You've Been Warmed

In today's episode I have the pleasure of talking to Riccardo Mastini - Riccardo is a a PhD candidate in Political Ecology and Ecological Economics at the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.The topic sounded extremely interesting, particularly since Riccardo is at the forefront of academic research into degrowth - the idea that we need to transform our society to optimize the well-being of everybody and sustain the natural basis of life.Apart from studying degrowth, Riccardo is a Member of the Green New Deal for Europe and the Wellbeing Economic Alliance. He has also consulted the United Nations Environment Programme, several environmental agencies across the world and a lot of international NGOs.Our podcast was quite detailed and had an academic feel to it. It does require a bit of focus, but the explanations are so nuanced and in-depth that it's a worthy listen. We discussed how his PhD intersects with climate change, we delved deeper into degrowth, we looked at why we cannot continue to grow and decarbonize at the same time (at a meaningful rate anyway) and we explored the intricacies of the Green New Deal with a focus on Europe.Hope you enjoy this episode, let's dive right in!RICCARDO'S RELEVANT LINKSRiccardo’s website: https://rmastini.wixsite.com/degrowthRiccardo’s Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/r.mastiniRiccardo’s Twitter account: https://twitter.com/r_mastiniEPISODE TIMECODES3:47 - Riccardo's background, PhD & how it intersects with climate change10:50 - Defining the concept of degrowth21:04 - Is degrowth necessary to decarbonize?32:24 - The European Green New Deal & its challenges50:09 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs SocietyRESOURCES MENTIONEDFriends of the Earth Europe’s report ‘Sufficiency: Moving beyond the gospel of eco-efficiency’: http://www.foeeurope.org/sufficiencyPost-Growth Conference 2018 at the European Parliament: https://www.postgrowth2018.eu/Institute of Environmental Science and Technology, Autonomous University of Barcelona: https://ictaweb.uab.cat/Green New Deal for Europe: https://www.gndforeurope.com/campaignResearch & Degrowth: https://degrowth.org/Wellbeing Economy Alliance: https://wellbeingeconomy.org/Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy: https://steadystate.org/Degrowth.info: https://www.degrowth.info/en/Is Green Growth Possible?: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59bc0e610abd04bd1e067ccc/t/5cbdc638b208fc1c56f785a7/1555940922601/Hickel+and+Kallis+-+Is+Green+Growth+Possible.pdfDecoupling debunked: https://eeb.org/library/decoupling-debunked/A Good Life For All Within Planetary Boundaries: https://goodlife.leeds.ac.uk/The EU needs a stability and wellbeing pact, not more growth: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/sep/16/the-eu-needs-a-stability-and-wellbeing-pact-not-more-growthWorld Scientists’ Warning of a Climate Emergency: https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/article/70/1/8/5610806IPCC Low Energy Demand scenario: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-018-0172-6Tradable Energy Quotas scheme: https://www.flemingpolicycentre.org.uk/teqs/

Today You've Been Warmed episode features Peter Kalmus - a NASA climate scientist very well-known for his activism, particularly in the way he completely changed his lifestyle to drastically reduce his individual emissions (and those of his family).Peter is very outspoken about the need to act on climate change with urgency and I wanted to get his take on solutions both from his standpoint as a scientist, but also as a human being. It's not a coincidence that his Twitter handle is @ClimateHuman.We approached the topic of 2 degrees warming and what that would mean for our world, particularly the way in which he frames the discussion for himself starting from the unknown unknowns when it comes to tipping points and other consequences of warming. We spoke about individual changes and their importance, how we can remove more CO2 from the atmosphere and why climate change is the "perfect" problem for mankind.Finally we dove into the Green New Deal, why he supports this initiative and why this election cycle is extremely important in shaping our fight to preserve the planet.PETER'S RELEVANT LINKSPeter's Twitter - https://twitter.com/ClimateHumanEarth Hero App - https://www.earthhero.org/'Being the Change: Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution' Book - https://peterkalmus.net/books/read-by-chapter-being-the-change/TIMECODES (to be changed)3:02 - Peter's Background & Working At NASA9:21 - What 2°C Warming Means For The Planet13:33 - Individual Action & Climate Change18:28 - Removing CO2 From The Atmosphere29:49 - Electric Planes & Electricity Usage33:40 - The Case For A Green New Deal46:38 - A Final Message For ListenersLINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEJim Hansen - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_HansenHeartland Institute - https://www.heartland.org/Ben Gerhold - https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamingerhold/

Today's You've Been Warmed episode features Max Boykoff - The Director of the Center For Science & Technology Policy Research at the University of Colorado Boulder.Max also researches & teaches science-policy & society at the same University and he is the author of 'Creative (Climate) Communications' - a book that examines what mix of communication strategies can be effective in inspiring people to take action on climate change in an effort to recapture a common ground on the topic within the public arena.Throughout the episode Max impressed me with very thoughtful and well articulated answers that give a balanced view on climate communication while not offering a silver bullet that can solve everything. Instead he advocates for a 'silver buckshot' approach where a number of strategies reach different audiences in different contexts.We spoke at large about the role the media plays and how it covers the effects of climate change - in fact one of the projects Max leads, called the 'Media and Climate Change Observatory' analyses this quantitatively and qualitative, which uniquely positions him to give an informed observation on the topic.We dove into why authenticity and accuracy when it comes to communicating the effects of climate change is extremely important, but why we also have to combine that with inspiring visions & stories that can get people to take action rather than make them feel lonely and hopeless. We also spoke about the role that humor plays in climate communication and how it can erase some of the partisan issues that might arise from approaching the subject.I probably cannot do this episode justice by trying to summarise the points more here, so I invite you to have a listen to our chat!MAX'S RELEVANT LINKSMax's Twitter - https://twitter.com/boykoff'Creative (Climate) Communications' Book - https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/earth-and-environmental-science/environmental-policy-economics-and-law/creative-climate-communications-productive-pathways-science-policy-and-society?format=PB&isbn=9781316646823TIMECODES (to be changed)3:50 - His Background & Climate Journey8:57 - How Is Climate Change Perceived Now?17:10 - What Is The Balance Between Fear And Solutions22:52 - Using Storytelling, Humor, Authenticity & More32:10 - How Well Do Climate Activists Communicate?38:12 - Science vs Society vs Politics vs BusinessRELEVANT LINKS FROM THIS EPISODEKatharine Hayhoe - https://twitter.com/KHayhoeEd Maibach - https://twitter.com/maibachedMedia and Climate Change Observatory - https://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/icecaps/research/media_coverage/index.html'Inside The Greenhouse' at University of Colorado Boulder - https://insidethegreenhouse.org/ 

This episode of You've Been Warmed features Chris Adams - one of the directors of the Green Web Foundation, an organizer for ClimateAction.Tech and founder of a small consultancy called Greening.DigitalAs an avid techie, Chris is extremely knowledgeable when it comes to web technology and its implications for climate change. Because everything we use in our digital infrastructure is based on data centers - of which a lot run on energy derived from fossil fuels - it's important to understand how we can replace the source of that energy with renewables. It's obviously an extremely complex topic to talk about, which is why Chris' pragmatic and informed approach was so educational. He took me through the various decisions that any company makes when deciding on hosting (and the inherent trade-offs that come with that), as well as what percentages of online domains currently run on renewable energy (and how that has evolved over the past year). There was an interesting discussion regarding web hosting providers and how the oligopoly formed by Microsoft, Google and Amazon is extremely difficult to tackle.We then dove into a fascinating topic that involved how companies treat their emissions reductions for Scopes 1,2 and 3, how precisely they calculate those emissions and what kind of 'accounting' tricks they might pull to paint a different picture. We contrasted the approach that Stripe has taken vs that of Amazon and we ended up discussing greenwashing and how Corporate Social Responsibility is dealt with in various companies across the world.Finally, Chris delivered a great summary on ClimateAction.Tech - a community I highly encourage all of my listeners to join as it has a lot of value & interesting people to connect with.Let's dive straight in - let me know if you enjoy this one!CHRIS' RELEVANT LINKSChris' Twitter - https://twitter.com/mrchrisadamsGreen Web Foundation - https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/ClimateAction.Tech - https://climateaction.tech/Greening Digital - https://greening.digital/TIMECODES3:50 - Chris' Background & Involvement In The Climate Space5:00 - Why Do We Need To Make The Web 'Greener'?8:00 - How Can Companies Reduce Emissions From Their Digital Operations?14:53 - The Google, Microsoft & Amazon Web Hosting Oligopoly22:05 - Stripe vs Amazon + Scope 1,2 & 3 Emissions32:00 - Greenwashing & CSR Within Companies36:05 - The ClimateAction.Tech Community & Its Value42:15  - Science vs Business vs Politics vs SocietyLINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEThe Energy Transition Show - https://xenetwork.org/ets/Map Camp Conference - https://www.map-camp.com/Digital Ocean -https://www.digitalocean.com/Increment Magazine Stripe Article - https://increment.com/energy-environment/stripes-carbon-neutral-journey/AMEE - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoiding_Mass_Extinctions_EngineTomorrow's Electricity Map - https://www.tmrow.com/HBR Piece About CSR - https://hbr.org/2015/01/the-truth-about-csrUngleich - ungleich.chData Center Light - https://datacenterlight.ch/Heated.World - https://heated.world/Creatives For Climate - https://www.linkedin.com/company/creatives-for-climate/Climate Outreach -https://climateoutreach.org/Climate Kic - https://www.climate-kic.org/

Today's You've Been Warmed episode features Asim Hussain - Green Cloud Advocacy Lead at Microsoft. Asim is a developer, trainer, published author and conference speaker with almost 20 years of experience in the tech space with stints at the European Space Agency, Google and now Microsoft. He also teaches tech course on Udemy - an online course marketplace - where he has over 37,000 students.Asim is also an organizer for Climate Action Tech - an online community of people who work in the tech sector and want to change companies from within, particularly when it comes to addressing climate change.You might think initially - 'What does it mean to be a green cloud advocate?' - usually when we think about the cloud & the internet in general, we perceive them as intangible, not as something that would have an immediate impact on the environment. It turns out, however, that cloud computing accounts for about 3% of our total greenhouse gas emissions - which is roughly the same as the entire aviation industry.Asim was very eloquent in explaining how we can reduce these emissions, as well as developing applications that consume less (and are more efficient). We also discussed Microsoft's recent net zero by 2030 announcement along with their Sustainability Calculator and how they identify their Scope 1,2 and 3 emissions throughout their entire supply chain and plan to address them each. Finally, we dove into Climate Action Tech, why people who feel lonely in the fight against climate change should join and how the community supports every member and organizes to create positive changes.ASIM & CLIMATE ACTION TECH LINKSAsim's Website - https://asim.dev/Asim's Twitter Profile - https://twitter.com/jawacheClimate Action Tech Website - https://climateaction.tech/TIMECODES6:42 - His Background & How It Led To His Green Cloud Advocacy Position11:30 - What Does It Mean To Be A Green Cloud Developer16:47 - The Environmental Impact Of Cloud Computing20:16 - Can You Track This Externality?22:35 - Microsoft's Net Zero Target & Sustainability Calculator25:30 - Scope 1,2 And 3 Emissions32:25 - The Climate Action Tech Community (CAT)38:50 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs SocietyRELEVANT LINKS MENTIONEDMicrosoft's Net Zero by 2030 announcement - https://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2020/01/16/microsoft-will-be-carbon-negative-by-2030/Microsoft's Sustainability Calculator - https://appsource.microsoft.com/en-us/product/power-bi/coi-sustainability.sustainability_dashboard

Today's You've Been Warmed episode welcomes Dave Borlace - a growing YouTube star when it comes to the climate change conversation.Dave produces videos on his YouTube Channel - Just Have A Think - where he educates his over 50,000 subscribers on various topics related to climate change. The reason his content is so valuable is because he manages to condense heavy amounts of information into medium-sized videos - about 10-15 minutes long - which are easily digestible.Not everybody can read scientific papers and synthesize information, and not everybody has the time to research as much. I'm personally a big fan of his channel, having watched a lot of the content and found amazing insights in his videos detailing the IPCC 1.5 degree report, nuclear technology or the latest developments in battery tech.It was a pleasure to speak to Dave about his channel and his content creation process. We also dove deep into the individual changes he made to offset his own emissions, how important social movements are to creating lasting change, the difference between the Western world and developing countries when it comes to climate change, as well as the Nuclear vs Renewables debate.We also produced a video version of this episode which is available on Dave's YouTube channel - unfortunately I managed to only record his screen, so you won't be able to see me. Hopefully I'll learnt my lesson for the next video interview I do.I highly recommend watching or listening to the interview and definitely consider subscribing to Dave's channel and becoming a Patron - supporting high quality content around climate change will help him dedicate more time and educate more people about this crucial topic.DAVE'S RELEVANT LINKS'Just Have A Think' YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRBwLPbXGsI2cJe9W1zfSjQ'Just Have A Think' Patreon Page - https://www.patreon.com/justhaveathinkTIMECODES3:40 - Dave's Background, How He Learned About Climate Change & Started His YouTube Channel10:30 Dave's Content creation process17:40 - Individual Changes That Reduce Emissions - How Easy Are They To Implement?27:50 - What About Systemic Change From Collective Action?33:10 - Western Nations vs The Developing World38:25 - The Path To Net-Zero Emissions - How Do We Get There?44:24 - The Nuclear vs Renewables Debate55:04 - Business vs Science vs Politics vs SocietyRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEDave's DIY Videos - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1wsfciQMOM'A farewell to ice' by Peter Wadhams - https://www.amazon.com/Farewell-Ice-Peter-Wadhams/dp/0241009413Zack Labe - https://twitter.com/ZLabeUdemy - https://www.udemy.com/Triodos Bank - https://www.triodos.com/Impossible Foods - https://impossiblefoods.com/Roger Hallam - https://www.rogerhallam.com/Extinction Rebellion - https://rebellion.earth/Fridays For Future - https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/Sunrise Movement - https://www.sunrisemovement.org/Michael Gove - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_GoveIPCC 1.5 Degree Report - https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/Kevin Anderson - https://twitter.com/KevinClimateJHAT Negative Emissions Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbbUDnk79G4Molten-Salt Reactors - https://www.world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/molten-salt-reactors.aspxJoshua Rhodes Episode - https://www.youvebeenwarmed.com/episodes/10-improving-energy-infrastructure-and-transmission-for-better-renewables-adoption-joshua-rhodesMike Kirby Episode - https://www.youvebeenwarmed.com/episodes/15-the-evolution-of-residential-solar-mike-kirby-lumina-solarJyri Engestrom Episode - https://www.youvebeenwarmed.com/episodes/the-ww2-inspired-mobilization-to-decarbonize-our-economy-w-jyri-engestrom-co-founder-yes-vcZack Exley - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zack_ExleyCommitted Emissions - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-019-1364-3

Today on You've Been Warmed we dive deep into Aclima - a San Francisco-based company that aims to build a more environmentally intelligent society. They do this by deploying region-wide sensors at scale - both mobile and stationary - which map out air quality at previously impossible scales and with much much better precision. The result is an entire range of data that can is analysed by communities, regulators and local authorities and helps back their decision making with solid, tested data.Joining me from Aclima was their VP of Strategy and Business Development - Robert Muphy. I was impressed by how fast and concise he could explain seemingly complex topics and really put the pieces of the puzzle together in a very easy to understand way.We discusses his background in the energy sector and what got him to work for a company that aims to tackle climate change and its effects, we explored exactly how the technology behind Aclima works, how their data can help clients and what their plans are for scaling their operations, particularly since countries like China are already severely affected by very poor air quality.ROBERT & ACLIMA'S LINKSRobert's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rjmurphy/Aclima Website - https://aclima.io/Aclima Twitter - https://twitter.com/aclimaAclima Careers Page - https://aclima.io/careers/Mapping Air Quality and Greenhouse Gases on Every Block in the Bay Area - https://blog.aclima.io/mapping-air-quality-on-every-block-in-the-bay-area-2ad420092b30TIMECODES3:11 - Robert's Background & How He Started Working At Aclima6:20 - How Air Sensing Technology Has Evolved Over The Past Decade9:02 - What Insights Does Their Data Produce?13:49 - How Are The Sensors Deployed?16:03 - Their Plans To Scale Their Operations This Year & Beyond18:28 - How Do Their Mobile Stations Work20:14 - Competitors & Mapping Air Quality in China24:59 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs Society

Today's You've Been Warmed episode features Vinay Gupta - Founder & CEO of Mattereum - a blockchain startup that creates digital identities for the world's physical goods. Vinay is also really well known for his humanitarian efforts - he created the 'hexayurt' structure which is a great option for providing refugees with shelter and scaling humanitarian response, he has worked extensively with the Rocky Mountain Institute and was also the release coordinator for the Ethereum project - the second largest cryptocurrency by market cap in the world, after Bitcoin.I have to say Vinay is one of the most intelligent and well-spoken people you could probably meet and I have been following him closely since my early days in the crypto space. In this episode, we addressed the main issue that Mattereum aims to address - making consumption more efficient. For those who are not aware of the specifics of blockchain, Vinay made a great summary that explains the value of the technology and why it's needed moving forward. We also discussed how the world could manage carbon emissions with blockchain technology and the current vs future emissions of blockchains.Finally, we dove into Mattereum - how they aim to create a digital identity for the world's physical goods, what this means in practical terms, what new use-cases and consumption efficiencies this will generate and how it will ultimately lead to a world with much less waste.Vinay is a visionary and has both an interesting past & a encouraging vision for the future. Highly recommend listening to this until the end. Let's get into it.VINAY & MATTEREUM LINKSMattereum Website - https://mattereum.com/Vinay's Twitter - https://twitter.com/leashlessMyHope For The World - http://myhopeforthe.world/The Cutting Machinery - http://thecuttingmachinery.com/TIMECODES3:51 - Vinay's Background & Humanitarian Efforts12:26 - His Work With Ethereum & The Blockchain Space19:33 - How To Manage Carbon Emissions With Blockchain21:21 - Current vs Future Carbon Emissions Of Blockchains23:04 - Overconsumption And The IPCW Model28:54 - What Is Mattereum All About?31:56 - Why Blockchain Is Required In This Solution33:04 - The Future & Vision Of Mattereum38:12 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs Society46:35 - The Role Of Meditation In The Individual Approach To Climate ChangeRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEE-Gold - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-goldHexayurt - http://hexayurt.com/Consensys - https://consensys.net/Rocky Mountain Institute - https://rmi.org/Shift Pod - https://shiftpod.com/shiftpod/CAP Theorem - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAP_theoremProof Of Work - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_workProof Of Stake - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proof_of_stakeWhole-Systems Framework for Sustainable Consumption and Production (IPCW Model) - http://www.files.howtolivewiki.com/A%20Whole%20Systems%20Framework%20for%20Sustainable%20Production%20and%20Consumption.pdfNori - https://nori.com/ 

In this episode I had the pleasure to speak to Zack Labe - a PhD candidate in the Department of Earth System Science at The University of California Irvine.Zack's research revolves around the warming of the Arctic region and the degree to which sea ice varies every year. His work is quite popular especially on Twitter particularly because he creates really interesting graphs and GIFs which showcase the science in a visually compelling way that helps drive across the findings of his research.I wanted to chat to Zack to better understand the dynamics of warming within the Arctic, what the seasonal melting and freezing of sea ice actually means, which factors contribute to sea level rise and essentially how scientists work with climate models to analyse the present situation and try to model the future. We also looked at tipping points which is a hot topic particularly if we cross 2 degrees of warming.We spoke quite a bit about the power behind visualizing climate science and I'll make sure to link some of Zack's work in the show notes.To me this conversation shed a ton of light on what scientists do day-to-day, how we can interpret their work and how important it is to understanding the extent to which people are already affected by climate change.ZACK'S RELEVANT LINKSTwitter Profile - https://twitter.com/ZLabeWebsite - https://sites.uci.edu/zlabe/TIMECODES3:55 - His Background & How He Became a Climate Scientist11:54 - How The Arctic Warming & Sea Ice Variations Affect The Rest Of The World16:01 - Tipping Points In The Arctic22:32 - What Factors Lead To Overall Sea Level Rise?24:32 - How Climate Models Work & His Interest In Visualizations38:14 - How People In The Arctic Are Already Affected By Climate Change42:26 - Science Vs Business vs Politics vs SocietyRESOURCES DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODEEarth system science - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_system_scienceThe impact of Arctic warming on the midlatitude jetstream: Can it? Has it? Will it? - https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/43094399.pdfSome of Zack's first Twitter graphs  - https://twitter.com/ZLabe/status/732325142383091712https://twitter.com/ZLabe/status/752884095210827776Zack's most viral tweet - https://twitter.com/ZLabe/status/967838618252320768And his hometown newspaper covering it - https://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/02/harrisburg-area_scientist_is_b.htmlMultiple line graphs - https://twitter.com/ZLabe/status/1194296254240415746Ed Hawkins' stripes - https://showyourstripes.info/Ed Hawkins' climate spiral - https://twitter.com/ed_hawkins/status/1136208796810960897?lang=en

Today's You've Been Warmed episode features an amazing guest - Elizabeth Wathuti - a climate activist from Kenya. She is the founder of the Green Generation Initiative which has helped plant over 30,000 trees in Kenya whilst educating children about climate change and its impacts.She is also the recipient of the Wangari Maathai scholarship award  - named after the hero she never managed to meet - for her commitment to conserving the environment. Alongside Adenike Oladosu who was on the show before and Vanessa Nakate, she is one of the most well-known African activists, having participated and given talks at the recent COP25 conference in Madrid.It was once again fascinating to talk to someone who is so involved in an African country - this time in Kenya - because as Westerners we feel that climate impacts are somewhere far away in time, when in reality they are far away geographically. Africa is already feeling the effects of climate change in a significant way.We discussed how floods and droughts are affecting food crops, how kids in schools often rely on humanitarian aid to be able to eat, how they experience eco-anxiety because for them it is literally a matter of life and death and how she hopes to draw more attention to the region and get the international community to support Kenya and other African countries in adapting to the effects of climate change.You probably know by now that I'm very passionate about giving this part of the world a significant voice, so enjoy listening to this episode and if you liked it as much as I did, do share it around and spread the word about Elizabeth's work. ELIZABETH'S RELEVANT LINKSTwitter - https://twitter.com/lizwathutiFacebook Page - https://m.facebook.com/lizmazingira/Website - http://www.lizmazingira.com/Green Generation Initiative Website - https://greengenerationinitiative.org/TIMECODES 3:40 - Her Background & How She Became An Activist9:57 - The Green Generation Initiative16:11 - The Impacts Of Climate Change In Kenya22:32 - Why Kenyans Experience Eco-Anxiety26:44 - Her Takeaways From COP25 In Madrid29:38 - Her Outlook Towards COP26 In Glasgow33:17 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs Society35:45 - Elizabeth's Powerful Message To The WorldRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEProfessor Wangari Maathai - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wangari_Maathai'Unbowed: A Memoir' book by Wangari Maathai - https://www.amazon.com/Unbowed-Memoir-Wangari-Maathai/dp/0307275205 

Today's You've Been Warmed episode is one of the most impressive thus far. I had the pleasure to speak to Jyri Engeström - a Finnish serial entrepreneur and investor, currently based in Silicon Valley. He is the co-founder of YES VC - a pre-seed and seed stage fund focused on companies at the vanguard of movements.Before becoming an investor, Jyri had an impressive career as an entrepreneur, having founded Jaiku (which was acquired by Google) and Ditto (which was acquired by GroupOn).At Yes VC, because of their investment focus on companies that can become social movements, it's extremely apparent how climate change comes into focus and represents a large part of what they're looking for.I must confess that I wasn't expecting the turn that the first half of the interview took - Jyri made parallels between the climate crisis and WW2 with impeccable detail and references,  he showed inspiring optimism that we can mobilise to tackle climate change and he laid out a compelling case as to how businesses, government & the society at large have to come together to realise that vision.We then explored how climate change is becoming a priority for founders in Silicon Valley and how much that has changed recently, what they look at in terms of the companies they invest in and the thought process that goes behind that, as well as the sectors that he thinks require a lot of investment. There were also some deep philosophical thoughts and quotes towards the end, but I won't spoil that for you now.I highly recommend that you tune into this one with your full attention, I promise it will not dissapoint.JYRI & YES VC RELEVANT LINKSJyri's Twitter - https://twitter.com/jyriJyri's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jyriengestrom/Yes VC Website - https://yes.vc/TIMECODES (to be corrected)3:54 - His Background & Why He's a  Climate Optimist8:05 - Climate Scenarios Looking Forward & What Urgency We Need To Have10:04 - Why We Need An Effort Comparative To The World War 2 Mobilization17:13 - How Government & Businesses Need To Work Together23:33 - The Rise Of Attention To Climate Change In Silicon Valley28:28 - VC Challenges & What They Look For When Investing In Companies35:20 - A Startup Example That Can Help Tackle Climate Change39:43 - What Are The Areas That Require Massive Investment52:17 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs SocietyRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODETrue Ventures - https://trueventures.com/Caterina Fake - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caterina_FakeFlickr - https://www.flickr.com/Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/Etsy - https://www.etsy.com/Bluebottle Coffee - https://bluebottlecoffee.com/Saul Griffith - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Griffith'It’s too late for a carbon tax—it’s time for a world war against climate change' by Saul Griffith - https://www.fastcompany.com/90423806/its-too-late-for-a-carbon-tax-its-time-for-a-world-war-against-climate-changeKelly Wanser - https://twitter.com/kellywanserSlush Conference - https://www.slush.org/Sundance Film Festival - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundance_Film_FestivalGamechangers Documentary - https://gamechangersmovie.com/Saudi Aramco - https://www.saudiaramco.com/'The Demon-Haunted World' Book by Carl Sagan - https://www.amazon.com/Demon-Haunted-World-Science-Candle-Dark-ebook/dp/B004W0I00QThe Manhattan Project - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_ProjectAlex Laskey (Rewiring America co-author) - https://www.ted.com/talks/alex_laskey_how_behavioral_science_can_lower_your_energy_bill?language=en

Today's You've Been Warmed episode features Roger Hallam one of the co-founders of Extinction Rebellion - the mass civil disobedience movement that started in the UK which is credited by a lot of people for spreading awareness of our current climate crisis.Roger was kind enough to give his time and jump on a pod with me. It's important to state that he did so in a personal capacity, so everything you will hear on this episode is his personal opinion and not the opinions expressed by Extinction Rebellion as an organization.I knew Roger would be a fascinating guest to interview since I read his manifesto - Common Sense for The 21st Century. It was fascinating to dive into the thinking behind Extinction Rebellion - why they do what they do, how they build up a culture that can sustain their mission and stay within the peaceful protest they practice and also what concrete solutions they plan to bring forward so that people can have a say in how we make decisions in our democracies.The entire conversation offers an interesting perspective which Roger believes constitutes a complete paradigm shift from how our society currently functions. I was pleasantly surprised at how he answered some of my follow-up questions, especially when it came to concrete solutions and forms of communication & organization which blend in-person debates with modern technology communication.ROGER'S SOCIAL MEDIA LINKSRoger's Website - https://www.rogerhallam.com/Roger's Personal Twitter - https://twitter.com/RogerHallamCS21His Book "Common Sense For The 21st Century" - https://www.amazon.com/Common-Sense-21st-Century-Nonviolent/dp/1645020002TIMECODES3:06 - Roger’s Background & The Research That Contributed To XR8:20 - How They Cultivated The Culture They Wanted Within XR12:27 - Their Expectations Before Launching XR & How They Were Met16:02 - His Reponse To Recent Scientific Projections Of Warming By 210020:48 - What % Of People Do You Need For Civil Resistance To Work26:00 - Why Citizens’ Assemblies Are The Solution After Generating Awareness31:00 - An Example Of A Successful Citizens’ Assembly35:38 - How Social Change Happens Through Human Emotion40:14 - Society vs Politics Vs Business vs Science44:09 - His Message To ListenersRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEExtinction Rebellion - https://rebellion.earth/'Why Civil Resistance Works' Book - https://www.amazon.com/Why-Civil-Resistance-Works-Nonviolent/dp/0231156839Citizens' assembly - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens%27_assemblyComplexity Theory - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complexity_theory_and_organizationsFridays For Future - https://www.fridaysforfuture.org/

Today's episode of You've Been Warmed features John Cook - the founder of the very well-known website skepticalscience.com - an amazing resource that debunks the various myths that climate change deniers proliferate online.John founded Skeptical Science because he had amassed an encyclopedia's worth of climate change myths which he actively sought to debunk by using peer-reviewed scientific papers. He later studied a PhD in the cognitive psychology of misinformation in order to better understand the levers behind denial - not just in the climate space but also in areas such as vaccines or tobacco - and come up with frameworks that successfully educate people on the science of climate change.John is currently publishing a book called "Cranky Uncle vs Climate Change" where he uses cartoons, humor and all his accumulated knowledge to create a valuable resource that anybody can turn to when debating climate change deniers. He also crowdfunded the development of a Cranky Uncle mobile app which uses gamification in conjunction with all the content to educate as many people as possible.In this episode we spoke about his background, we approached various techniques that deniers use, explored the role that humor plays and looked at how each of us can develop critical thinking to the point where we can manage these debates successfully.I really admire John's work and I hope you find this episode as educational as I have. Let's tune in!CRANKY UNCLE & JOHN'S LINKS'Cranky Uncle vs Climate Change' Book - https://www.amazon.com/Cranky-Uncle-vs-Climate-Change/dp/0806540273Cranky Uncle Website - https://crankyuncle.com/Cranky Uncle Twitter - https://twitter.com/crankyunclesJohn's Twitter - https://twitter.com/johnfocookSkeptical Science Website - https://skepticalscience.com/TIMECODES3:27 - His Background & Interest In Climate Change6:19 - The Story Behind SkepticalScience.com10:42 - Public Debates With Climate Change Deniers15:11 - How He Adapted His Content Based On Feedback & Empirical Research17:42 - What Cranky Uncle Is All About21:29 - The Slippery Slope Fallacy & Examples In Practice26:44 - What Role Does Humor Play As A Tool For Science Communicators?31:44 - FLICC - The Common Elements Of Climate Change Denial36:06 - How To Use Critical Thinking In A Debate42:20 - Science Vs Society Vs Politics Vs BusinessRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE'The Debunking Handbook' by Stephan Lewandowsky - https://skepticalscience.com/Debunking-Handbook-now-freely-available-download.htmlRefutation by parallel arguments - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10503-008-9109-8Slippery slope fallacy - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slippery_slope'If Trump were a climate communicator' cartoon - https://twitter.com/johnfocook/status/1224797841534550017'Making Sense Of Climate Science Denial' Online Course - https://www.edx.org/course/making-sense-of-climate-science-denial'Merchants of Doubt' Book - https://www.amazon.com/Merchants-Doubt-Handful-Scientists-Obscured/dp/1608193942

Landon Brand is the co-founder of Project Wren - a startup which makes it easy for anybody to offset their carbon emissions, essentially negating their individual footprint. They have a simple and intuitive way of calculating your individual emissions based on the flights you take, the miles you drive, the food you consume or the way you heat your home. After that you can take a subscription that offsets these costs & contribute to projects which help with carbon removal or offsetting.It was super interesting to see how Landon chose Wren as his first entrepreneurial project after college, sparked by the 2018 IPCC 1.5C warming report. We dove in detail on how Wren works, how they calculate individual emissions, what their business model is and why they are becoming a Public Benefit Corporation.We also discussed what KPIs they use to measure their stated public benefit, debated carbon offsets vs carbon removal, covered how they work with businesses to help offset employees' emissions and we spoke about his vision for Wren's future down the line.There are a lot of startups trying to educate consumers on how they can offset their emissions and fund projects which are helping us take carbon out of the atmosphere. That is what makes Project Wren extremely important and worth a close look.TIMECODES2:54 - Landon’s Background & How He Became Aware Of Climate Change6:37 - The Turning Point In Realising He Wants To Get Involved In Fighting It8:59 - How Project Wren Works & How They Calculate Individual Emissions14:05 - Project Wren’s Business Model17:00 - Becoming a Public Benefit Corporation & What KPIs They Measure For That20:09 - What Types Of Projects Does Wren Fund For Carbon Offsetting & Removal25:05 - How They Work With Businesses29:42 - Their Targets For This Year & Their Vision For The Future31:22 - Can We Keep Warming Below 2C?33:47 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs SocietyLANDON & PROJECT WREN LINKSLandon's Twitter - https://twitter.com/landonsbrandWebsite - https://projectwren.com/Twitter - https://twitter.com/project_wrenRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEProject Drawdown - https://www.drawdown.org/IPCC 1.5C Warming Report - https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/download/Nori - https://nori.com/Nori You've Been Warmed Episode - https://www.youvebeenwarmed.com/episodes/05-blockchain-powered-carbon-removal-marketplaces-w-noriClimeworks - https://www.climeworks.com/ 

This episode features Mike Kirby - President & Co-Founder of Lumina Solar - a solar energy provider based in Baltimore, Maryland. Lumina Solar facilitates the installment of solar panels for residential buildings and have been in operation for nearly 2 years.With a long career in the solar industry spanning 11 years, Mike was the perfect guest to get into the nitty gritty details of installing solar panels in homes. I was super curious and had a ton of questions such as - how easy is it to install these solutions? How much do they cost? What kind of financing options are there? What cost efficiencies and savings do customers get when going solar?I asked all of these and more. Throughout the episode, Mike had some great insights as to what policies which started in California specifically jumpstarted the adoption of residential solar, how the industry has matured and evolved over the past 11-12 years, how batteries come into play and where they are on the adoption curve.All in all it's a fascinating conversation, one that is more micro in structure than what I've accustomed you with so far. However, if you ever wanted to know how solar panels for homes operate and what it takes for you to get them (especially in the US), then this is going to be an interesting one!MIKE KIRBY & LUMINA SOLAR RELEVANT LINKSLumina Solar Website - https://www.luminasolar.com/Mike's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-kirby-546ab225/TIMECODES2:54- his background and how he got into solar11:09 - how the solar market has shifted in the past 10 years15:14 - Policies that were implemented around Solar18:48 - How they communicate differently depending on political views / customer interests23:48 - How the process of installing solar works31:14 - What happens if you overproduce electricity35:15 - The role that batteries play40:18 - Solar energy systems increasing the costs of homes44:25 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs Society  

Antero is a serial entrepreneur who has been set on tackling climate change for a long time. Several years ago he joined the Finnish Green Party and was a member of Parliament for 4 years (2015-2019).He is the founder Compensate - a non-profit which aims to bring people and companies together to stop climate change. They want to enable companies to offer their customers effective ways to offset their emissions and even overcompensate for them by removing more carbon than they've emitted.Antero managed to synthesize his world view and offer simple analogies for the complex situation the world faces. We spoke about his background and Finland's 2035 carbon neutrality targets, we went into the inner workings of Compensate and what its overall vision for the future is and we discussed what the best methods for carbon removal are (not surprisingly he has the same conclusion as other guests on the show).Finally, he also explained the structure behind Compensate being a non-profit and why he believes this is the best indication that it's a project for the benefit of everybody on this planet. I encourage you all to give go on their website and look up their solution.ANTERO & COMPENSATE RELEVANT LINKSCompensate Website - https://compensate.com/Compensate Twitter - https://twitter.com/wecompensateAntero's Twitter - https://twitter.com/anterovartiaTIMECODES2:45 - His Background & Involvement With The Finnish Green Party9:00 - The Global Shift In Awareness When It Comes To Climate Change - But Is It Enough?14:57 - What People Need To Do To Fight This Crisis & How Compensate Helps With That19:58 - Compensate In Detail + Overcompensating23:56 - Their Focus On Carbon Capture via Photosynthesis27:03 - How Market Economies Will Help Scaling Of Carbon Removal29:44 - Other Promising Carbon Capture Solutions33:31 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs Society38:34 - How Compensate Works As A Non-Profit 

Iulian Circo is a former human-rights lawyer who has worked with a lot of NGOs and initiatives in both Africa and Asia, even working in conflict areas. He's more recently become a social entrepreneur as he is passionate to bring market forces into the mix to make the world more sustainable.His company - Proof of Impact - utlilises blockchain technology to measure the positive impact of various world problems - including climate change, health, sustainability or pollution.We went into a lot of interesting topics such as why we are creating a new economic framework for the world, how the young generation is forcing businesses to become purpose-driven, how impact can be measured within companies or how we need to create frameworks to measure the externalities of companies in a comparable way. Finally, we dove deep into Proof of Impact to better understand his project.It might be tricky to understand what Proof of Impact does for those who are not that aware of blockchain technology, but the phrase that Iulian said that stuck with me is that they are bringing "liquidity into impact", essentially creating financial products that bring investments into measurable actions that make a change for the better (such as reducing child mortality rates, cleaning plastic off of beaches or installing solar panels on houses).TIMECODES3:07 - Iulian's Background & The Generational Shift We're Experiencing6:38 - How Will Companies Of The Future Differ From The Present Ones14:07 - How Do You Measure Impact For Purpose-Driven Businesses17:10 - The Evolution Of Macro Trends In Business Over The Past 40 Years19:40 - How Should Companies Measure Their Negative Externalities21:38 - What Does Proof Of Impact Do?28:10 - How Proof Of Impact Could Facilitate A Reduction In Child Mortality Rates (In A Measurable Way)34:28 - Why Blockchain Should Work In The Background40:06 - Business vs Science vs Politics vs Society45:32 - How Society Influences EverythingIULIAN & PROOF OF IMPACT LINKSIulian's Twitter Profile - https://twitter.com/i_circoProof Of Impact Website - https://www.proofofimpact.com/Proof Of Impact Twitter - https://twitter.com/proofofimpact

In today's episode I spoke to Chloe Farand - a senior reporter for London-based Climate Home News - an independent news site which covers climate change. Her reporting around the UN climate talks & the recent COP25 conference in Madrid were fascinating, so I decided to get in touch.We spoke about her involvement with climate change news reporting, how things have shifted in the past few years due to Greta Thunberg, Extinction Rebellion and the IPCC 1.5 Degree Warming report. Then we explored in depth the dynamics that unfolded at COP 25 in Madrid between the countries pushing for more ambitious climate measures and those who opposed it, the upcoming EU - China summit in 2020 and the prospects for COP 26 in Glasgow.Finally, we discussed the specifics of the proposed 1 trillion Euro European Green New Deal Plan which is in works and we explored how politics, business, society and science all interact.We did have some connection difficulties in the first few minutes, but we switched to a telephone line and all was good. So in case you find a difference in sound between the first few minutes and the rest of the interview, now you know why.If you enjoy her reporting & Climate Home News' coverage, I do encourage you to become a Patreon (link below)TIMECODES3:38 - Her Background & How Long She's Been Covering Climate Change6:16 - The Collective Shift from 201810:08 - What Happened at COP 25 in Madrid15:38 - The EU & China Summit in 2020 in Leipzig 19:50 - EU Policies To Tackle Climate Change24:31 - Specifics of the European Green New Deal Plan28:26 - Society + Politics + Business + InnovationCHLOE'S SOCIAL MEDIA LINKSChloe's Twitter - https://twitter.com/ChloeFarandClimateHomeNews Website -https://www.climatechangenews.com/Become a Patreon - https://www.patreon.com/climatehomenewsRESOURCES/LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODECOP 22 Marrakech - https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/conferences/past-conferences/marrakech-climate-change-conference-november-2016/cop-22Extinction Rebellion - https://rebellion.earth/IPCC 1.5 Warming Report - https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/COP 25 Madrid - https://unfccc.int/cop25COP 26 Glasgow - https://unfccc.int/event/glasgow-climate-change-conference-november-2020EU-China Summit 2020 - https://euobserver.com/tickers/146306European Green New Deal - https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_enWorld Economic Forum in Davos - https://www.weforum.org/focus/davos-2020-collection

Adenike Oladosu is a climate change activist from Nigeria most well-known for her activism focused on the humanitarian crisis caused by the shrinking of Lake Chad. With millions of people displaced in 2019 and tens of thousands killed, the shrinking of the lake is causing a fight for resources, whilst also depriving people of water and food.Adenike dubs herself as the "eco-feminist" because she believes climate change is a crisis that affects women more than men, particularly in Africa. She goes in depth on the episode as to why this happens, and I have to admit, I was a bit startled to hear the conditions there.We spoke generally about the situation in Africa and Nigeria, why the countries that are affected the most by climate change (mostly African ones) are largely ignored at international conferences, while the countries that have the most cumulative emissions historically (US & Europe) continue maintaining the status quo. She told me how dissapointing COP25 was in Madrid and how generally there is a lack of ambition with regards to climate change measures.I believe it's immensely important to place a focus on Africa because generally in the Western World we are so disconnected from what's happening there. I hope this episode is as informative for you as it was for me and if you enjoy it, please follow Adenike on Twitter and visit her blog.TIMECODES02:49 - How She Became An Activist & The Depletion Of Natural Resources In Nigeria + Military Conflicts07:31 - The General Awareness Of Climate Change & How They Try To Educate Children About It12:45 - The Humanitarian Crisis Surrounding Lake Chad21:53 - What COP 25 Madrid Was Like & The Disappointing Results29:56 - Why Climate Change Affects Women More Than Men In Africa36:57 - Science vs Business vs Politics vs Society ADENIKE'S WEB LINKSAdenike's Blog - http://womenandcrisis.blogspot.com/Adenike's Twitter Profile - https://twitter.com/the_ecofeministRESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODECOP 25 Madrid - https://unfccc.int/cop25Article 6 (COP25) - https://www.carbonsink.it/en/news/article-6-paris-agreement-expectations-for-cop25The Climate Vulnerability Index - https://cvi-heritage.org/Lake Chad shrunk by 90% - https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/oct/22/lake-chad-shrinking-story-masks-serious-failures-of-governance

Joshua Rhodes (Ph.D.) is a Senior Energy Analyst at Vibrant Clean Energy and Research Fellow in the Webber Energy Group. His current research revolves around smart grids, energy efficiency, resource planning and distributed generation & storage. He is also interested in policy that can help us implement clean energy as fast as possible, particularly policies that utilise market forces to increase efficiencies.Joshua also consults on a broad range of energy topics and he sits on vetting committees for companies looking to enter technology incubators in Austin, Texas.We discussed in depth the main issues behind using renewables to a larger extent - mainly the infrastructure capabilities that need to be developed to transmit the energy from various points across regions. We also covered smart grids, how demand & supply interact when it comes to energy grids and how battery technology is evolving.Finally, Joshua also shared technology innovations that he finds interesting in the climate change space along with his take on the Politics vs Business vs Science vs Society question.RELEVANT LINKSJoshua’s Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/joshdr83TIMECODES2:47: Joshua’s Background. Studying Energy & Researching SmartGrids10:18: What Are the Main Challenges Of Energy Transmission For Renewables?15:31: What Policy Measures Can Be Implemented To Encourage Green Energy?19:23: Do Companies See Profit Opportunities in Clean Energy?24:02: The Key Factors Behind Making Batteries Cheap26:59: Interesting Climate-Focused Companies He's Encountered35:10: Science vs Politics vs Businesses vs Society

Benjamin Franta is a PhD student of History & Law at Stanford University and one of my absolute favourite people to follow on Twitter. Ben writes amazing threads covering the history of propaganda that the fossil fuel industry has created when it comes to climate change. He analyses their PR tactics, they language they use or what wording they create to deflect the attention from their products and place the responsibility on the consumers.We discussed what internal documents revealed about when the fossil fuel companies knew about climate change (starting in 1959) and how that evolved over time; Ben went in depth on the tactics they deploy including "product defense" and the "complexity rhetoric". We also drew parallels between the fossil fuel industry and the tobacco industry - how the latter deployed similar tactics and was eventually defeated through numerous lawsuits. Finally, we also discussed the media and what role it sometimes plays in slowing down action.RELEVANT LINKSBenjamin Franta’s Twitter Profile: https://twitter.com/BenFrantaTIMECODES02:26: Benjamin Franta’s Background. Why Study the History of Fossil Fuel Propaganda?07:06 What Fossil Fuel Companies Knew 40-50 Years Ago08:22 The Research Conducted by Companies 50 Years Ago & The Lawsuits Emerging Now14:28 A Parallel Between What Fossil Fuel Companies Are Doing Now and What Tobacco Companies Did Before19:07 Who’s Responsible for This: The Individuals vs Businesses & Governments21:36 The Complexity Rhetoric that the PR People From the Fossil Fuel Industry Use29:27 The Lawsuits. Who Can Be Held Accountable?34:45 The Tobacco Industry Lawsuits41:13 How Did the Fossil Fuel Companies Infiltrate the Media?51:51 The Shift in Positioning - From Saying that Climate Change Wasn’t Real to Wanting to Help Solve the Problem54:56 Science vs Politics vs Businesses vs SocietyRESOURCES MENTIONEDThe 1959 American Petroleum Institute Report - Edward Teller - http://www.thegreenmarketoracle.com/2019/02/the-fossil-fuel-industry-has-known-they.htmlThe Master Settlement Agreement - https://www.publichealthlawcenter.org/topics/commercial-tobacco-control/commercial-tobacco-control-litigation/master-settlement-agreementThe Regulation Games - book - https://www.amazon.com/Regulation-Games-Strategic-Administrative-Process/dp/0884100669The Kyoto Protocol - https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-kyoto-protocol/what-is-the-kyoto-protocol/kyoto-protocol-targets-for-the-first-commitment-period

Lubomila Jordanova is the founder of Plan A - a Berlin-based startup which uses tons of data points to predict where climate change will hit the hardest and helps companies offset their emissions and reduce their carbon footprint through numerous data sets and monthly monitoring tools.We dove deep into a macro view of the world and what her experience with climate change has been so far, we looked at how Plan A has developed an encyclopedia for climate change mapping out a multitude of projects focused on combatting it in specific geographies, what kind of algorithms they developed to help companies reduce their footprint and what kind of challenges they encounter when helping said companies embark on this process.A common theme was the lack of education on climate change that most people and stakeholders in companies have and how we have to make sure that everyone becomes aware of the situation.RELEVANT LINKSPlan A Website - https://plana.earth/Plan A Twitter - https://twitter.com/PlanAearthLubomila's Twitter Profile - https://twitter.com/LubomilaJTIMECODES2:20 - Lubomila’s Background. How Did She Create Her Own Startup on Climate Change? Why Climate Change?08:53 - How Did You Approach Climate Change?14:37 - About PlanA’s Research & Data19:36 - Are We Advancing Fast Enough?25:25 - How Does PlanA Help Companies In Reducing Their Carbon Footprint?40:19 - Science vs Politics vs Businesses vs SocietyRESOURCES MENTIONEDLubomila's COP25 LinkedIn Post - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ljordanova_cop25-was-meant-to-tackle-the-climate-crisis-activity-6612645973929799680-Vn-G/Gold Standard for Climate emissions - https://www.goldstandard.org/ 

Hampus Jakobsson is a Swedish serial entrepreneur & investor who has had numerous stints in the business world - including as the EMEA Mergers & Acquisitions Director for Blackberry and most recently as a venture partner with BlueYard Capital.Hampus brings a fascinating rational view to the climate change discussion which is rooted in his extensive business experience, scientific background and angel investing in climate companies. He views climate change investing as a currently underserved industry which is why he is using his capital to fund riskier ventures that, if successful, could exponentially advance our fight against climate change.We spoke at length about his background and how he ended up here, how he thinks about climate startup investments, what are some of the industries he's invested in thus far, common misconceptions that people have about Nuclear technology (and why they are irrational) and his framework for scaling individual climate change impact which anybody can use to figure out how they can contribute.HAMPUS' RELEVANT LINKSTwitter Profile: https://twitter.com/hajakMedium: https://hajak.se/@hajakTIMECODES02:35 - Where Did He Start off? Hampus' Background14:58 - About Climate Startup investing & why it's an underserved industry25:16 - Some of Hampus' investments28:43 - Common misconceptions when it comes to nuclear technology35:23 - The need to stop fossil fuel subsidies & phase out coal41:12 - A framework to understand how each person can work to tackle climate change53:24 - Science vs Politics vs Businesses vs SocietyLINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEA framework for scaling your climate change impact - https://hajak.se/a-framework-for-scaling-your-climate-change-impact-c3abcb9d4dfe

Dave Jones is an electricity analyst leading the coal phase-out work for Sandbag - a London & Brussels-based non-profit climate change think tank.Dave spent 13 years working at E.ON analysing electricity & carbon markets. He is currently focused on an NGO campaign to help phase out coal in Europe.He recently published a report analysing the past 4 years of coal policy in the EU, what has been done well & what hasn't worked as well based on whether the policies were: Just, Ambitious, Legislated, Clean, Direct, Reliable, Economic, Healthy & Smart.I was extremely curious to chat with him, particularly because there are fascinating differences between the 2 leading economies in Europe - Germany & the UK. The former is famously ending Nuclear and has to compensate by (controversially) building new coal plants, while the latter has managed to nearly phase out coal entirely and is amongst the countries leading the charge.DAVE JONES & SANDBAG RELEVANT LINKSDave's Twitter Profile - https://twitter.com/CoalFreeDaveSandbag Website - https://sandbag.org.uk/TIMECODES00:51 Dave’s Background & his Experience in the Energy Business Sector05:37 Why It's Important to phase out coal in order to reduce warming By 210008:15 Are coal plants still being built worldwide?13:34 Staying in line with the Paris agreement16:32 Europe & Coal21:24 Coal plants being replaced by gas plants in the US23:46 When is Germany going to phase out coal?29:00 About the European Carbon Market38:36 Solutions for the Asian Coal IndustryLINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEIPCC Report - https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/IEA Model - https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-modelReport: 4 Years of Coal Phase-out policies in the EU - https://sandbag.org.uk/project/solving-the-coal-puzzle/  

Nori is a Seattle-based company which utilises the power of blockchain technology to enable carbon removal through their marketplace. They focus on actual tonnes of CO2 being removed from the atmosphere (thus avoiding offsets) and use blockchain to ensure that each removed tonne is only counted once and thus is unique. This combination is an innovative approach to the problem of double counting carbon offsets.In its initial phase, Nori is focusing on enabling farmers to get paid for storing carbon in their soil. They use sustainable farming practices to remove carbon from the atmosphere, the removed carbon is verified and quantified by 3rd party attesters after which it's verifiably converted to a certificate which individuals & companies can buy to prove they paid for carbon removals.Paul Gambill is the CEO & Co-Founder of Nori. He established the first community dedicated to carbon removal called Carbon Removal Seattle. He has 6 years of experience in managing mobile and web application projects for clients including Nike, Showtime, Target, and Starbucks, and has shipped well over a dozen different apps to the public.I can also attest that he's extremely knowledgeable about climate change & blockchain and one of the best people I have encountered to explain complex concepts in simple to understand terms.NORI RELEVANT LINKSWebsite - https://nori.com/Nori Podcast Shows - https://nori.com/podcastsTwitter - https://twitter.com/noriYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnNvzB1J0HZVyO-v6eIWjDA/featuredTIMECODES2:35 - Paul's background & his engineer-type approach to climate change9:36 - Carbon removal vs offsets - what is the difference?12:58 - The Jevons paradox & how it comes into play with offsets16:10 - Can carbon removal be achieved at scale?20:01 - Why Nori is focusing first on regenerative farming practices26:40 - How Nori ensures accuracy of carbon that is removed28:55 - How the carbon removal marketplaces works in practice31:05 - How Blockchain solves the double counting of carbon offsets37:03 - How Blockchain works & why it's crucial for Nori's solution39:23 - The Nori Carbon Removal Ton (NRT) - a non-fungible token40:50 - Does Blockchain need to evolve for Nori to be able to work?47:20 - The difference between Nori and other blockchain solutions tackling climate change48:20 - Market launch & trading of the token54:00 - Science vs Politics vs Businesses vs SocietyLINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEIPCC Report - https://www.ipcc.ch/sr15/Jevons Paradox - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jevons_paradoxCOMET-Farm - http://cometfarm.nrel.colostate.edu/

DroneSeed is a Seattle-based company focusing on post-wildfire reforestation using AI-powered drones & biological engineering. They serve forrest management companies & governments looking to quickly tackle forests that are taken down by fires. Acting fast is particularly important since waiting too long can result in forests not growing back, but instead having scrubby grasslands in their place which have way less capacity to absorb CO2.The company's approach to using drones has received a precedent-setting exemption from the FAA (for unmanned aerial vehicles over 55 pounds). Their UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) platforms are custom-made, are equipped with multispectral camera arrays, high-end lidar (in a nutshell - radar with lasers), tanks of herbicide and proprietary seed dispersal mechanisms.Historically, reforestation projects have been complex processes which use a lot of labour power - tree-planters usually burn out within 2 years given they consume the equivalent of running 2 marathons (!) in one day of replanting trees. DroneSeed achieves scalability through automation, managing to be 6x faster that a human tree-planter while covering much larger surfaces (40 acres per day). They're also fast to respond as they are capable of being airborne over a post-wildfire surface within 30 days.DRONESEED RELEVANT LINKSWebsite - https://www.droneseed.com/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/droneseed.coTwitter - https://twitter.com/DroneSeed TIMECODES3:20 - Grant & Ben's backgrounds in sustainability & how they started DroneSeed6:06 - Why they chose reforestation11:46 - Can we actually scale reforestation enough?18:45 - The "2 marathons a day" task of a tree-planter21:33 - The tech behind DroneSeed31:18 - The efficiency & appeal for clients looking at DroneSeed37:27 - How they plan to scale internationally & implement their tech41:39 - Their view on international regulation & how that will enable/affect them49:41 - Science vs Politics vs Businesses vs Society LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODEStripe Decrement Carbon - https://stripe.com/blog/negative-emissions-commitmentIPCC - https://www.ipcc.ch/The Nature Conservancy - https://www.nature.org/en-us/Bureau of Land Management US - https://www.blm.gov/Mark Rober DroneSeed YouTube Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7nJBFjKqAY  

Builddie is a home energy management solution which plugs into your smart thermostat to deliver you cost savings on your energy usage & ensure your home is efficient and comfortable. Builddie also utilises advanced AI to learn your patterns, analyse massive amounts of data and deliver the most efficient results for your particular situation.I was interested in speaking to Builddie because I wanted to better understand the role that smart homes will play in reducing CO2 emissions. Currently, in the US, commercial and residential buildings account for 12% of greenhouse gas emissions. Solutions like Builddie will play a crucial role in proliferating 'smart homes' and reducing their energy consumption.The ‘smartness’ of buildings is provided by a home energy management system, which is aware of the state of the electricity network, including the balance of demand and response, and the real-time price of electricity. Within the energy mix, when the load is higher the cost of energy will go up, therefore making timing extremely important.BUILDDIE RELEVANT LINKSWebsite - https://builddie.com/Twitter - https://twitter.com/Builddie_EPISODE TIMECODES01:55 - Nana's background & how he came to start Builddie04:39 - The role commercial & residential buildings play in emissions11:04 - Do we need to retro-fit a lot of old buildings to achieve efficiency?13:17 - The role that smart grids play in delivering clean energy17:08 - How do you communicate to people based on their political ideology?20:44 - Rebates & energy policy in the US22:51 - Estimating utility costs with Builddie25:17 - What Builddie does for customers28:07 - The inputs Builddie uses from your smart thermostat, building specifications30:44 - The cost efficiency results they typically see for customers33:04 - How companies becoming greener helps their bottom line40:26 - The current status of Builddie42:28 - How his "secret" co-founder is his motivation for fighting climate change46:22 - Science vs Politics vs Businesses vs SocietyRESOURCES MENTIONED The Green Button - http://www.greenbuttondata.org/  

01:50 - How we consume information today04:54 - Why some clever people deny climate change07:50 - Why you shouldn't debate them on their facts09:40 - How do you debate climate change deniers?13:11 - First way to identify flawed climate change denial arguents18:30 - The best media fact-checking website you should use23:56 - Fact-checking for climate specifically26:42 - The softer forms of denial & arguments against themLINKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE97% or more scientists agree on climate change - https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/200 scientific organizations worldwide endorse this opinion - http://www.opr.ca.gov/facts/list-of-scientific-organizations.htmlMedia Bias Fact Check - https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/about/Snopes - https://www.snopes.com/Other fact checking websites - https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/true-5-factchecking-websites/Climate Feedback - https://climatefeedback.org/Skeptical Science - https://skepticalscience.com/

TIMECODES00:00 - Reasons behind this intro episode00:56 - My journey with climate change03:14 - The psychological bias we all have06:04 - Who inspired me to dig deeper08:24 - Discovering climate change through Twitter09:46 - Climate change deniers10:59 - On Greta Thunberg13:03 - What approaches do people debate we should take16:33 - My weekly Twitter thread