Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast
Persephonica and Global Optimism 396 episodes Nov 5, 2026
Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast is for anyone who is not ready to give up on making the world a better place. It features conversations with decision makers, visionary thinkers, and climate optimists. Hosted by former UN climate chief Christiana Figueres, political strategist Tom Rivett-Carnac, and sustainable business consultant Paul Dickinson, the podcast covers top climate news and goes behind the scenes at crucial talks. The show aims to keep listeners informed and inspired ahead of what is set to be a consequential year for climate action.
Episodes
JUST IN: Trump’s midterm wipeout. Was climate secretly on the ballot?
“I wasn’t on the Ballot, and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!”So says President Trump, who was “a little bit surprised” by the midterms. The results were unambiguous. Democrats comfortably took the House and the Senate, and won the popular vote by 13 points: the widest margin in a nationwide election in half a century.This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson
Lula Has Four More Years. Does the Amazon?
Lula da Silva has won a fourth term as President of Brazil, and Ursula von der Leyen says democracy has won in Brazil. But things are never simple. Donald Trump says it looked like “another rigged election”. Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the jailed former president, announced he wants the result annulled, before boarding a plane to the US despite a Brazil Supreme Court order to surrender the travel doc
Digger's flop, Big Oil and the bots: What actually moves people?
In Digger, Tom Cruise plays an oil tycoon whose rig sets off a tsunami. Within days of release, it was written off as a flop. Christiana Figueres has seen it twice, and she has questions about how quickly that verdict arrived. As she sees it, the film puts the fossil fuel lobby squarely in the frame.This week, Christiana, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson meet in person, with a stack of your qu
What World Will They Inherit? Live from Bath Abbey
Before she was Christiana Figueres, architect of the Paris agreement, who was she? What did believe in 2015 that she no longer believes?In June, an event about the next generation of climate leaders was postponed because of extreme heat. This week, Outrage + Optimism comes to you live from Bath Abbey, weeks before COP31 and ten years on from Paris. What is one generation of climate leaders really
How Can a Country Survive Losing Its Land?
A ship rams a canoe. The canoe starts to sink. The ship's crew lean over the rail and offer a loan to repair it.That is how Surangel Whipps Jr., President of Palau, describes climate finance in the Pacific, a region responsible for around 0.03% of global emissions. He speaks to Christiana Figueres a few weeks into his year as Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum, and as pre-COP talks wrap in in
The Easy Wins Are Gone. What's Actually Next for Net Zero?
Net Zero was once a radical idea. Now it’s both an accepted global target, and an increasingly toxic political faultline.This week, Tom is back from the UN General Assembly and New York Climate week, where António Guterres used his last speech as UN Secretary-General to call for every country to set a timeline for quitting fossil fuels. But around the world, politicians are turning against the ver
Who Runs the World?: Inside the UN’s Secret Leadership Race
The news cameras may be following rising tensions between President Trump and President Pezeshkian of Iran, but deep in the bowels of the United Nations, fifteen countries are about to choose, in private, the person who speaks for 8 billion people. It’s a process so opaque that even the candidates can't see who is voting for or against them, and - bizarrely - rumours are spreading that the eve
Inside the New Security Thinking: The Weaponisation of Disaster?
This summer, extreme heat killed tens of thousands of people across Europe. The number killed by terrorism was, as our guest puts it, very very small. So why are the institutions built to keep people safe still organised almost entirely around the second one?Erin Sikorsky is the Director of the Center for Climate and Security, a former deputy director on the US intelligence officer who led long-ra
Blocker or Blueprint? India on the World Stage
At COP26 in Glasgow, India famously asked to change one word in the final text. ‘Phase out’ became ‘phase down’. The COP President fought back tears, as country after country branded this a moment of shame. For many, India has been a villain of that story ever since.But like all stories about this country, the truth is far more complex.In the last of three episodes from India, Tom Rivett-Carnac as
What’s India Building?: Tales from the Biggest Transition on Earth
"This will never work in India."That's what Indian truck manufacturers said about electric freight. Now they build the trucks.Something is going on here at a speed the rest of the world has not yet noticed. Solar capacity has gone from under three gigawatts to more than 160 in ten years. Across the same decade, 171 million people moved out of extreme poverty.But in eastern Delhi, a woman who has l
India: Life Inside Delhi's 'Airpocalypse'
In Delhi, lung cancer is no longer a smoker’s disease. It’s a breather’s disease.But the most polluted capital on earth sits in a country running five years ahead of its Paris clean power target. In the first of three dispatches from India, Tom Rivett-Carnac is joined by Dia Mirza, one of the biggest names in Indian cinema and a UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador, and Shyla Raghav, formerly C
The Clock is Ticking: Forty Seconds to Explain the Climate Crisis
The summer of 2026 burned the largest wildfire in Spain's recorded history and the largest France has seen since the Second World War. June's heat killed more than 10,000 people across Europe. A heat dome held North Africa and the Sahel above 45°C for days. In Assam, the Brahmaputra put 700,000 people out of their homes.But it was in the United States, in its hottest month in 132 years of records,
Beyond Politics: Should we take the heat out of the climate crisis?
Somewhere along the way, acting on a threat to all of humanity became a political act. Not a simple matter of science and economics, but a signal of whose side you are on.So, what would it take to change the political narrative around climate? This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson answer some difficult questions gathered for our live event at Bath Abbey, postponed wh
Cheapest Energy in History. Still Heading for 3 Degrees?
Solar power now costs a thousandth of what it did in 1976. Batteries are down more than ninety percent in a decade. By the logic of economics, the climate problem should be close to solved. It isn't. We are on track for close to three degrees of warming, and politics is sliding in the wrong direction.Few people have thought as long, or as clearly, about the economics of climate change as Lord Adai
Europe’s Summer of Fire: The New Normal?
Europe is burning. Wildfires are still alight in the hills outside Bordeaux and the countryside west of Madrid. More than 300,000 people across France and Spain have been forced from their homes, and both countries remain on high alert as they enter the fourth heatwave of the summer. As we publish this episode, new fires are breaking out across Greece and Turkey.With the continent warming at more
China, COP31 and Chagos: What’s happening behind the headlines?
In the nine hours after the Los Angeles wildfires, before the climate movement could get its shoes on, the narrative was being written. Through social media, podcasts and talking heads on cable news, the truth was buried behind a deliberate strategy of disinformation. In the twenty-one months since China's emissions have flatlined, everyone is asking whether this is a blip or a trend. And across 6
Rosebank, Cambo, and the Conversation Christiana Never Got to Have
Five years ago, a 21-year-old activist stood on a TED stage next to the CEO of Shell and accused him of making ‘evil decisions’ wreaking ‘devastation on communities around the world’. And then walked off. Christiana was moderating. She went into that panel believing dialogue itself could be the mechanism for change - that an honest conversation could move a company like Shell. What she
Whose Side Is the Law On? How the Courts Became a Climate Battleground
"Even if you are small in this society, there is something you can do."Those are the words of Trixy Elle, a mother and a fisherwoman from the Philippines, and one of the claimants from the Odette case, named for the super typhoon she lived through. She may never win in court, but she says that isn’t the point. She is one of more than 100 claimants suing the energy giant Shell, demanding justice an
Is It Over? A Direct Answer to Climate Despair
Is it already too late? If you follow the climate crisis closely, despair is a reasonable and rational response to what you're looking at.This week, we’re being led by you. We gathered the messages you've been sending and let them set the agenda. They're heavy ones, and we wanted to stay with them rather than rush past. Is there still hope, or is it over? If this civilisation ends, won't nature si
London Cooking: A Climate Action Week, a Resigning PM, and the Future of Climate Diplomacy
London Climate Action Week doesn't usually have to compete with extreme weather. But this year, the case for climate action was abundantly clear: a red heat warning, schools shut, trains cancelled, and temperatures breaking the UK's all-time June record. A prime minister's resignation on the opening day only added to the sense that events we’d once considered rare now seem to be happening all the
From SpaceX to City Streets: Who Pays for the AI Data Centre Boom?
SpaceX's $1.75 trillion IPO has just created the world's first trillionaire. But for families in Morgan County, Georgia and Boxtown in South Memphis, the AI investment rush seems to look rather different: brown water, diesel fumes, and higher bills.This week, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson take on the data centre boom - now one of the fastest-moving forces in the global energy system. Why ex
Extreme Heat Breaks: The hidden climate story behind the World Cup
For the first time, all 104 matches at the Men's Football World Cup will be stopped for a mandatory three-minute hydration break, halfway through each half. For the first time, a global audience of billions will watch climate adaptation happening in real-time.This week, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres and Paul Dickinson look at what a football tournament, a transit scandal, and an oil war h
The Agency Crisis: Heatwaves, Tony Blair and the Politics of Powerlessness
The UK, Ireland, France, Spain, and Portugal shattered their May heat records last week. Scenes reminiscent of high summer arrived months early, across Western Europe. And like all extreme weather events, there was a human toll. Infrastructure under strain, health services stretched, and lives lost. But as records fell, the political conversation was moving in the other direction. Former UK P
Can $30k Change the World? The Power of Climate Giving
When climate wins happen, we often credit the market. Or the policy. But is philanthropy the most underappreciated force in the climate fight? And can less than 2% of global giving actually change anything?Behind the headlines, people like Jennifer Kitt of Climate Lead are identifying where finite resources can be spent in order to make a real difference, and helping to grow the pie. Tom Rivett-Ca
Can the rules keep up?: Lawsuits, LLMs and the looming oil recession
An unprecedented government move to outrun the courts. A country racing to write AI into its constitution. And a global energy crisis that's already moved faster than any possible fix. Are our institutions and the rules they rest on still fit for the world they're supposed to protect?This week, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres, and Paul Dickinson look at three stories the headlines may be mi
The Jet Fuel Crisis: What’s next for aviation?
Are flights across the world about to be grounded? Is a terrible war about to create an unlikely good news story for the climate? As conflict in the Middle East threatens the Strait of Hormuz, jet fuel shortages are forcing aviation to confront a structural vulnerability it has spent decades avoiding.This week, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres and Paul Dickinson examine what the shortage rev
David Attenborough at 100
Monarch butterflies crossing a continent. Peregrine falcons above Manhattan. A giant lemur most of the world had never heard of, until one man pointed a camera at it. For seventy years, Sir David Attenborough has been asking us to look - really look - at the world we share with three and a half billion years' worth of other life. This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dic
“This is civilisation changing stuff”: Is AMOC the hardest climate story to tell?
Europe plunged into a deep freeze. Life as we know it upended. The 2004 film ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ gave a generation of terrified journalists an impossible task: how do you communicate the counter intuitive threat of dramatically colder winters caused by global warming? David Shukman was one of them.This week, Tom Rivett-Carnac is joined by the veteran BBC Science Editor and author of the upcom
Beyond the Oil Crisis: What’s actually blocking the transition?
The Iran crisis continues to prove how dangerously dependent the global economy is on fossil fuels. But what will it actually take to move beyond them?In this episode, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson look at what the latest oil shock continues to reveal. And they turn to the upcoming First Conference on the Transition Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, where governmen
It’s In Our Blood: Communities vs Forever Chemicals
There are chemicals in your blood that weren't there fifty years ago. They are in the products you use, the water you drink, the food you eat - and for years, almost nobody was told the full truth about the risk.This week, Christiana speaks to two women who found contamination in their communities and refused to accept it.Emily Donovan and Sarah Alexander have spent decades fighting for greater re
The Health Emergency Hiding in Rising Seas
Sea-level rise is often spoken about in centimetres, forecasts and future scenarios. But what if we understood it as a health emergency that is already reshaping lives, harming bodies and minds, and displacing entire communities?This week, as a landmark Lancet Commission launches, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac argue that sea-level rise must be understood not just as a climate threat, b
Forecasting Disaster: A ‘super’ El Niño? And the case for early action
As headlines warn of a possible ‘super El Niño’ later this year, we ask: how do we respond to a warning before it becomes a catastrophe? The last major El Niño brought record heat, crop failures, flooding and deepening food insecurity across large parts of the world. This time, the question is not only what may be coming, but whether we are any better prepared to act on the warning?Tom Rivett
Flooded: Is extreme weather shifting the climate front lines?
We used to be shocked by this. Hundreds of thousands displaced, millions affected, whole communities washed out. But somewhere along the way, extreme weather events have become background noise.This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson explore what it means to live in a world where extreme rainfall, displacement and repeated flood damage are no longer rare shocks but par
The Iran Crisis and the Price of Oil Dependence
War in Iran has triggered another global energy shock. Once again, conflict has exposed the deep instability built into the fossil fuel system. And once again, the world is reminded that these fuels are not only polluting, but precarious.In this episode, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson unpack why the threat to oil infrastructure and the Strait of Hormuz matters so much, a
Water, Wildlife, and Climate’s Hidden Trade-Offs
The climate crisis is not one problem. It is a crisis of water, food, energy, language, justice and power - all colliding at once. So how do we respond when climate solutions create new trade-offs of their own? And are we even using the right words to describe what is happening?In this episode, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson take on some of the knottiest questions in cli
Who Pays? The Unfair Economics of Climate Finance
This week we acknowledge the US strikes on Iran and the escalation that has followed. The immediate human cost is what matters most right now. But this crisis is unfolding within a global system still shaped by oil markets and fossil fuel dependence - a dependence that amplifies regional instability and turns into global vulnerability.The same structural tensions sit at the heart of this week’s co
Catastrophe Apathy: Why understanding the climate crisis isn’t enough
Climate concern is not the problem. Most people have it. What's missing is everything that turns concern into action - and understanding that gap turns out to be a lot more complicated than it looks.This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson sit down with Lorraine Whitmarsh, Professor of Environmental Psychology and Director of the Centre for Climate Change and Social Tra
Trump Moves to Dismantle US Climate Law - Now Comes the Legal Test
The Trump administration last week announced the repeal of the ‘endangerment finding’ - the 2009 determination that climate change threatens public health and welfare. It may sound arcane, but this piece of legislation empowered the US federal government to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. This decision weakens the regulatory backbone of American climate policy, and may reshape the country’s emi
Who Wields Power Now?: Money, Movements and the Future of Climate
Who shapes climate action when old systems begin to strain? And where does power really sit - with governments, financial institutions, communities, or individuals?Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson explore climate leadership in a more fragmented geopolitical moment. Picking up the threads from last week’s episode, they ask what happens when multilateralism is threatened - a
Power, Money and Influence: The Hidden Forces Shaping Climate Action
Who really holds power in the climate transition? And how do money, politics, and influence shape the pace of change?In this episode, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson use some of your most probing questions on the political economy of climate action to unpack what happens behind closed doors and to challenge some of the assumptions that often dominate public debate. W
The China Pivot: What will Beijing’s climate leadership look like?
World leaders are flocking to Beijing. In the first weeks of 2026, Canada’s Mark Carney, the UK’s Sir Keir Starmer and South Korea’s Lee Jae-myung have all made high-profile visits - an unmistakable signal of global power recalibrating.China’s dominance in clean energy manufacturing is already well established: from solar panels and batteries to wind turbines. The question now is whether this tran
Beyond COP: Can Brazil Chart a Path Off Fossil Fuels?
How dependent are we - economically, politically and socially - on fossil fuels? And how do we begin to loosen that grip?As the world reels from geopolitical shocks, multilateral institutions under strain, and the United States’ withdrawal from key climate bodies, Ana Toni - CEO of COP30 - joins the show to discuss what comes next. Both for Brazil’s presidency in this crucial year, and for the wid
What does Trump’s UNFCCC exit mean for climate diplomacy?
What happens when the world’s most powerful country walks away from the system it helped to build?This week, we examine the United States’ decision to withdraw not only from the Paris Agreement, but from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change itself - alongside dozens of other international bodies. Headlines declared the end of multilateral climate cooperation. But is that really what this
Venezuela, Fossil Fuels, and the Year Ahead
The year has barely begun, and already the fault lines of global power are on full display.Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson take stock of a moment that feels both shocking and revealing. The US abduction of Venezuela’s president raises urgent questions about sovereignty, international law, and the enduring grip of fossil fuels on geopolitics - even as the energy transition
Beginning the Year With Ancestral Wisdom
As billions around the world mark the beginning of a new year, many are pausing to ask the same questions: what do we carry forward, and what do we leave behind, as we cross from the old into the new? And as headlines fill with predictions about the rise of artificial intelligence, could a different kind of AI - ‘ancestral intelligence’ - offer insights equal to the depth of the climate and biodiv
Why Beauty Matters in the Climate Crisis
At a moment when the world feels noisier, faster, and more demanding than ever, what role can beauty play in helping us slow down, reconnect, and remember what matters?As the year draws to a close, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson step back from targets, timelines and political headwinds to explore how craft, design and the quiet appreciation for our objects and spaces can
Follow The Money: Who’s driving climate disinformation?
At the very moment we need clarity and trust, information integrity is being polluted. Disinformation is profitable and the impact on truth is dangerous. Nowhere is this more obvious than in the discourse around climate.This week, Outrage + Optimism steps into the murky, fast-moving world of climate disinformation. Not simply misunderstanding and confusion, but the deliberate shaping of narratives
Paris, 10 Years On - Has it Changed the World?
Ten years ago, a gavel dropped in a conference hall north of Paris. It was the moment the world agreed on a strategic plan for one of the most consequential transformations in human history. But, a decade later, what has the Paris Agreement truly delivered?Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson pull back the curtain on the moment that changed global climate politics. The emotion
Jacinda Ardern and… Is It Time to Talk About Geoengineering?
This week, hosts Tom Rivett Carnac and Paul Dickinson delve into the rapidly emerging - and faintly surreal - world of solar geoengineering. Politico journalist Karl Mathiesen joins us to unpack his investigation into Stardust, a VC-backed startup claiming it’s ready to spray particles into the stratosphere. Karl explains why this technology is suddenly attracting serious money, why scientist
Kim Stanley Robinson on Pre Traumatic Imagination and the stories that change us
This week on Outrage + Optimism, we’re taking a breath.After two intense weeks of daily updates from COP30 in Belém, we’re returning to weekly programming with something different - a slower, deeper, more reflective conversation that felt too valuable to cut.While in the Blue Zone, we sat down with Kim Stanley Robinson, the acclaimed author of The Ministry for the Future, 2312, The Mars trilogy, a
Inside COP: The Final Hours of COP30 - and the road ahead
This is our final episode of Inside COP. For two weeks we’ve tried to bring you as close as possible to the heart of COP30 - the pace, the pressure, the progress, and the perspectives of those working inside and around the process.The closing plenary on Saturday began amid unexpected tension. Already running a day behind schedule, the Presidency moved to adopt the final text, but proceedings were
Inside COP: Friday Night in Belém - uncertainty in the Blue Zone
We recorded this episode across Friday afternoon and deep into the evening inside the Blue Zone at COP30. At the time of publishing, there is still no final deal. The negotiations are ongoing, positions are shifting, and the outcome remains uncertain. We know that by the time you listen, some of what we heard today may already have changed, but we decided there was value in sharing the day with yo
Inside COP: Friday Morning in Belém - what’s changed and why it matters
It’s Friday morning in Belém and COP30 is moving fast. After yesterday’s fire and the overnight closure of the venue, the Brazilian Presidency worked through the night and released a new draft text early this morning. It has immediately triggered significant pushback.In this emergency episode the team talks through what changed overnight, and why so many countries are unhappy. Christiana Figueres
Inside COP: Fire at COP30 - and the work still to be done
Today was not meant to be this episode.At around 2pm local time, a fire broke out near the country pavilions, triggering the full evacuation of the Blue Zone. As COP30 entered its final stretch, we’d planned to bring you an update on the negotiations, and to share some of the many extraordinary stories of progress and perseverance that surface here every single day.As of Thursday evening, the
Inside COP: Storms in Belém - Lula’s arrival, the carbon tariff debate, and the COP31 decision
We’re approaching crunch time in Belém, and a long-running COP30 saga may finally have found its landing spot. After days of rumour, diplomacy and thunderous rainforest downpours, the question of who will host COP31 looks close to being resolved - and it all plays out over the course of our day’s recording.Paul Dickinson and Fiona McRaith trace the twists of the Australia-Turkey negotiations in re
Inside COP: China, India… and the Text on the Table
It’s the middle of week two at COP30, and the negotiations are entering their crunch phase. A draft cover text has finally landed, ministers are on the ground, and the presidency is pushing hard to close before Lula heads to the G20 in Johannesburg.Paul Dickinson and Fiona McRaith look at the issues still holding up progress - from finance and adaptation to trade, the global stocktake, and the lon
Inside COP: Coal’s Out, Pressure’s On - a pivotal moment for COP30
It’s getting hot in the COP.Executive Secretary Simon Stiell turned up the pressure in Belém on Monday, sharpening his message as ministers arrived for what is often the most charged phase of the summit. He called for no more tactical delays, and no more dancing around the hardest issues. And Pope Leo XIV weighed in with an appeal to moral responsibility and global solidarity.Fiona McRaith an
Inside COP: The fight for the Amazon
As ministers arrive in Belém for the crucial second week of COP30, forests move from the backdrop of the summit to the main stage. Protests began at dawn on Friday and have continued through the weekend - among them, several activists carried a giant Brazilian flag, emblazoned with the words “Amazȏnia Protegida” (“Protected Amazon”).From the streets outside to the plenary halls in the Blue Zone, t
Inside COP: Al Gore on Fossil Fuel Lobbying and (In)convenient Truths
It’s the mid-point of COP30 and all four of our hosts have gathered in Belém to take stock.In the Blue Zone, the mood is its usual blend of high-stakes and surreal. The Presidency is calling its consultations a “collective therapy session,” China would prefer “massage and yoga,” and delegates are deep in the weeds of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.To sift the signal from the noise, Christi
Inside COP: The UN’s Top Climate Official on Week One of COP30
Christiana Figueres takes us behind the scenes at the UNFCCC offices to speak to the man who now holds her old job as Executive Secretary. As week one of the negotiations nears its end, Simon Stiell explains the quiet but crucial difference between the COP Presidency, which sets the political direction, and the Secretariat, which guards the Paris process and connects it to the real economy. He als
Inside COP: Protests at COP30 - and the reality of Indigenous representation
At a COP meant to centre the Amazon, some Indigenous voices have found themselves on the outside.On Tuesday night, what began as a vibrant street march ended in a dramatic breach of the Blue Zone, as Indigenous protesters passed through the barriers of the official venue. What does this moment tell us about who gets to shape the ‘Amazon COP’? From finance to flotillas, and from protest to particip
Inside COP: Is The US Still In? And Gavin Newsom on ‘invasive species’ Trump
Day three of COP30, and there’s one elephant not in the room.While there are plenty of United States citizens at this COP, for the first time, there are no US delegates. Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Fiona McRaith consider this notable absence, and ask: can a country that keeps flipping between progress and denial still claim climate leadership?In a conversation recorded live in the B
Inside COP: Brazil's Climate Leadership - the COP30 host takes centre stage
What is Brazil trying to achieve with COP30? It's Day Two in Belém and all eyes are on the host nation. Join Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac as they unpack how the country is shaping the first days of COP30 - and the quiet strategy behind Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago’s leadership. With the release of the Call of Belém for the Climate, they explore what may be a masterstroke of multila
Inside COP: The COP30 President Speaks, the Summit Begins
COP30 is here! Day one dawns in the Amazon, and all eyes are on the host nation - and on the man tasked with steering the talks.On the eve of what could be the most consequential COP since Paris, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac sat down with Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, Brazil’s COP30 President, for an inside look at his priorities: the tone he hopes to set and the outcomes he h
Inside COP: Ed Miliband on Multilateralism, Leadership and the UK’s Climate Dilemma
Why hasn’t the UK contributed to Brazil's flagship Tropical Forests Forever Facility it helped design? With COP30 about to open in Belém, the UK’s absence from this major forest finance deal is raising eyebrows.Meanwhile, Prince William, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Energy and Climate Change Minister Ed Miliband have been in Brazil this week, demonstrating the country’s continued commitment
Inside COP: World Leaders Gather in Belém - with Jacinda Ardern and Selwin Hart
As COP30 opens in Belém, world leaders have gathered for the first major moment of this Amazon-based summit in the shadow of growing doubts about global cooperation. With some major countries absent and others already signalling caution, the urgency of credible action is louder than ever.Brazil has launched it’s flagship Tropical Forests Forever Facility to fund the protection of the world’s tropi
Inside COP: The Power of Cities - from the Local Leaders Forum
Behind the national plans and global headlines, a quieter revolution is already underway. Almost 100 major cities - representing 23% of the world’s economy - are proving what local leadership can do. From clean-air targets and green-job creation to citizen-led adaptation, these C40 cities are already showing that climate action works for the planet and for their people.In this episode, Tom Rivett-
Inside the Earthshot Prize 2025: Royal Vision, Real Change
In a year when climate news can feel relentlessly bleak, the Earthshot Prize offers something vital - proof of progress. And in this year’s fifteen finalists, that proof is taking many forms, across many corners of the globe.This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Fiona McRaith bring us behind the scenes of the Earthshot Prize. Recorded in Rio de Janeiro as the world’s attention turn
Inside COP: Looking for a Plan in Finance - the trillion dollar transition
It’s the trillion-dollar problem: funds are on the table - but the money isn’t always flowing to where it’s needed most. As Hurricane Melissa batters the Caribbean, it leaves behind a stark reminder of what’s at stake when finance fails to reach the most climate-vulnerable places.This week on Inside COP, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Paul Dickinson and Fiona McRaith unpack what it will t
Inside COP: Teaming Up for the Planet - The Global Mutirão
Nearly 9 out of 10 people worldwide want their governments to do more on climate. So why does it feel like progress is so slow? And what happens when countries start bending the rules?This week on Inside COP, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres, Paul Dickinson and Fiona McRaith react to the shock postponement of the IMO’s net-zero shipping deal, derailed by US pressure. What does this setback r
Inside COP: The New World Order - power, politics and the green pie
The global balance of power is shifting. Can climate diplomacy keep up?As China rises, the BRICS expand and the United States retreats, new power blocks formed by competition and conflict will take centre stage in the negotiations in Belem. In this week’s Inside COP, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres, Paul Dickinson and Fiona McRaith ask: what will it take for COP30 to foster genui
Inside COP: A New Economy Rising - from promises to progress
Will COP30 be the COP of ‘implementation’? And what would that actually mean? Beyond the famous negotiating halls, climate action is already happening. Businesses, investors and cities are driving real change, and the new green economy is rising in tandem with diplomacy.So can Belém mark the moment when implementation promises turn into reality? This week, Paul Dickinson and Fiona
Remembering Jane Goodall
Following the sad news this week of Jane Goodall’s passing, Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac remember her extraordinary work, personality and humility. They are joined by Mary Lewis, Vice President of the Jane Goodall Institute and Jane’s long-time friend, who shares her memories of her remarkable colleague and her reflections on the incredible legacy she leaves behind. Plus, we share an
Inside COP: How to Build a COP
How do you build a COP? With just a few weeks to go until COP30 in Belém, we take listeners inside the high stakes and the complex mechanics of a climate summit: how they’re structured, who’s running the show, and what makes this one different.Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Paul Dickinson and Fiona McRaith unpack how high-level climate conferences actually work, and explore the people and
Inside COP: The countdown to COP30 at New York Climate Week
How does COP deliver a pathway to dealing with the worsening climate crisis? That’s the big question as attention across the world turns to COP30 in Belém, Brazil, later this year.Inside COP is your complete guide, unpacking the challenges, conversations and actions shaping the global response to climate change in 2025. Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Paul Dickinson and new co-host Fi
From Courtrooms to Statehouses: The US Climate Pushback
This week on Outrage + Optimism, we join the Be Hope global podcast takeover - a collaboration of shows amplifying courage and possibility in facing the greatest challenges of our time.Alongside Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson, guest co-host Sophia Li helps us explore how states, cities, and communities in the US are holding the line on climate when federal leadership fa
Beyond the Bad News: Evidence for Climate Optimism
From stalled UN plastics treaty talks, to the hottest summer on record across much of the northern hemisphere - it’s been a bleak few weeks for climate news. So this week, against a backdrop of worsening headlines, we ask: are there still reasons to be optimistic? And what will it take to turn urgency into real change?Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson are joined by Ani Dasg
Rising Tides: How indigenous communities are facing the climate crisis
What does it mean to live on the front lines of climate change - where rising seas, collapsing ecosystems and the legacies of colonialism collide?This week, Christiana Figueres and Paul Dickinson are joined by guest host Andrew Higham (Founder of the Future of Climate Cooperation, and former UNFCCC Senior Advisor), to hear from three remarkable people from across the Solomon Islands, Alaska and Gr
Listening to the Living World: Can AI help us hear the planet?
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 cutt
Introducing: Inside COP - the Official COP30 Podcast from Outrage + Optimism
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 F
