Climate Change Audio: Recent Episodes
Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs
Global climate change presents a urgent challenge for the planet and its inhabitants. From discussions at the international level to local projects, some progress has been made, and there are plenty of good ideas. But time is running out.
"I still believe that we're heading toward a renewable resource-based economy. I think that it's inevitable," declares Steven Cohen. How will we get there? A combination of market forces as renewables become cheaper, better technology, and the sharing economy.
Kumi Naidoo's activism began at 15 years old, when he risked his life to protest against apartheid in his native South Africa. The former Greenpeace executive hasn't stopped since. Learn more about this inspiring man and find out why he considers climate change to be the most important human rights issue of our time.
"The story of our failure on climate change is a story of our failure to understand the truly manipulative and evil effects of money in politics," declares Senator Whitehouse. "It's being deployed right now. You undo Citizens United and we will have a bill in a month."
From Greenland to Kenya, indigenous peoples are fighting for their land against governments, corporations, and climate change. UN special rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, herself an indigenous leader in the Philippines, discusses the challenges facing her country and how to navigate through the world of politics and big business.
In late June, "Ethics & International Affairs" senior editor Zach Dorfman sat down with M. Sanjayan, senior scientist at Conservation International, at the Aspen Ideas Festival to discuss our climate-changed world, and why--on some days at least--he's hopeful about our environmental future.
"We are in transition today from an age of surpluses to an age of scarcity," says Lester Brown. The reasons are manifold: population growth; climate change; water scarcity; a substantial part of the U.S. grain harvest being used for fuel; increased demands because of rising affluence; and a glass ceiling for crop yields.
Climate change is impacting the globe in surprising ways. The Maldives might be submerged, but Canadian trade could benefit from new waterways. What's the best way forward--short-term responses or long-term solutions? Don't miss the next episode, which looks at the shift from climate change mitigation to adaptation.
McKibben, one of the world's leading environmentalist, believes our best hope lies not in appealing to our wallets, but in appealing to our ethics, our most basic sense of right and wrong. When it comes to taking on the fossil fuel industry, McKibben says pure self interest will not cut it, but moral outrage might.
With the 17th annual global climate change talks foundering in Durban, little hope is left for a worldwide initiative designed to combat global warming. Will local efforts be enough or does this latest setback truly doom a future of sustainability and worldwide cooperation?
You recycle? You turn down plastic and paper? Good. But none of that will save the tuna or stop global warming. If you want to make the planet notice, follow the economics, says Gernot Wagner.
Unmesh Brahme of HSBC India discusses his newly-launched Climate Civics Institute, which grew out of a Yale World Fellowship. The Institute's mission is to create climate adaptation communities worldwide, so that their experiences can lead to policy innovations.
What, asks Oxford economist Paul Collier, are realistic and sustainable solutions to correcting the mismanagement of the natural world? Can an international standard be established to resolve the complex issues of unchecked profiteering on the one hand and environmental romanticism on the other?
Everything hinges on water; it is essential to life and to civilization. Will there be enough fresh water for 9 billion of us by 2050? In this talk, journalist Steven Solomon discusses the impending global water crisis.
How do we balance the short-term interests at stake in the energy debate with our long-term needs? This short video on ethics asks: Why are energy and climate choices painted as opposites?
This short clip on ethics asks: Is climate change a common public burden, or should individuals make their own choices? Globally do modernized countries have an obligation to developing countries?
By 2050 some estimate that climate change will displace 150 million people, but the displaced won't qualify as refugees under international law. What should be done about relocation?
The global circulation of goods is a major source of both prosperity and carbon emissions. This short audio on ethics asks: Can trade be regulated to maximize development and reduce environmental harm?
This short clip on ethics asks: Who pays to stop global warming? How to allocate emissions allowances? If people are entitled to an equal share of the world's resources, should national allowances be allocated on a per capita basis? How about the billionaire in India who pollutes more than a poor person in urban Paris?
Julia Kennedy talks to Sujeesh Krishnan and Euan Murray of Carbon Trust about the journey to discover the biggest sources of emissions for businesses, and finds that sometimes the answers are not what you might expect.
Renowned economist Lord Nicholas Stern estimates that it will cost only about 2 percent of global GDP to control climate change at manageable levels by 2050. But we cannot delay. The cost of inaction is far greater and more perilous.
H.E. Dr. Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, President of Iceland, discusses how Iceland has successfully reduced its use of oil and coal, and how the fate of nations large and small is being affected by climate change.
Bringing capital into play is the pragmatic and profitable response to climate change, says Mark Fulton of Deutsche Asset Management. Governments are creating a price for carbon, explicitly through emissions trading and implicitly through taxes, subsidies, and standards.
Nikhil Chandavarkar of the UN says Developed countries focus on mitigation and absolute emissions levels, whereas developing countries cite their low per capita emissions and their need for adaptation, technology, and finance. Negotiators must reconcile these concerns to craft a fair successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol.
Michael Oppenheimer of Princeton explains climate change and discusses ways to deal with this mounting crisis. A self-described optimist, he believes that we can change our behavior and prevent complete catastrophe.
Environmental lawyer James Speth recommends steps towards sustainability ranging from creating a world environmental organization with the power to make treaties with teeth, to encouraging innovative measures at the local level--what he calls "green jazz."