Climate Conversations

It’s all in the way our mind works. Psychologists say we take mental shortcuts and that means we don’t make decisions which are more sustainable.  Julie Yoo speaks to Edward Choy and Jo Tan who recently hosted the documentary Who cares about Polar Bears?   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can we better design green cities while balancing economic and climate concerns? Internationally renowned architect Lee Polisano, co-founder of PLP Architecture, talks to Julie Yoo about how he designed some of the world’s greenest buildings.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Taking materialism out of gift-giving might require some creativity. From taking the stigma out of re-gifting to creating new family traditions, Stephanie Dickson, founder of Green is The New Black, gives tips on how to be more sustainable this season without dampening your festive spirit. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Growing your own food is the last line of defence as food security is threatened by climate change. Bjorn Low, founder of Edible Garden City gives tips on how to plant your own balcony garden and shares why Singapore should think beyond technology solutions to beef up its food security.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Loss and damage is on the climate summit’s agenda for the first time at COP 27. Developing countries are struggling to rebuild as historic floods and creeping sea levels batter their lands. Now, they want someone else to pay. What is loss and damage and how might this affect people living on the climate frontline? CNA’s climate change correspondent Jack Board gives his take from Egypt.  See omnyst...

Even before the critical climate conference began in Egypt this week, the government clamped down on activism and Greta Thunberg is absent. But the serious business of addressing climate change continues, says COP veteran Melissa Low, Research Fellow at NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With climate change and sustainability being front and center, there's been an explosion of jobs related to this sector. Our guest host, SMU Law student Ming Jin, speaks to Woo Qiyun, a climate activist who works at Unravel Carbon. She explains how she got into the space and what it is like.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Patagonia’s founder Yvon Chouinard has announced that he is giving away his company to fight climate change. But corporations are built around the idea of maximising shareholder wealth. As the climate crisis deepens, do we need to rethink how businesses are fundamentally being run? Julie Yoo gets some answers from Jessica Cheam, founder of Eco-Business.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Even with more recycling bins available and a higher level of awareness, recycling rates for household trash in Singapore continue to be low. What will it take to get more people recycling frequently? Julie Yoo speaks with Samuel Chng, Head of the Urban Psychology Lab. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Monkeys slipping into homes and making out like bandits have gone viral. Julie speaks to primatologist Dr Andie Ang about the biggest misconceptions involving the primates we encounter and how we can learn to coexist with wildlife. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A third of Pakistan was submerged, flooded after a record-breaking drought. Singapore Red Cross secretary-general Benjamin William tells Julie Yoo why humanitarian aid has not evolved in 50 years, even as climate crisis has made their work more complex.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fascinated with energy since she was a child, Tulika Raj worked on offshore rigs in Kazakhstan and Norway before switching to renewable energy. Now CEO of SunGreen H2, she tells Julie about what it takes for hydrogen to become green, cheap and produced at scale.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Refugee, Princeton graduate and the first Tesla owner in Singapore, Joe Nguyen has quite a story. He tells Julie Yoo about the time Tesla owner Elon Musk called the prime minister about his car and why he thinks Singapore could be the first country to replace all internal combustion engine cars in a decade.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A sustainable fashion-addict is an oxymoron, but that’s exactly what Jasmine Tuan, co-founder of Cloop, is. She tells Julie Yoo about hitting rock bottom when she maxed out her credit cards to running a swapping clothes business as an antidote to fast fashion.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wading through crocodile-infested waters or battling dehydration – that’s all in the day’s work for award-winning wildlife photographer, Jayaprakash Bojan. He tells Julie Yoo about the picture that changed his entire career, and why photography is a powerful agent for raising awareness about climate change.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As waters get warmer and the weather gets more unpredictable, how can Singapore better protect its seafood supplies? How does sustainable fishing and aquafarms play a role in ensuring for food security in a climate stressed future? Julie Yoo speaks to Chester Gan, Responsible Seafood Programme Officer at WWF-Singapore, on how seafood gets onto your plate. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy in...

It is a simple concept of taking recycled plastic bottles filled with water with a splash of bleach and turning them into solar lamps that light up homes without electricity. Julie Yoo speaks to Illac Angelo Diaz, Global Director of Liter of Light on what he gets out of helping the weakest in a climate stressed world. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

99 per cent of Singapore businesses are small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and they are crucial to any country’s net zero ambitions. But they face challenges with cost and manpower. Julie Yoo speaks to CEO of Containers Printers Amy Chung who’s been a first mover in cutting emissions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether you love or hate the thorny fruit, they are precious raw material for one med-tech start-up in Singapore. N&E Innovations' Didi Gan and Devi Krishna tell Julie Yoo how they stumbled on turning food waste into all natural products and what sparked their interest. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What gets measured gets managed. This is the belief underlying the business of Grace Sai and Marc Allen, co-founders of Unravel Carbon. CNA presenter Juile Yoo gets the co-founders to talk about how their climate-tech start up wants to offer companies in Asia a fast and painless way to track and reduce their carbon emissions. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Record heatwaves are hitting countries from Europe to Asia in a sign we are heading towards a much hotter future. Singapore will not be spared – but can we deal with intense heat? How will the lived experiences of a diverse group of people change and what do we need to do to cope? Associate Professor Gregory Clancey at the National University of Singapore explains how history can give us ideas and...

He used to enjoy a good old-fashioned greasy burger but now, Addis Tan, the co-founder of Love Handle, is all about food that is good for people and the environment. He sits down with Julie Yoo to talk about breaking barriers and staying hungry in the business of plant-based meats. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Watching otters before it was cool and petitioning to save Chek Jawa in 2001, wildlife conservationist N Sivasothi, aka "Otterman", has seen it all. From climate apathy to serious activism, CNA's Julie Yoo gets Siva to talk about Singapore’s past and its future in a climate changed world. Get in touch with us: cnapodcasts@mediacorp.com.sg See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

After 68 episodes and two years of discussing pressing issues on climate change, CNA's Jaime Ho hangs up his hosting job and answers questions for a change. Climate activist Woo Qiyun and creator of Instagram page The Weird and Wild asks Jaime his thoughts on Singapore's climate action, sustainability pet peeves, what young people can do to effect change, his favourite episode and who he wish...

Food production is deeply affected by extreme weather events and the pandemic exposed weak links along the chain from farm to table. Climate impacts are here to stay so how will smallholder farmers adapt? Will technology and innovation help? How will changing consumer consumption patterns affect farmers? Jaime Ho speaks to Duke Hipp of CropLife Asia a Singapore-based NGO.   See omnystudio.com...