Environment

We have 12 years to make changes and keep the temperature rise under 1.5 °C. This was the message from the IPCC, which is the UN’s international scientific body on climate change. Economist John Roemer shares his blueprint on how to head off climate catastrophe.

For more information go to: 
http://www.oecd.org/environment/
https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment

Host: Clara Young
Producer: Robin Allison Davis 

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Global warming under 1.5 °C? Yale professor John Roemer says we can do it.

Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard has circumnavigated the globe in a hot-air balloon and a solar-fuelled airplane. Now, he’s exploring a whole new world—the world of climate-friendly business. Bertrand’s foundation, Solar Impulse, helps start-ups get energy-efficient, low-carbon innovations into production and onto the global market.

Host: Clara Young
Producer: Robin Allison Davis

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Meet Bertrand Piccard, zero-emissions globe-trotter

Our oceans absorb 30% of the CO2 caused by greenhouse gas emissions. And they take in 90% of the heat that's caused by the same emissions. But our oceans are getting tired. UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson, talks to us about ocean biodiversity, coral reefs and acidification. And the miracle of intertidal marshes, seagrass beds, lagoons, and mangrove forests. 

Host: Clara Young
Producer: Robin Allison Davis

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Sea change: a talk with UN Special Envoy for the Ocean, Peter Thomson

Millions of people around the world suffer—and many die prematurely—because of air pollution. The culprit: fossil fuel burning. It's poisoning the air we breathe and pushing up carbon emissions. Air pollution and climate change are two sides of the same coin: improve the quality of the air we breathe, and that will immediately make us healthier. It will also bring down the carbon and methane emissions that trap the sun’s heat, raising our planet’s temperature. Rich Fuller is the founder and president of the nonprofit Pure Earth, which is dedicated to solving pollution problems in low- and middle-income countries. Mr Fuller also co-chaired the landmark Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health.

Host: Clara Young
Producer: Robin Allison Davis

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The air we breathe : Rich Fuller of Pure Earth

Business-as-usual has become a largely unsustainable system. When economics and the financial industry are driven solely by quarterly earnings growth and GDP, the well-being of most people falls by the wayside. The health of our environment and trust between people are also casualties of growth-only economics. Economist Jeffrey Sachs is the director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. He says our economic watchwords should be well-being. And do no harm. While this podcast was recorded in October 2019, Sachs’ insights remain more relevant than ever.

Host: Clara Young
Producer: Robin Allison Davis

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Do the right thing, says Jeffrey Sachs

According to the The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, we have 11 years to cut carbon emissions by half. And by 2050, carbon emissions must be eliminated. If not, humans will find themselves on an unliveable planet. David Wallace-Wells is the author of  the New York Times' Bestseller, "The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming”. He describes for us what the world will be like if we go past a 2°C temperature rise. And what we have to do to avoid it.

Host: Clara Young
Producer: Robin Allison Davis

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David Wallace-Wells sounds the climate alarm

Are cities our best hope for the planet? Ashok Sridharan, mayor of Bonn, Germany, thinks so. Part of the OECD’s Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth Initiative, Bonn is pursuing sustainable development in things like energy, transport and housing, while addressing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. With half of the world’s population living in urban areas, which produce half of global waste, 80% of greenhouse gas emissions and over 70% of energy-related carbon emissions, what happens in cities is likely to determine our future.

For more information on the Champion Mayors program, go to: http://www.oecd-inclusive.com/champion-mayors/

Host: Clara Young
Producer: Robin Allison Davis

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Environment

Anindita MUKHERJEE