Climate Breakdown

The Climate Breakdown Podcast is back! We have a special episode for you which marks a very special moment. On 12 December 2015, the world came together to adopt a landmark climate accord — the Paris Agreement — aimed at limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to keep it under 1.5°C. Ten years later, where do we stand? In this special episode, two leading experts from the In...

What is saline agriculture and why has it been recently gaining attention? Is it a new phenomenon or something we have lived with for centuries? Should we see it as a challenge or an opportunity? These are some of the questions at the basis of this episode. To grasp saline agriculture to the fullest, we have welcomed two experts: Dr. Katarzyna (Kate) Negacz from IVM Institute for Environmental Stu...

In April 2023, our very own VU Amsterdam became the second university in the world to ⁠cut research ties⁠ with the fossil fuel industry ⁠⁠ . The decision, and the launch of its ⁠⁠⁠Fossil Free Campaign , caused quite a stir among Dutch universities and in (inter)national media. But how did this decision come about? And, perhaps more importantly, what happens after such a groundbreaking decision is...

How can we, as citizens, contribute to the co-production of energy futures? How can we create spaces for alternative narratives that focus on inclusion of more vulnerable citizens and aim for a more just energy transition? Can we bring the energy transition and energy production closer to the people? Energy cooperatives are a form of decentralized, non-governmental initiatives of local communities...

What do we understand by the term 'urban agriculture'? Who can 'do' urban agriculture? To what extent can we call it a 'radical' activity? Learn about the diversity of initiatives that can be grouped under this term and about the transformation they can bring to the way we farm, plant, and connect with others in the society. Get inspired and start the change one garden tile at a time. In this epis...

The EU is stepping up its efforts to ensure companies green their operations and meet ambitious climate goals. With policies like the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD), the EU is not just regulating but actively encouraging large corporations to scale up and speed up their climate engagement. But how effective are these measures? And what do they mean for businesses navigati...

On 12 November, we woke up to news of the Dutch Court of Appeal overruling District Court ruling in Shell v.  ⁠ Milieudefensie ⁠ case. A real legal earthquake its caused in climate advocacy circles...  The judge decided that no specific legal obligations for emission reductions can be imposed on Shell. At the same time, some have argued that this is only a Pyrrhic victory for Shell. But what does...

Curious to learn about the backbone of our future low-carbon economy? Worried about potential challenges and dependencies linked to the increased production and consumption of critical raw materials? Hungry for solutions? We got you covered! Mathieu is joined by two colleagues Lingli Zhou , Assistant Professor at the Geology and Geochemistry cluster of the Earth Science Department (Vrije Universit...

Are you ready for Season 2 of our Climate Breakdown podcast? Our hosts Mathieu Blondeel and Paulina Raniecka are joined by diverse VU experts and practitioners, working on solutions to the ongoing climate crisis. Tune in to see what to expect!

Is there a better way to wrap up our first series than delving into the wonderful world of global climate politics and diplomacy?! At COP28 in December 2023, negotiators officially agreed for the first time ever the need to ‘transition away from fossil fuels.’ This was deemed historic and it supposedly signalled the ‘end of the fossil fuel era’. But how historic is this decision really? And why di...

We're back with Part II of our double whammy on Science & Activism! Today, Mathieu is joined by Dr. Marthe Wens , Assistant Professor of Water Security at the Institute for Environmental Studies of VU Amsterdam. She's an academic and a very active member of Scientist Rebellion in the Netherlands. She's taken part in a lot of civil disobedience actions of SR and shares her ideas on reconciling...

We're back with a double episode on a very hot topic! Can scientists and universities be activists or must they remain neutral? But what does ‘neutrality’ mean in the face of an ever growing climate crisis, with facts and evidence about causes and consequences so abundantly clear? Does this neutrality argument still hold up then? Or, in the words of Albert Einstein, does the privilege to know, ent...

Welcome to round two in our double episode 'Beyond the Climate Crisis'! In today's episode, we talk about biodiversity! How biodiversity is 'governed' globally, nationally and locally, the extent of the biodiversity crisis that we're in, but also -importantly- what we can do to get us out of the crisis we find ourselves in. Guests today are Marije Schaafsma , Associate Professor of Environmental E...

Today and next week we have a two-parter in store for our listeners! It is clear that we are not just in the midst of a climate crisis. A lot more is at stake. Last year, environmental scientists warned that the earth is now ‘well outside the safe operating space for humanity’ because multiple ‘planetary boundaries’ have been broken. In the first part of our double 'Beyond the Climate Crisis' epis...

There’s a new tool in the toolbox of climate activists: litigation. Increasingly, fossil fuel companies and governments are being sued for their lack of climate action. It makes one wonder, what are the advantages and disadvantages of taking these companies and governments to court? In this episode, Mathieu is joined by two guests. VU Assistant Professor Clemens Kaupa is an expert in climate law....

2023 was the hottest year on record. The extreme weather we have witnessed will become more common and more severe as the Earth further warms. What is ‘the state of the climate’ as we enter a new year? What can we expect in the (near) future and what can be done about it? In this first episode, Mathieu is joined by VU professor of climate change and adaptation, Bart van den Hurk , a world-leading...