Outrage + Optimism

🤔 How should individuals prepare for the impacts of the climate crisis? Do you agree with Christiana Figueres? Let us know your thoughts in the comments 👇 And tune in to this week's episode to our hosts' answers to many more listener questions - out now, wherever you get your podcasts.

 🌍 How do we talk to children about climate change? 🌍 In this week's Outrage + Optimism episode, Tom Rivett-Carnac shares his experience of giving a talk at his child’s school—perhaps the most nerve-wracking speech of his life! His reflections on how to balance vulnerability with optimism in conversations about the climate crisis are a must-hear for parents, educators, and anyone trying to communicate the urgency of climate change. 🎙 Key Takeaways: ￭ Avoid frightening children but don’t sugarcoat reality—authenticity is key. ￭ Show them their generation’s unique opportunity to create a profound positive impact. ￭ Frame the climate crisis as a challenge worth fighting for, instilling courage and purpose. 💡 Tom’s perspective reminds us that the way we engage the next generation is critical. If we can inspire them with a sense of mission, they’ll look back on this transformative era as one of the greatest in human history. 🎧 Listen to the full episode here: https://bit.ly/3VLtWmn 💬 How do you approach conversations about the climate crisis with younger generations? Let us know in the comments!

This week is your last chance to help shape Outrage + Optimism for 2025! All feedback and suggestions very welcome. So if you have 10 minutes to spare, we'd be most grateful 🙏 https://lnkd.in/eH9RVJbr

If we continue in our current 'siloed' ways of thinking, we will not succeed at protecting our planet and preserving our future. The climate, biodiversity, food, health and water crises are all inextricably linked and dealing with them separately is a sure route to failure on all sides. We know this in our hearts, we've been adjusting to it in our minds, and it is yet again confirmed by the groundbreaking IPBES Nexus report released this week. The report findings call first and foremost for us to put nature at the heart of climate policy and global development strategies. Failure to do so will result in further catastrophic biodiversity loss which will in turn negatively affect water availability, food security, health risks and climate change in an intricate vicious cycle. The knowledge and solutions for acting holistically on the polycrisis exist: we must embrace the knowledge and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities which have time and time again been proven to successfully conserve biodiversity and thereby improve all other areas of life. And most importantly we must shift from the mindset of nature as an external resource to the understanding that we too are nature. When we damage and destroy the natural world, we are doing the same to all the systems on which our lives depend and ultimately ourselves. This report is a clarion call for policymakers and a wake-up moment for us all. Let's make sure we act on it, fast.  https://lnkd.in/dUrxB7gJ

This week is your last chance to help shape Outrage + Optimism for 2025! All feedback and suggestions very welcome. So if you have 10 minutes to spare, we'd be most grateful 🙏 https://lnkd.in/eH9RVJbr

“Multilateralism isn’t dead, but it is being held hostage by a very small number of countries trying to prevent progress.” Nicely put, Al Gore. Are COPs still our best option for climate action? What needs to change? Christiana Figueres says that we need to "rekindle the mindset with which we operated for the Paris Agreement" where we recognise that we all benefit from a more stable, just and healthy planet - and that we all suffer when the opposite is true. What do you think? Is multilateralism dead? https://lnkd.in/eSAvBR_v

As some of those whose lives have already been upended by the climate crisis make their case at the International Court of Justice, yet another vulnerable community is battered by an extreme storm, leaving hundreds if not thousands dead. The ICJ ruling can’t come fast enough (expected September 2025). Plus more stories of outrage and optimism (because we need both). 🌱 OPTIMISM 1: The UK published a major action plan to decarbonise the grid by 2030, aiming for 95% low-carbon electricity. The ambitious but achievable plan requires serious ramping up of wind and solar. 🔥 OUTRAGE 1: Cyclone Chido swept through the French Indian Ocean archipelago of Mayotte creating “a major humanitarian crisis” with hundreds, possibly thousands dead. The storm was the most powerful to hit the area in nearly a century. 🌱 OPTIMISM 2:  Marginalised communities were elevated at the landmark International Court of Justice hearings with the court hearing from those at the forefront of the climate crisis. The case will advise on states’ responsibilities around climate. 🔥 OUTRAGE 2:  Research has shown that the UK is “a world leader in the legal crackdown on climate activism” with British police arresting environmental protesters at nearly three times the global average rate. 🌱 OPTIMISM 3: China’s demand for oil is set to peak in 2025, five years ahead of schedule, with the speed of its transition to electric mobility taking oil producers and investors by surprise. 🔥 OUTRAGE 3: 3. Over 50% of Alaska’s population of common murres (around 4 million birds) died in a marine heatwave in 2014-2016. The population has not recovered since, suggesting that the heatwave may have led to an ecosystem shift. As always each news item we’ve included is a complex story in its own right, reduced here to a single line as a potential signpost for further reading. You can find the links to the news sources in the comments. 🎧 Feed your ears with more outrage and optimism - don’t miss this Thursday’s ‘December Mailbag’ - our last episode of the year! Wherever you get your podcasts.  

👉 Do we need to face the face that we're living in an age of populism? 👉 Can we use 'climate populism' to unite voters against the real forces preventing progress - the fossil fuel industries now in brazen partnership with corrupt elites? In this week's episode, Ben Rhodes talks about how the story of Donald Trump offering $1 billion to oil executives in exchange for protecting their interests barely made a splash in US news 🤯 If the Democrats had jumped on this story to bring people together against a common enemy, how powerful might that have been? Your thoughts please! 🎧 https://bit.ly/3VzxRTd

A possible (relatively) hopeful scenario from Christiana Figueres for international developments in climate during the next Trump presidency. Could the leadership of the BRICS countries create a shift in perception of 'the climate issue' from one of political dogma to one of economic opportunity? 🤔 Your thoughts please! 🎧 Listen to the whole conversation with Ben Rhodes here: https://bit.ly/3VzxRTd Or wherever you get your podcasts.

"𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴—𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴." In our latest episode, Ben Rhodes, former US Deputy National Security Advisor, unpacks how populism and accountability can drive the systemic changes we need to tackle the climate crisis. 🎙 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: • 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲: "You need a dose of populism to confront powerful interests like the fossil fuel lobby," said Ben, urging us to connect climate issues with systemic problems like inequality and corruption. • 𝗕𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲: Climate action can’t stay confined to corporate boardrooms or global summits—it’s about challenging entrenched power structures that harm everyone. • 𝗟𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽: Reflecting on the successes of leaders like Obama, Ben emphasised the importance of leadership that prioritises systemic progress. With concerns about the potential policies of Donald Trump’s next presidency—likely favoring fossil fuel interests over climate accountability—how do we cultivate a new generation of leaders who prioritize people and the planet? 🎧 Listen to the full episode https://bit.ly/3VzxRTd 💬 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀?