Climate Curious

It’s smelly, it lasts roughly 12 years in the atmosphere and has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. Methane is an underestimated greenhouse gas produced in large part by food systems, organic waste and weirdly, cow burps. Biochemical engineer and CEO of Global Methane Hub, Marcelo Mena, joins Climate Curious to break down how we tackle this invisible climate villain. Recorded...

Three ways to talk about climate in a way that people care about? Focus on simplicity, humanity, and accountability. Make it real, make it regular, and always accompany it with a consequence. Says the climate marketing professor who’s delivered 3 billion ads on the topic, the founder and CEO of Potential Energy, John Marshall, all on this week’s Climate Curious. If you enjoyed this Climate Quickie...

“No-one wakes up in the morning and says it's a great day for decarbonization,” says climate marketer who’s delivered 3 billion ads on the topic, the founder and CEO of Potential Energy, John Marshall. Climate Curious co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst chat to John about how we can really make climate “pop”: from using real and regular messengers (not politicians) to talking more about “stopping...

Humour is one of the healthiest ways to process the collective tragedy of the pollution of our planet, says the comedian-in-residence at Generation180 and co-creator of the Climate Comedy Cohort, Esteban Gast, on Climate Curious. In conversation with Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha, Esteban shares how he’s building a climate comedy movement to get more humour into climate storytelling through the form...

Climate solution alert! Rainforests are a medical, health and climate treasure trove. Over 30 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to reach our climate goals come from nature, such as keeping rainforests standing. So why is it that those nature-based solutions get less than 5 percent of overall climate funding? Climate Curious speaks to disease detective, Neil Vora, to explore...

“The Last of Us” thriller tv series put fungal disease in the spotlight. But how realistic is it? Thanks to our warming petri dish of a planet, the scenario isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds... Climate Curious speaks to disease detective, Neil Vora, to explain why increasing global temperatures means the emergence of new health threats is more likely.  Recorded live at TEDxLondon Countdown 2023. N...

It’s spooky season! We welcome disease detective Neil Vora to Climate Curious with co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst to explain why ‘The Last of Us’ scenario isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds... Thanks to our warming petri dish of a planet, a fungal horror show might be on the cards! The solution? Protect biodiversity and wean ourselves off of fossil fuels so we can halt the loss of nature and s...

Funghi, fossil fuels, finger pointing... we spoke to four environmentalists LIVE at Climate Week NYC to get you the scoop on what’s in, and what’s out, in the world of climate.  Featuring: Willow Defebaugh , co-founder and editor-in-chief of Atmos Wawa Gatheru , founder of Black Girl Environmentalist Kalpana Arias , founder of Nowadays on Earth Isaias Hernandez, founder of Queer Brown Vegan   Want...

Climate Curious season 5 is here. Co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst sit down to digest a busy week of recording the upcoming season at Climate Week in none other than the Big Apple... New York City! Tune in to hear the major themes, what topics are coming up this season, and what the iconic duo got up to in NYC.  Follow Climate Curious: Newsletter Instagram Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Suggest a to...

ESG, net zero, decarbonisation – climate gibberish has got us in a chokehold! So how do we talk about climate change in tangible, relevant ways that gets more people to take action? Climate Curious speaks to a climate marketer who’s delivered 3 billion ads on the topic, the founder and CEO of Potential Energy, John Marshall.  Join us at TEDxLondon Countdown . Learn more about Potential Energy. Wat...

This October 17th, TEDxLondon Countdown is bringing UK climate solutions to the world stage. Forget hopeless narratives, complex numbers and unreadable graphs, you’ll leave feeling empowered and inspired to kick some serious climate butt. Climate Curious speaks to TED’s youth lead Shiv Soin to learn how TED Countdown is supporting 12 TEDx events across the world. Expect local climate solutions, ac...

If you can't imagine a future, how can you create it? The collective stories we tell ourselves have a powerful role in how we understand our climate agency, says Pip Wheaton, from the Planet & Climate team at Ashoka, on Climate Curious by TEDxLondon. Tune in to learn about Ashoka’s latest research which gives actionable insight on how to activate climate changemakers: making it personal, curating...

Kynan Tegar, an 18-year old filmmaker and Indigenous Dayak Iban, joins Climate Curious to unearth the truth behind Indonesia’s capital city relocation. Specifically, why the government’s move of the capital from Jakarta to Borneo – to become a so-called “sustainable forest city” – is a pipe dream. Kynan shares how the capital city move imperils Indigenous communities throughout Borneo that have st...

Nicknamed the 'Oscars of Oil’, this October, the biggest names in the fossil fuel industry will gather for the exclusive Oil & Money summit in London, slickly rebranded as the ‘Energy Intelligence Forum’. Robin Wells from Fossil Free London joins Climate Curious to share why Londoners want Oily Money Out.  Learn more about Oily Money Out: https://www.oilymoneyout.uk/ Learn more about Fossil Free L...

Drag artist, cultural icon, and general good egg – Cheddar Gorgeous – joins Climate Curious to share why drag artistry is the perfect trojan horse for climate action. Over to Cheddar to share why drag is an incredible medium to one, create spectacle and grab awareness, and two, disrupt the master narratives that dictate our society. Follow Cheddar Gorgeous on Instagram Follow Cheddar Gorgeous on T...

Living in Chile, Catalina Santelices regularly experiences firsthand the effects of a changing climate – droughts, floods, polluted food, ruined crops. That’s why Catalina co-founded Latinas for Climate, a movement that embraces young Latina identities and perspectives in climate action. Catalina joins TEDxLondon’s Climate Curious to share what’s going on in Chile, why we need an intersectional ap...

200 farmers, 100,000 trees, 100 hectares of restored land. The Cacao Project in the Philippines is a restorative agroforestry initiative working to build climate-resilient livelihoods for farmers. Founder Louise Mabulo joins Climate Curious to share what climate resilience is, how planting toward a full moon or burying a rock under root crops can generate a better yield, and why invisible knowledg...

Next time you look into your wardrobe instead of seeing clothes, brands, logos, maybe your favourite dress, dig a little bit deeper into the story behind the clothes. Fashion designer Amy Powney joins Climate Curious to delve into the problems surrounding our pursuit of cheap clothing, from health and pollution to landfills that are visible from space. Whether you shop at Primark or Prada, Amy sha...

Xiaojun “Tom” Wang grew up in the Chinese province of Shanxi, the world’s largest coal producer. Tom joins Climate Curious to share the devastating impacts of coal mining; air pollution, landslides, acid rain, soil degradation, whilst asking, what really is China’s strategy when it comes to climate? And as the world’s largest producer of renewable technologies, how can Shanxi, and China, break fre...

Climate success story alert! Fifteen years ago, Uruguay was experiencing an energy crisis; today, the nation produces 98 percent of its electricity from renewable sources. That’s thanks to the work of just energy transition leader, Ramón Méndez Galain and his team, a former particle physicist who charted the country’s transition to renewables as head of the country’s National Energy Agency. Ramón...

Indigenous communities protect, nourish and heal ancestral forests: 470 million Indigenous Peoples care for and manage 80 percent of the world's biodiversity, in fact. So why are their rights under attack from companies, miners and illegal loggers? Nonette Royo, a human rights lawyer and executive director at the Tenure Facility, an organisation providing financial and technical assistance to Indi...

Mini-grids, or localised renewable energy systems, are increasing energy accessibility for people across Africa, says Tombo Banda, a clean energy access innovator. And with 500 million people still lacking access to electricity in Sub-Saharan Africa, relying instead on highly polluting materials like diesel and firewood, this climate solution will create better lives for millions of people, quickl...

We need to humanise our climate heroes, says Mauricio Porras, co-founder of HERO | herocircle.app . And we do that by paying them a fair wage. Mauricio joins Climate Curious co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst to chat through why young activists are expected to shoulder so much responsibility, how we are stronger if we work together as a global community, and how the Herocircle.app enables you to...

With Oppenheimer in the cinemas right now – nuclear s top of mind. But does nuclear energy deserve the bad reputation it seems to have gained? To clear up the confusion we’re joined by this week’s Quickie expert, Mark Dyson, a Managing Director with the Carbon-Free Electricity Program at RMI (formerly Rocky Mountain Institute). Tune in to understand how nuclear stacks up against oil, gas, coal, wi...

Coffee or a liveable future? You decide! Climate activists are doing one of the world’s most crucial, and dangerous jobs. So how come they don’t get paid for it? In this week’s Climate Curious, we’re talking to Mauricio Porras, co-founder of HERO | herocircle.app , which is the subscription platform providing a stable monthly income to activists on the frontlines of climate policy campaigning with...