BOSS series: Why low-lying Pacific nation Tuvalu is a boss

Low-lying Pacific Nation Tuvalu is not taking the prospect of going underwater lightly. In fact – they’ve already digitised their land, archived their culture, and moved their government online. The man behind the digital nation campaign and Tuvaluan politician, Simon Kofe MP, joins Climate Curious to share what Tuvalu’s resilience and wisdom can teach the rest of the world, asks what happens to a country without land, and encourages us to think of ourselves as a global community, not individual nations.

Climate mixtape: A COP28 out?

COP28 starts today in Dubai. And you’re going to be hearing a lot about it over the next two weeks. To help you get an on-the-ground picture of what goes on at a COP, we spoke to seven experts to compile you a climate mixtape! A mashup of expert hot takes designed to soothe your soul, raise your spirits, and understand what the priorities are for this year’s 2023 COP.

Climate Quickie: Meet the invisible climate villain

It’s smelly, it lasts roughly 12 years in the atmosphere and has more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide. Methane is an underestimated greenhouse gas produced in large part by food systems, organic waste and weirdly, cow burps. Biochemical engineer and CEO of Global Methane Hub, Marcelo Mena, joins Climate Curious to break down how we tackle this invisible climate villain. Recorded live at Climate Week NYC.

Climate marketing professor: love is the most effective message

“No-one wakes up in the morning and says it’s a great day for decarbonisation,” says climate marketer who’s delivered 3 billion ads on the topic, the founder and CEO of Potential Energy, John Marshall. Climate Curious co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst chat to John about how we can really make climate “pop”: from using real and regular messengers (not politicians) to talking more about “stopping the top 100 polluters” rather than “stopping climate change” (too vague and conceptual), John shares the effective strategies that will get people engaged and fired up to take action. And, he reveals the number one message that is most effective across all demographics. Recorded live at Climate Week NYC at TED.

Climate Quickie: Can climate change be funny?

Humour is one of the healthiest ways to process the collective tragedy of the pollution of our planet, says the comedian-in-residence at Generation180 and co-creator of the Climate Comedy Cohort, Esteban Gast, on Climate Curious. In conversation with Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha, Esteban shares how he’s building a climate comedy movement to get more humour into climate storytelling through the form of mentions, moments and premises.

Climate Quickie: Why protecting rainforests might lead to less climate change and fewer pandemics

Climate solution alert! Rainforests are a medical, health and climate treasure trove. Over 30 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed to reach our climate goals come from nature, such as keeping rainforests standing. So why is it that those nature-based solutions get less than 5 percent of overall climate funding? Climate Curious speaks to disease detective, Neil Vora, to explore this question and explain why protecting rainforests might also lead to fewer pandemics down the road.

Climate Quickie: What do zombies, vampires, and ‘The Last Of Us’ have to do with climate change?

“The Last of Us” thriller tv series put fungal disease in the spotlight. But how realistic is it? Thanks to our warming petri dish of a planet, the scenario isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds… Climate Curious speaks to disease detective, Neil Vora, to explain why increasing global temperatures means the emergence of new health threats is more likely.

Halloween special: Zombies, vampires and fungal horror shows, with disease detective Neil Vora

It’s spooky season! We welcome disease detective Neil Vora to Climate Curious Live, with co-hosts Maryam Pasha and Ben Hurst to explain why ‘The Last of Us’ scenario isn’t as far-fetched as it sounds… Thanks to our warming petri dish of a planet, a fungal horror show might be on the cards! The solution? Protect biodiversity and wean ourselves off of fossil fuels so we can halt the loss of nature and slow climate change to prevent viral spillovers! Recorded live at TEDxLondon Countdown 2023 in London.

What’s in and what’s out? Climate Week NYC takeaways

Funghi, fossil fuels, finger pointing… we spoke to four environmentalists LIVE at Climate Week NYC to get you the scoop on what’s in, and what’s out, in the world of climate.

Featuring:
Willow Defebaugh, co-founder and editor-in-chief of Atmos
Wawa Gatheru, founder of Black Girl Environmentalist
Kalpana Arias, founder of Nowadays on Earth
Isaias Hernandez, founder or Queer Brown Vegan

Want more? Listen to the full conversation:
You just heard the B-side of a panel discussion held at Climate Week NYC. Listen to the A-side over at Supersede, a podcast examining how passionate folks find their climate superpowers.
This episode was created in collaboration with the amazing folks at Seeding Sovereignty, Supersede, Queer Brown Vegan, Nowadays on Earth, all recorded live at The Symbiocene.