Conduit Conversations

Gary White is the CEO of Water.org , a non-profit that helps people gain access to safe water and sanitation. He also leads WaterEquity, an asset management firm deploying capital towards the global water and climate crisis. He speaks with Paul van Zyl about ‘creating the financial plumbing’ to allow global capital markets to respond to individuals’ needs, he explains why poorly managed infrastruc...

Michael Sheldrick is Co-Founder and Chief Policy and Government Relations Officer at Global Citizen, overseeing their international advocacy campaigns including those in support of climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.  He talks with Alice Aedy about creating landmark campaigns that trigger impact, building new platforms to circumvent traditional media, climate justice and just transitions, a...

Miguel Veiga-Pestana is Chief Sustainability Officer at Reckitt, a consumer goods company whose brands include Dettol, Durex, Finish, and Nurofen. Miguel oversees the development and integration of Reckitt’s sustainability and purpose-led agenda. He speaks about how consumer behaviour responds to and elicits change from big businesses, he speaks of the challenges and successes of phasing single-us...

Kumi Naidoo is a seasoned activist and has held leadership positions at Greenpeace International and Amnesty International.  In this impassioned conversation with his compatriot Paul van Zyl, Kumi lays out four things he believes activists could do better at in order to more effectively lead a green revolution. He also speaks about the representation of marginalised voices, how consumer spending p...

How achievable is the goal of universal access to affordable and clean energy for all by 2030? And can this be achieved in Africa whilst transitioning from fossil fuels to decentralised renewable sources of energy?  Jackie Kimeu is the International Coordinator at ACCESS Coalition. They advocate for people living in poverty to have access to safe, reliable, and affordable energy. Jackie speaks to...

Journalist and author Simon Mundy recently travelled across six continents to meet the people embroiled in a race to survive, adapt, and innovate as a response to climate change. Now that the climate emergency has moved from a fringe issue to a core one, he contemplates whether powerful business leaders and policymakers being ambitious enough in responding to the science and to the plights of clim...

To stay on track for 1.5 degrees warming, we need more ambitious policies, implemented much more quickly. In this episode, Paul talks to Apolitical co-founder and CEO, Robyn Scott; Climate Envoy for the Netherlands, H.R.H. Prince Jaime de Bourbon de Parme; and Former Minister for the Environment in Denmark, Ida Auken about the role of policy in a just transition. They discuss why governments need...

Are we, the average citizen, the most powerful trigger of tipping points? With the public fast acknowledging that climate change is a grave and imminent threat, can this awareness coupled with activism trigger rapid changes in government policy and to markets to the benefit of people and planet? 19-year-old Jerome Foster II is an environmental activist, voting rights advocate, and emerging technol...

Global transformation of food and land use systems is needed now more than ever to improve food security, ensure healthier diets, and safeguard biodiversity. Central to achieving this – and unlocking trillions in society returns each year – is protecting nature and addressing food and land use systems’ contribution to the climate crisis.  Social entrepreneur and writer Jeremy Leggett is joined by...

As the buzz around green hydrogen gathers steam, Andreas Gunst, Partner at DLA Piper, joins Lee Beck (Clean Air Task Force) to discuss its potential as a clean and renewable energy source, the latest developments in carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology, and the ways in which government and business must collaborate to accelerate the transition to a decarbonised energy sector. This ep...

As finance starts to move towards clean solutions, the cost of capital will decrease. Are financial institutions being consistent in what they say and what they do? And how can the boards of these institutions be encouraged – or forced – to ensure that climate competency is embedded at every level. Katherine Stodulka (Partner, Sustainable Finance for SYSTEMIQ and Director, Blended Finance Taskforc...

As finance starts to move towards clean solutions, the cost of capital will decrease. Are governments and financial institutions doing enough to incentivise this and make investing in old industries less attractive? And what is preventing capital from flowing to developing economies, where it's needed most urgently, fast enough and at the scale previously promised? Nick Stern (Chairman of the Gran...

Increasingly the climate lobby is moving from the streets to the courtroom - but how can climate litigation accelerate government policies for a zero emissions future? In this episode, Paul van Zyl is joined by Alice Garton, Director of Global Legal Strategy at the Foundation for International Law for the Environment, to explore litigation and human rights law as a tool for climate action.  This e...

Bold and visionary leadership is essential to accelerate action towards an economy that is aligned with the objectives of the Paris Agreement. Where are we seeing examples of leadership that can help create positive tipping points – the ones we need to pull ourselves from the fossil-intensive, socially unjust system, into a net-zero and resilient world?  Faustine Delasalle (Director, Energy Transi...

What would bring a man from a dynasty of cobblers and an influential activist filmmaker together? Join Galahad and Finn for a discussion about how we should allow our feet to reconnect us literally and figuratively to the Earth. They’ll explain what doing so could mean for our physical and environmental health.

In the context of climate action, what do we mean by positive tipping points, and why is it important to recognise and work towards them?  We speak with SYSTEMIQ Co-Founder Jeremy Oppenheim and Sandrine Dixson-Decleve, Co-President of the Club of Rome, about the potential that can be unleashed through positive tipping points and how to engineer them in our pursuit of net-zero. 

What do we really mean by a just transition, what role does the law have to play, and how can we place indigenous knowledge at the forefront of climate decision making?   In this episode, Paul van Zyl is joined by Yasmine Ahmed, UK Director of Human Rights Watch, and Tishiko King, a Torres Strait Islander and campaigner, to delve into these vital questions. They discuss what governments should be...

In this six-part series, hosted by human rights lawyer Paul van Zyl, we ask what role does the law have in responding to the urgent demands of the climate crisis?  From how small nations can get their voices heard on the international stage, to the importance of carbon literacy in the boardroom, to the need for radical change in the financial sector, we will be discussing the ways in which busines...

We know about the challenges of climate change, but what about the solutions? ‘Ahead of the Curve’ is a new podcast collaboration between The Conduit and SYSTEMIQ focusing on the urgent and ambitious action required to transform our economy. In this six-part series, hosted by Paul van Zyl, experts will tell us where positive change is already occurring, where challenges remain, and what we must pr...

In this episode, Paul’s guest is Daniel Jones the Editor of the New York Times’ Modern Love column. They discuss love in times of crisis, the role of intimacy and support in navigating the most difficult moments in your life, what it means to be truly vulnerable and let love in and why we all need to live in the moment and appreciate what we have This episode is part of a new series exploring the...

In this episode, Paul is joined by Desirée A. H. Walker, a two-time breast cancer victor, health educator and cancer patient advocate. Desirée shares why she lives each day with intention, how the loved ones of those living with cancer can move from feeling helpless to being helpful, and how a support group can benefit those at every stage of their cancer journey. This episode is part of a new ser...

In this episode, Paul welcomes Venezuelan photographer Ana Maria Arévalo Gosen and her husband Philipp Quante. Ana shares why she decided to photograph Philipp throughout his cancer journey, Philipp explains why it is so vital for those living with cancer to open up to loved ones, and together they reflect on the role that creativity played in helping them through such a difficult period in their...

In this episode, Paul’s guest is author, podcast and campaigner Deborah James, returning to the podcast for the second time. They discuss what Deborah has learned from sharing the story of her bowel cancer with her social media community, the importance of not allowing cancer patients to be forgotten during the COVID pandemic, and her techniques for staying positive and holding on to hope. This ep...

In this episode, Paul is joined by Joanne Peter, a Director of Social Innovation for Johnson & Johnson Global Community Impact. Joanne explains why strong community health systems are vital both during the COVID-19 pandemic and in the long-term, shares the lessons we must learn from tackling HIV/AIDS outbreaks, and tells Paul why she believes that a multi-disciplinary approach is best for aspi...

Paul’s guest in this episode is Loyce Pace, President and Executive Director of the Global Health Council. She explains what equity in global health and global health leadership should look like, why national and international cooperation post-pandemic is so important and the vital role the WHO and other multi-lateral organisations play.   This episode is part of a new series, created in partnersh...