Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast

What if we could not only listen to the rest of nature, but actually understand it? From decoding whale songs to giving nature a legal voice, the possibilities are tantalising - and they may not be as far-fetched as they sound. That’s why the Earth Species Project (ESP) is racing to use artificial intelligence to translate the communication of other species before they fall silent. How can this cu...

Live from Belém… it’s Outrage + Optimism! (Or it will be.) This year’s COP is one of the most significant in years, and we’ll be there with you every step of the way - charting the buildup, analysing events on the ground, and reflecting on the impacts that will be felt for decades to come. We’re delighted to announce that we are the official COP30 podcast, and there’s nobody better than Christiana...

What’s really in the food on our plates? The journey to our supermarket shelves is one of broken economics, environmental destruction, and social injustice. But what if agriculture could look completely different? This week, Christiana Figueres and Paul Dickinson travel to Umbria, Italy, to visit QuintoSapore , a farm founded by twin brothers Nicola and Alessandro. After leaving city careers, they...

As global temperatures continue to skyrocket, the once unthinkable is now within view: overshooting 1.5°C of warming. This limit, set out in the Paris Agreement, has defined a decade of climate action, but is fast approaching. So what happens next? This week, Tom, Christiana and Paul grapple with the latest science, the looming risks of climate tipping points, and the urgent need to prepare for th...

Isn’t climate change just part of a natural cycle? Weren’t CO2 levels much higher in the past? And, even if we should be worried, can one person really make a difference? Lies travel faster than facts. We’ve all been confronted by someone who doesn’t ‘believe the science’ and asks questions like these - but how do we change their minds? A powerful report from the International Panel on the Informa...

As record heat scorches the US, Trump’s government is making things dramatically worse. We break down the devastating implications of the One Big Beautiful Bill , the reversal of the Environmental Protection Agency’s endangerment finding , and a potential US withdrawal from all UN agencies. It’s a full-blown climate backslide with global consequences. Then, we bring you a conversation with the bri...

“An Existential Problem of Planetary Proportions” International Court of Justice President Yuji Iwasawa just delivered a landmark advisory opinion on climate change and human rights - one that could transform global climate action and accountability. A dancing and crying Christiana Figueres is joined by Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson, to react in real-time, and speak with two of the lawyers...

Can a pilot really be the change-maker who helps us to holiday nearer home? Why aren’t governments and institutions doing more to help climate activists? And can climate progress happen without sacrificing prosperity, especially in countries like Brazil? Christiana Figueres, Paul Dickinson and guest host Fiona McRaith (Director of The Climate Pledge at Global Optimism) are back with more of the kn...

We’re handing the mic over to you on this week’s Outrage + Optimism : The Climate Podcast . In this special Q&A episode, Christiana Figueres, Paul Dickinson and guest host Fiona McRaith (Director of The Climate Pledge at Global Optimism) respond to thought-provoking questions from listeners around the world. They consider the future of the COP model, whether the Pacific concept of vā may offer...

In a world-first, the International Court of Justice is preparing to deliver an advisory opinion on climate change and human rights - all thanks to a youth-led campaign that began thousands of miles from The Hague, in the Pacific Islands. This week, we look inside that extraordinary campaign, and hear the story of Cynthia Houniuhi, who - as a young law student from the Solomon Islands - helped lau...

Last episode, we explored the urgent connection between climate and health, and brought you a powerful and timely conversation with Julia Gillard, former Australian Prime Minister and Chair of the Wellcome Trust. Today, we want to recommend a show that those who enjoyed that episode are likely to love. When Science Finds A Way is a brilliant podcast from the Wellcome Trust that highlights how scie...

Scientists warn that the world could breach its 1.5°C emissions limit within just 2-3 years. It’s a scary thought, but across the globe, many are grappling with an even more immediate and visceral reality: the climate crisis is already a health crisis. From deadly heatwaves to worsening air pollution and climate-related trauma, the health impacts of climate change are escalating. In this episode,...

While climate diplomacy grapples with global uncertainty, there’s a quiet revolution happening that may be just as important - thousands of breakthrough technologies and creative applications that are emerging to tackle the climate crisis in new and unexpected ways. Around the world, figures from business, government and civil society come together at climate weeks to share ideas, showcase solutio...

World leaders, scientists and ocean advocates are gathering in Nice for the 3rd UN Ocean Conference (UNOC) and hopes are high that progress can be made on some of the many pressing issues facing our seas - from acidification to pollution, and from biodiversity loss to deep sea mining.  Reporting from the summit, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac ask: can this moment become a true turn...

This November, Brazil will host COP30 in Belém, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, in what is bound to be a moment packed with symbolism, high expectations, and global significance. This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson explore what’s at stake, what Brazil wants to achieve, and whether the world is ready to move from ambition to implementation. Back from his rece...

How far would you go to protect your home? In this week’s special episode, Christiana Figueres brings us a deeply personal and political dispatch from Vanuatu - a country on the frontlines of the climate crisis and at the heart of one of the most significant climate justice initiatives of our time. In conversations with voices from government ( Minister Ralph Regenvanu ), climate diplomacy ( Chris...

As the US federal government drifts further into anti-climate rhetoric and abandons its national and international commitments, can non-state actors hold the line? With Christiana Figueres away in Vanuatu, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson take the reins to explore how climate progress is increasingly being driven by - or being left to - businesses and non-profits. They unpack the mounting chal...

On April 28th, millions of people across Spain, Portugal and beyond were plunged into darkness in one of Europe’s most severe blackouts in decades. Was it a cyberattack? A renewables failure? Or might things be a little more complex? This week, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres, and Paul Dickinson dig into what we know, what we don’t, and ask what this blackout really tells us about the trans...

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair says that net zero is politically unachievable without radical rethinking: a shift away from reducing consumption and toward technologies that can remove carbon both at the source and from the atmosphere. So, are carbon capture and carbon removal really viable - and more palatable - alternatives to a rapid fossil fuel phaseout? And is our net zero strategy faili...

Australia heads to the polls this weekend - with climate firmly on the ballot. Is the country ready to lose its reputation as the battleground of the climate wars? And are we about to see a lasting shift in a nation that has for years been torn between its sunlight and its coal? As a pivotal election looms, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson examine what’s at stake for one o...

Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for fossil fuels? This Earth Day, Outrage + Optimism explores a seismic shift in global energy: the possibility that major oil and gas companies are entering a self-managed decline. Have fossil fuel companies been overvalued for decades? And are they now quietly winding themselves down?  For years, analysts and campaigners have questioned why these c...

In the wake of this morning’s sad announcement about the death of Pope Francis, Christiana Figueres reflects on his important legacy as a champion for environmental and justice causes, and shares some of the late Pope’s own words, reflecting on the landmark Paris Agreement. Learn more  🌍 Pope Francis’s words in Profiles of Paris 📜 Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Commo...

As the US retreats from international climate leadership and looks increasingly inwards, can China step up and steer the global energy transition? And if it can, what shape will that transition take? In the latest of our country deep-dives, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson explore China’s pivotal and complex role in decarbonising our world. At home, the nation is a technol...

What happens when the US tears up the rulebook on global trade? And what does that mean for the planet? Plus: what on earth is happening in Greenland? And does it really signal an unlikely MAGA embrace of climate science? In this urgent and wide-ranging episode, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson explore the fallout from Trump’s new global tariffs, reflect on the environment...

How have fossil fuel lobbyists become so embedded in the COP system, and how can we disrupt their involvement in domestic and international politics? This is our second episode inspired by the RSC and Good Chance Theatre’s production of Kyoto. In this episode, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson explore the history of this often unseen influence, ask why fossil fuel lobbyists...