vs. Climate Change, which combines climate science, critical thinking, and cartoons to explain and counter climate misinformation. He also co-authored the college textbooks Climate Change: Examining the Facts and Climate Change Science: A Modern Synthesis, as well as the book Climate Change Denial: Heads in the Sand.In 2013, he published a paper finding a 97% scientific consensus on human-caused global warming, a finding that has been highlighted by President Obama and UK Prime Minister David Cameron.LinksJohn Cook: https://findanexpert.unimelb.edu.au/profile/1028119-john-cookCranky Uncle: https://crankyuncle.com/Skeptical Science: https://skepticalscience.com/Timestamps0:00 - Introduction1:32 - Why can’t we ignore misinformation?2:50 - What is the difference between misinformation and disinformation?7:20 - How has climate change denial changed over the past 20 years?8:46 - Who are the sources of misinformation?9:41 - Science denial is not a unique challenge12:55 - Cognitive psychology and its importance in tackling climate change17:55 - What are the drivers of belief in climate change misinformation?21:23 - What are the types of climate change misinformation?28:51 - The persuasiveness of purveyors of misinformation31:51 - How can we counter misinformation?42:48 - F.L.I.C.C. - The climate change misinformation taxonomy43:40 - F - Fake experts44:41 - L - Logical fallacies49:37 - I - Impossible expectations54:50 - C - Cherry-picking59:55 - C - Conspiracy theories1:02:28 - Misinformation breakdown - Example 11:08:07 - Misinformation breakdown - Example 21:11:19 - Misinformation breakdown - Example 31:17:22 - Final takeaways
Mar 13, 2025
1 hr 20 min

Dr. Roger Cohen is an entrepreneur, focused on addressing climate change through innovative solutions. He leads C2Zero and the Real Carbon Price Index (RCPI), initiatives aimed at reducing carbon emissions. Roger was part of the founding team at BetaShares and has held senior roles at Macquarie Bank, Deutsche Bank, and NatWest. Roger has lectured in risk management to engineering students at the University of Sydney and serves as a senior adviser at the Monash Centre for Financial Studies. A Fulbright Scholar in the USA in 1988, Roger holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Sydney and is a Fellow of the Financial Services Institute of Australia.
Links
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Roger’s Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/portablebeta/
Effectiveness of compliance market mechanisms: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.143761
Only 20% of emissions are covered by compliance schemes: https://www.realcarbonindex.org/
Less than 16% of carbon credits issued constitute real emission reductions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-53645-z
Corporations creating demand for low-integrity carbon offsets: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-51151-w
Renewable energy offsets are no longer considered ‘high integrity’: https://icvcm.org/carbon-credits-from-current-renewable-energy-methodologies-will-not-receive-high-integrity-ccp-label/
Timestamps
____________________________________
0:00 Intro
1:00 - Consilience and Siloed Thinking
3:55 - A brief overview of carbon markets
18:06 - What are compliance carbon markets?
23:00 - Example 1: Carbon Tax
26:45 - Example 2: Emissions Trading Schemes
34:22 - Are compliance schemes effective at reducing greenhouse gas emissions?
40:00 - Are compliance schemes reducing emissions fast enough?
46:22 - Summary of compliance carbon markets discussion
47:41 - What is the voluntary carbon markets?
49:31 - What are carbon offsets?
54:47 - What is the problem with carbon offsets?
1:04:07 - Do we need carbon offsets?
1:08:57 - Prognosis on the future of carbon markets
Jan 27, 2025
1 hr 11 min

George Marshall (born 1964) is a British environmental campaigner, communications specialist and writer. He is the founder of Climate Outreach and is a specialist in climate communication. He is the author of Carbon Detox (2007) and Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change (2014).
Links
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Profile: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/climategeorgeIntergroup Conflict Paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejsp.3127
Conservative vs Socialist Paper: https://theconversation.com/conservative-governments-protect-more-land-while-socialists-and-nationalists-threaten-more-species-236519
Timestamps
______________________________
0:00 - Introduction
0:22 - Why psychology is critical to mitigating the impact of climate change
9:33 - How can we communicate more effectively on climate change?
14:29 - Can climate change be addressed as a policy issue, rather than a political issue?
22:07 - Building broader political identities to mobilise action on Climate Change
32:38 - The need for trusted messengers
43:00 - How to push beyond political identities to mobilise action?
51:39 - The weaknesses of climate change as a motivator for action
Jan 6, 2025
1 hr 5 min

Dr. Dhanasree Jayaram is a Senior Assistant Professor at Manipal Academy of Higher Education and serves as the co-coordinator of the Centre for Climate Studies. She specialises in geopolitics and international relations, with a focus on environmental and climate security, climate diplomacy, and environmental geopolitics in Southern Asia, the Indo-Pacific, and polar regions. Dr. Jayaram is the author of Breaking out of the Green House: Indian Leadership in Times of Environmental Change (2012) and Climate Diplomacy and Emerging Economies: India as a Case Study (2021).
Links
______________________________
Profile: https://www.manipal.edu/gir/department-faculty/faculty-list/dr--dhanasree-jayaram-ms--ph-d/_jcr_content.html
Timestamps
______________________________
0:00 - Dr Jayaram’s background
6:30 - What is geopolitics, and why does it matter?
11:57 - How do geopolitical and security concerns intersect with climate change?
17:57 - Examples of geopolitics and climate change
25:23 - Geopolitics is an overlooked issue with considerations to climate change
31:44 - What is climate diplomacy?
37:00 - Do we need ‘climate-borders’?
44:45 - Is climate change one of the biggest security risks for countries around the world?
49:19 - Corporations influence on geopolitics
55:20 - Final takeaway
Dec 3, 2024
59 min

Genevieve Guenther is the founding director of End Climate Silence and affiliate faculty at The New School, where she sits on the board of the Tishman Environment and Design Center. While writing the End Climate Silence newsletter, Dr. Guenther advises NGOs, corporations, and policymakers on fossil-fuel disinformation and climate communication, and she serves as an Expert Reviewer for the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Her research has appeared in both scholarly journals and media outlets such as Scientific American, The New Republic, and MSNBC, and she has been invited to speak about climate and language to audiences at Duke, Columbia, and Harvard, among other universities. She lives in New York City with her family.
Links
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Genevieve Guenther: https://genevieveguenther.com/
The Book: The Book: https://www.amazon.com.au/Language-Climate-Politics-Fossil-Fuel-Propaganda/dp/0197642233
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1hcQAzzFak4ITdykd5XvSX?si=c721b45ebe8e4e7a
Instagram/Twitter/Linkedin: @utopiaisnow
Timestamps
____________________
0:00 - Intro
2:40 - How words construct our political imaginations
6:21 - Language is used and abused to influence how we think about the climate crisis
12:27 - Everything we experience is shaped by language
16:29 - The Language of Climate Politics
19:01 - A quick word game - How is the term ‘alarm-ism' being misused?
32:22 - Facing the climate crisis with courage
35:20 - What language should we use to fight the climate crisis?
40:45 - Closing words
Oct 21, 2024
42 min

Dr Camelia Dewan is an environmental anthropologist focusing on the anthropology of development. She holds a PhD in Social Anthropology and Environment from the University of London (SOAS/Birkbeck) and is an Associate Senior Lecturer in Cultural Anthropology examining the socio-environmental effects of shipbreaking in Bangladesh. Dr Dewan is the author of Misreading the Bengal Delta: Climate Change, Development and Livelihoods in Coastal Bangladesh (University of Washington Press, 2021).
Links
_______________________
Camelia Dewan: https://www.uu.se/en/contact-and-orga...
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jkFkD3
Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3A4PPjZ
Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2SwB9Jr
Instagram/Twitter/Linkedin: @utopiaisnow
Timestamps
____________________
0:00 - What does it mean to be an anthropologist?
5:25 - Climate discourse about Bangladesh
13:29 - Climate victimisation and Bangladesh’s environmental history
26:25 - Climate reductionisms in Bangladesh
36:15 - The politics of climate change
47:35 - Parting thoughts
52:22- Key takeaways
Credits
____________________
Thumbnail: Headshot
Music: A Journey Through The Universe – Lesion X
#anthropology #climatechange #bangladesh
Sep 29, 2024
58 min

Dr Jeff Rotman is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing and co-director of the Better Consumption Lab at Deakin Business School. He is the recipient of the 2021 Vice-Chancellor’s Early Career Researcher Award for Career Excellence. He specialises in research on consumer psychology with a specific focus on the areas of ethics, emotion, and sustainability.
Links
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Jeff Rotman: https://www.deakin.edu.au/about-deakin/people/jeffrey-rotman
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jkFkD3
Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3A4PPjZ
Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2SwB9Jr
Instagram/Twitter/Linkedin: @utopiaisnow
Timestamps
____________________
0:00 - Teaser
1:34 - Our minds handle risk strangely – and that’s partly why we delayed climate action so long
12:46 - What is motivated reasoning and why is it crucial to understand?
22:18 - Group identity and survival
33:07 - Us vs. them morality, selective reasoning, and green beard traits
46:19 - What are the ways we can shift our perception to mitigating climate change?
53:28 - Is shame an effective motivator in mitigating climate change?
1:03:12 - Status seeking as a strategy for encouraging green solutions
1:09:28 - The one marketing insight that everyone should know
1:12:50 - What is Jeff’s Utopia?
Credits
____________________
Thumbnail: Headshot
Music: A Journey Through The Universe – Lesion X
Jan 29, 2024
1 hr 16 min

Dr Robin Lamboll researches what humans emit into our atmosphere, what effects it will have on us, and what we can do about it. Robin completed a PhD in the physics of solar cells at the University of Cambridge, modeling the behavior of new designs of solar cells, and has an MSci in Natural Sciences from Cambridge. Robin has previously worked as a quantitative consultant and successfully represented the UK in multiple international poetry slams.
Links
_______________________
Robin Lamboll: https://www.imperial.ac.uk/people/r.lamboll
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jkFkD3
Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3A4PPjZ
Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2SwB9Jr
Instagram/Twitter/Linkedin: @utopiaisnow
Timestamps
____________________
0:00 - Teaser
0:59 - Why do we need to limit average warming to 1.5°C?
4:06 - What is the importance of limiting every fraction of a degree past 1.5°C?
5:33 - The frightening reality of climate science
10:14 - Robin’s research on the latest carbon budget
13:39 - If every country implemented its current policy commitments, would we limit warming to 1.5°C?
16:20 - How accurate is the current carbon budget assessment?
20:01 - How do we assess how much (CO2) to emit annually?
25:25 - Implementing the insights of the carbon budget
27:05 - The curious effect of dust and aerosols on global temperatures
35:31 - What are tipping points and why are they critical to the climate discourse
41:23 - What is the punchline of Robin's research?
Credits
____________________
Thumbnail: Headshot
Music: A Journey Through The Universe – Lesion X
#carbonbudget #climatechange #climateaction
Dec 12, 2023
43 min

Professor Harini Nagendra is the Director of the Research Centre at Azim Premji University in Bangalore, India, and leads the University’s Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability. Nagendra is known for her research spanning over 30 years on forest conservation, and urban sustainability, with several seminal publications in both areas of work. Her interdisciplinary work on forests combines remote sensing, biodiversity studies, and institutional analysis, and is recognised for elucidating the link between pattern and process in the human-dominated landscapes of South Asia.
Links
_______________________
Harini Nagendra: https://azimpremjiuniversity.edu.in/people/harini-nagendra
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3jkFkD3
Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/3A4PPjZ
Google Podcast: https://bit.ly/2SwB9Jr
Instagram/Twitter/Linkedin: @utopiaisnow
Timestamps
____________________
0:00 - Teaser
1:06 - Introduction
13:30 - If you could share one thing about India, what would it be?
15:03 - How much does India’s ecological history inform India today?
18:01 - Western vs Eastern mismatch of environmental problems and solutions
28:13 - How is India experiencing Climate Change?
32:15 - How is the Indian government responding to environmental & climate-related disasters?
35:04 - Transdisciplinarity, cognitive dissonance, and growth vs environmentalism
50:41 - The importance of culture, art, and literature in creating change
58:19 - Harini Insights as an author of fictional novels?
1:05:32 - Is a Green Party viable in India?<
1:10:40 - Outlook of India's environment
Credits
____________________
Thumbnail: Headshot
Music: A Journey Through The Universe – Lesion X
#ecology #climatechange #india
Nov 27, 2023
1 hr 15 min
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