We Need to Act

What if the climate narrative itself is the problem? Paul Hawken is one of the world's most influential environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and authors. Founder of Project Drawdown and Project Regeneration, and New York Times bestselling author of nine books — including The Ecology of Commerce , Drawdown , Regeneration , and his latest, Carbon: The Book of Life (2025) — he has spent over 50 years wo...

Aquí está: ¿Sabías que las abejas meliponas polinizan hasta el 80% de la flora amazónica — y que la mayoría de la gente ni sabe que existen? Ornella Muñoz creció en Dos de Mayo, a orillas del río Ucayali, en la Amazonía peruana. Desde pequeña se preguntaba de dónde venía el aire fresco, cómo los árboles hacían posible la vida y por qué su comunidad dependía tanto de la naturaleza. Esa curiosidad s...

What if whales are not just animals — but ancestors? Dr. Mere Takoko is a Māori Ocean and Climate conservationist from Aotearoa New Zealand and one of the leading voices behind the movement to grant whales legal personhood across the Pacific. A descendant of Māui and Paikea — the ancestor who arrived in New Zealand on the back of a whale — Mere holds what she describes not as a job, but an inherit...

What does the godfather of the global sustainability movement think is coming next? John Elkington has been working at the intersection of business, environment, and society for over 50 years. He coined the Triple Bottom Line. He wrote the Green Consumer Guide. He conceived the Green Swan. He has advised governments, corporations, and movements across the world. And after all of that — after five...

What does it take to stop a coal plant from being built in your community — when you're young, when the government is pushing it, and when the promises of jobs and opportunity are pulling people the other way? For Portia, the answer was relationships, strategy, and an unshakeable belief that there is always an alternative. A grassroots climate advocate, royal native of Asuom in Ghana's Eas...

What if the environmental crisis is really a crisis of worldview? In this episode, Sara sits down with Professor Carl Mika — Professor of Māori and Indigenous Philosophies, and Head of School of Aotahi: School of Māori and Indigenous Studies, University of Canterbury — for a conversation that goes straight to the roots of how we see ourselves in relation to everything else. Carl challenges some of...

What does it actually take to make someone fall in love with nature? Not lecture them, not overwhelm them with data, but genuinely make them fall in love? That’s the question driving everything Natalie Kyriacou does. Environmentalist, author, storyteller, and founder of My Green World, Natalie has spent over a decade building games, education programs, and now a sweeping new book - Nature’s Last D...

Yuvelis Morales tiene 25 años, creció pescando en el Río Magdalena y hoy es la voz más joven y potente de la lucha antifracking en Colombia. Ganadora del Premio Goldman de Medio Ambiente 2026, el reconocimiento más importante del activismo ambiental en el mundo, Juve nos habla desde el corazón del Valle Medio colombiano. En este episodio descubrirás: → Qué significa ser "gente del río" y por qué e...

What does it mean to truly belong - not as an individual seeking acceptance, but as part of an interconnected whole? In this episode, Sara Rego speaks with Lana Jelenjev, a Filipina facilitator and systems thinker based in the Netherlands, whose work sits at the intersection of nervous system literacy, belonging, and organizational transformation. Lana introduces us to kapwa - the Filipino value o...

In this episode of We Need to Act , Sara Rego speaks with Cynthia Tina, intentional community expert, author of Intentional Community , and founder of CommunityFinders and Ecovillage Tours, about how intentional communities and ecovillages are reshaping housing, health, and happiness. With experience visiting 200+ intentional communities worldwide and living in a Vermont ecovillage, Cynthia explor...

En este episodio conversamos con Carolina Castro Jorquera, artista e investigadora chilena, sobre el arte como una forma de vida, de conocimiento y de conexión profunda con la naturaleza. Desde el Valle del Aconcagua, Carolina nos invita a repensar el arte más allá de los objetos, como una práctica que cultiva la atención, el cuidado y la sensibilidad. Exploramos cómo el arte puede abrir espacios...

Most climate communication has failed to inspire the urgent climate action we need. What if the key to environmental change is not just science but how we talk, connect, and resonate emotionally with each other? In this episode, we explore how effective climate communication can motivate real behavior change and strengthen community engagement. Our guest, George Marshall , a leading climate commun...

In this special episode of We Need to Act , Sara joins Podcasthon , the world’s largest podcast charity initiative, to spotlight a cause that affects us all: protecting our oceans. Today’s guest is Fynn Hedrich, entrepreneur and founder of Ocean Pulse . After building a successful career in the meat industry, Fynn made a life-changing decision to step away and pursue more purpose-driven work. His...

In this powerful conversation, Osprey Orielle Lake —founder of the Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN) —shares her personal journey into climate activism and the deeper values that guide her work. Drawing from decades of advocacy and her latest book, The Story is in Our Bones , Lake explores how the climate crisis is not only an environmental issue but also a reflection of deeper syst...

In this episode of the We Need to Act podcast, we welcome John Pabon , greenwashing expert, author of The Great Greenwashing, consultant, and speaker. John unpacks how greenwashing evolved from fossil fuel misinformation into a sophisticated global system of climate deception involving corporations, governments, NGOs, and even billionaires. We discuss the difference between accidental and delibera...

En este episodio conversamos con Diego Isabel La Moneda , cofundador y director de la Fundación Foro NESI , sobre la urgencia de transformar el modelo económico para que vuelva a estar al servicio de las personas y del planeta. Desde una vocación temprana marcada por la idea de dejar el mundo mejor de como lo encontramos , Diego reflexiona sobre los límites del sistema actual, el falso dilema entr...

In this episode of the We Need to Act podcast, we are honored to welcome Sara Olsvig , Chair of the Inuit Circumpolar Council (ICC) , representing around 180,000 Inuit across Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Russia. Sara shares her experience leading the global Inuit voice in international forums such as the United Nations, the Arctic Council, and the International Maritime Organization. She explain...

In this episode of We Need to Act , host Sara Rego sits down with Michael Kotutwa Johnson , a 250th-generation Hopi farmer and Assistant Professor at the University of Arizona, to explore how Indigenous knowledge can help address today’s climate and food crises. Michael explains why industrial agriculture—not climate change alone—is driving soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and water scarcity w...

In this enlightening conversation, Professor Jansen discusses his journey from aspiring biochemist to a dedicated educator, emphasizing the importance of teaching as a vocation. He reflects on the impact of colonialism on education and the urgent need for climate change education. The discussion also covers climate justice, the role of AI in education, and the importance of empowering communities...

As we close out 2025 and step into 2026, this episode is a moment to pause, reflect, and look ahead. In this special year-end wrap-up of We Need to Act , host Sara reflects on the conversations, voices, and lessons that shaped our understanding of sustainability in 2025 — and why sustainability must be reframed if we are serious about creating just, regenerative futures. From Indigenous wisdom and...

Este episodio es una conversación íntima con la poeta mapuche María Isabel Lara Millapán sobre memoria, lengua y territorio en tiempos de desconexión acelerada. Hablamos de cómo el mundo se ha vuelto más rápido y orientado al “hacer” más que al “ser”, y de lo que perdemos cuando nos alejamos de la naturaleza y de nuestras raíces. María Isabel comparte cómo su poesía nace de la infancia, del duelo...

In this episode of We Need to Act , host Sara Rego speaks with Helena Norberg-Hodge—one of the world’s most influential voices on localization and the new economy movement. Helena Norberg-Hodge , linguist, author, filmmaker, and pioneer of the global localization movement, is the founder and director of Local Futures and the convenor of World Localization Day and the Planet Local Summit. She is th...

In this episode, we partner with Cool Earth , an organization whose mission is to provide cash and data directly to people living in the rainforest so they can do what they do best — protect it. We also speak with Equal Right , Cool Earth’s partner organization in the Income for Peace with Nature project in Colombia. Our guests, Isabel Felandro , Head of Programmes at Cool Earth, and Carlos Adrián...

En este episodio, nos asociamos con Cool Earth , una organización cuya misión es proporcionar dinero y datos directamente a las personas que viven en la selva tropical para que puedan hacer lo que mejor saben hacer: protegerla . También hablamos con Equal Right , la organización socia de Cool Earth en el proyecto Income for Peace with Nature en Colombia. Nuestros invitados, Isabel Felandro , Direc...

"Yesterday the word was not sustainability. Yesterday the word was life. And today we have to learn how to be life." - Uncle Kimokeo In this episode, we welcome a very special guest from Hawai‘i: Kimokeo Kapahulehua — respected kūpuna, cultural practitioner, paddler, and founder of the Kimokeo Foundation. Uncle Kimokeo has dedicated his life to preserving and perpetuating Hawaiian culture, languag...