Beyond the immediate human suffering, what are the wider implications of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on energy and food? This is an edited, public version of a WRI press call examining the issues and the questions that will need to be asked in the coming months and years. 

The podcast features four WRI experts: Stientje van Veldhoven, Craig Hanson, Jennifer Layke and Dan Lashof. It was produced and presented by Nicholas Walton. For more, go to www.wri.org/podcasts

Big Ideas Into Action #48: Ukraine, energy and food

Is it possible to predict conflict? That's what the Water, Peace and Security Partnership's machine learning early warning tool sets out to do. Four times a year the predictions are analyzed and turned into a quarterly report.

In this second WPS quarterly report podcast we'll look at the countries most at risk of conflict thanks to the fall out of the war in Ukraine, which has led to much higher fuel and food prices, along with serious predicted future food supply problems. The guest for this podcast is Susanne Schmeier, Associate Professor in Water Law and Diplomacy at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, one of the WPS partners, and the producer and presenter is Nicholas Walton of WRI.

Big Ideas Into Action #50: Water Peace and Security Quarterly Update 2

Many governments and authorities started to build cycling infrastructure during the Covid-19 lockdowns, but were these developments temporary or the foundation of a permanent shift towards truly cyclable cities? 

In this WRI Big Ideas Into Action podcast we hear that many of those cities are starting to make things permanent, and - of course - why helping to get more people out of cars and onto bicycles is a good thing for them, for the cities, and for the environment as well. In this podcast we hear from Jill Warren of the European Cyclist’s Federation in Brussels, Carlota Pederson Madero, who is the advisor to the subsecretary on mobility planning for Buenos Aires, WRI's Health and Road Safety director Claudia Ariazola-Steil, and from WRI Europe Santiago Londono in The Hague and Sophie Mongalvy in Paris. The podcast was produced and presented by Nicholas Walton.

Big Ideas Into Action #51: Cycling and the Sustainable City

It’s one of the thorniest issues in the shift to low carbon economies – what happens to those whose lives, livelihoods and communities are left behind as we move away from fossil fuels. To help examine these transitions we've put together a podcast miniseries that looks at the challenges, opportunities and solutions of just transition. 

In this Just Transition In Action podcast series we’ve this opening podcast looking at the broad issues, and then we'll examine three case studies – from Australia, India and the US – and ask what we can learn from them. 

We’ve also got a special resource section of our website where you can find out much, much more – go to wri.org/just-transitions. 

Go to wri.org/podcasts for many more of these WRI podcasts on all sorts of environment-related issues from cities and energy to forests, oceans, restoration and food - or you can subscribe using any podcast app. And don't forget to rate us! Thank you.

WRI Big Ideas Into Action #53: What is a Just Transition?

The World Resources Institute is now 40 years old, but how have the world's climate challenges changed in that time? And how has WRI evolved to meet them? 

In this podcast, Ani Dasgupta talks about 4 decades of climate action, about technology, growing global awareness of climate change, and the need to make sure climate action is about equity as well as carbon reduction. Former WRI presidents Gus Speth and Jonathan Lash also feature. 

WRI Big Ideas Into Action podcasts are produced and presented by Nicholas Walton.

Big Ideas Into Action #59: 40 years of climate action at WRI

Why is climate finance such an important issue, and how does it affect the world's most climate-vulnerable countries? In this podcast we look at the Pacific island nation of Fiji, which is on the frontline of climate change-related impacts such as coral bleaching, sea level rises, and extreme weather events. 

Fiji's attempts to meet this challenge were dealt a severe blow by Cyclone Winston and then - especially - the Covid 19 pandemic, which hit the tourism-dependent economy very hard. In this WRI podcast we hear about the challenges, the solutions that are being found, and the central role that climate finance plays in this.

The interviewees are Caitlin Smith and Prashant Chandra of WRI, and Prelish Lal of Fiji's Ministry of Economy. The podcast is presented by Nicholas Walton, who also produced it with significant help from Hayden Higgins from WRI's Finance team.

Big Ideas Into Action #60: Fiji and the Climate Finance challenge

Tackling climate change and its impacts is complex and multifaceted, and involves everything from simply reducing the fossil fuel emissions in energy generation through to looking at agricultural land use. And then there’s the role of the circular economy in making a decisive impact on tackling climate change. That’s the subject of a new report led by the Platform for Accelerating the Circular Economy, or PACE, titled 'Circular Economy as a Climate Strategy: current knowledge and calls-to-action'. 

In this podcast we hear from three of the report's authors: Ke Wang of PACE; Patrick Schröder of Chatham House; and Garvin Heath of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in the United States. The presenter and producer is Nicholas Walton of WRI. 

You can find out more at www.pacecircular.org and @pacecircular.

Big Ideas Into Action #61: the circular economy and climate action

The evidence continues to mount that the climate crisis is urgent, and action needs to be taken now to avert it and to minimise its impacts. Nowhere is this more true than for those vulnerable countries who are most at risk from its impacts. Many of these countries are part of a grouping called ACT2025, which tries to ensure that their voices are heard. So what exactly do they want? 

In this podcast we hear from Preety Bhandari of WRI, and Maria Laura Rojas of Transforma, an ACT2025 partner in Colombia. The presenter and producer is Nicholas Walton. 

For more:

* https://www.wri.org/initiatives/allied-climate-transformation-act2025/resources/cop27-call-enhanced-implementation
* https://www.wri.org/initiatives/allied-climate-transformation-act2025/act2025-podcast
* https://www.wri.org/un-climate-change-conference-resource-hub

Big Ideas Into Action #62: Climate-vulnerable countries and COP27

What is being done to stop marine biodiversity loss? Marine ecosystems are essential for all life on earth, providing benefits ranging from food to economic and recreational opportunities and more – with 3 billion people depending directly on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. However, it is being lost at an alarming rate.  

COP15 in Montreal saw governments from around the world take a step towards addressing this threat to nature by agreeing ‘30 by 30’, effective conservation and management of at least 30% of the world’s lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans by 2030. 

In this podcast, we learn about the cost of marine biodiversity loss in Mexico, a megadiverse country and home to almost 70% of the world’s diversity of species. We hear how Mexico are working to go above and beyond ‘30 by 30’, to manage 100% of the ocean under national jurisdictions, as part of their role on the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.  

Global Director of WRI’s Ocean Program, Kristian Teleki sat down with Martha Delgado and Andrew Rhodes from the government of Mexico during COP15, to discuss what these targets mean and what happens next for the future of our ocean.

Big Ideas Into Action #63: COP15 and Mexico's biodiversity

What are the big stories to watch for 2023? In this World Resources Institute podcast Ani Dasgupta and Nicholas Walton discuss four: the longer term impact of Russian's invasion of Ukraine on energy; what the re-election of President Lula in Brazil means for tropical forests; why 2023 is a big year for climate finance; and how is the Inflation Reduction Act affecting the US and beyond? 

You can see Ani's full presentation of Stories To Watch 2023 at https://www.wri.org/events/2023/1/stories-watch-2023

Big Ideas Into Action #64: four Stories To Watch for 2023

Paving the way to COP29 next month and COP30 in 2025, Brazil hosted an impactful Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM) at the beginning of October. WRI experts met with global leaders all week, laying a foundation for Latin American countries to demand enabling regulatory frameworks for renewable energy deployment and financing  — two topics that regional expert peers also highlighted during our discussion. It’s critical to enact policies in emerging markets that allow private and public finance to flow into and upgrade energy systems. 

Episode Guests: 
- Sylvana Bohrt, International Clean Energy Associate, WRI Energy Program 
- Ana Teixeira, Country Transition Analyst, Bloomberg NEF 
- Juan Paredes, Senior Renewable Energy Specialist, Inter-American Development Bank (IADB)

Additional BNEF Resources:
- Energy Transition Factbook 2024, launched in October 2024:
https://assets.bbhub.io/professional/sites/24/Clean-Energy-Ministerial-Factbook-2024.pdf
- Brazil Transition Factbook, launched in September 2024:
https://assets.bbhub.io/professional/sites/24/Brazil-Transition-Factbook.pdf

Preparing the World for Proactive Energy Planning: WRI Recaps the Clean Energy Ministerial

"Big Ideas Into Action" is the relaunched podcast from the World Resources Institute, bringing you the big ideas that combat the world's most pressing environmental and developmental challenges. You'll hear the voices of those meeting the challenges on the ground across the globe and find out about the way we're finding the answers and translating them into action. 

We'll be podcasting in series of six to eight at a time, once a week, with occasional special episodes to add our insights and analysis in response to big events. 

The World Resources Institute works around the globe to turn big ideas into action at the nexus of environment, economic opportunity, and human well-being. We focus on seven urgent global challenges that must be addressed to reduce poverty, grow economies and protect natural systems: climate change, energy, food, forests, water, cities, and the ocean.

Preparing the World for Proactive Energy Planning: WRI Recaps the Clean Energy Ministerial

WRI's Big Ideas Into Action podcast

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