Shows
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature121 | Michael Greene: Carbon Cowboy or Lone Ranger Part 2 – The $200 Million Land Heist in the AmazonIn this episode of Bionic Planet, we finally catch up with Michael Greene — the carbon developer branded a "land grabber of epic proportions" in The Washington Post, and now at the center of an unfolding saga that feels more like a political thriller than a conservation story. When Greene began building carbon projects in the Brazilian Amazon, he didn't expect to end up battling organized crime, corrupt officials, and a $220 million land grab. But that's exactly where the trail has led. You'll hear how a businessman who thought he was protecting forests found himself targeted by...
2025-10-062h 26
This Week in CarbonThe Carbon Paradox: Renat Heuberger & Steve Zwick on Climate Finance and StorytellingIn this episode of This Week in Carbon, host Rene Velasquez sits down with Renat Heuberger and Steve Zwick to discuss their new book, The Carbon Paradox, and its unique approach to unraveling the complexities of carbon markets. Recorded ahead of New York Climate Week 2025, this conversation delves into the power of storytelling to make the nuanced challenges of climate finance accessible and engaging.Key Highlights:• The genesis of Carbon Paradoxes, sparked by Renat’s reflections in Bali amidst 2023’s carbon market controversies.• How the book’s fictional narrative brings to life 25 paradoxes, from ethical dilemmas to control tensions, making com...
2025-09-191h 06
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureIndonesia is Still Moving its Capitol, and Nobody Cares?In this episode of Bionic Planet, we delve into the pressing issue of climate change and its profound impact on coastal ecosystems, particularly focusing on blue carbon. We kick off the discussion by highlighting Indonesia's monumental decision to relocate its capital from Jakarta to Borneo due to the city sinking under the dual pressures of climate change and land subsidence. This serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to address climate change, which is reshaping our world in ways that often go unnoticed. Our guest today is Dr. Steve Crooks, a leading expert in coastal...
2025-09-171h 25
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureBlue Carbon Pioneer James Kairo on How Mangroves Combat Climate Change: First of Three Parts
2025-09-021h 25
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureKenyan Herders Say Judgement Against Them Based on Forged Signatures / Continuation of Episode 117
2025-05-241h 02
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureKenyan Pastoralists Cry Foul on Western NGOs, Media. First of two partsIn this gripping two-hour episode, we pull back the curtain on misinformation campaigns targeting carbon projects in Kenya's Northern Rangelands. Through interviews with local leaders—including Mohamed Shibia, director of the Northern Rangelands Trust (NRT) carbon program, and elders Peter Lekurtut of the Samboru people and Peter Kilesi of the Maasai—we hear firsthand how traditional grazing systems are being revived and enhanced, not imposed or destroyed. 🎧 Episode highlights: False claims by Survival International and Deutsche Welle (DW) debunked The real story behind grazing plans, fencing, and carbon revenue sharing The complexi...
2025-04-162h 01
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature116 | James Mwangi and Kenya's Great Carbon Valley In this episode of our podcast, we dive deep into the transformative potential of Africa in the global shift towards a sustainable future, featuring an insightful conversation with James Mwangi, co-founder of Dahlberg and a leading advocate for innovative climate solutions in Kenya. We begin by discussing Africa's booming population and rich natural resources, which James argues position the continent as a powerhouse for innovation and leadership in the climate fight. Contrary to the narrative that views Africa as a victim of climate change, James emphasizes the continent's potential to lead, particularly through initiatives like the Great...
2025-02-2555 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature115 | Unpacking Donald Trump's Very Weird Environmental OrdersIn this episode of Bionic Planet, Season 10, Episode 115, we dive into the significant environmental implications of the executive orders signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. Originally, we had planned to focus this season on Africa, but the rapid changes in U.S. environmental policy prompted us to shift gears. I connected with Tim Male last week. Tim, who founded the Environmental Policy Innovation Center in 2017, has a wealth of experience in environmental policy, having worked in various capacities, including at the White House and with organizations like Defenders of Wildlife...
2025-01-2748 min
SmarterMarkets™Inside the Coffeehouse Episode 7 | Steve Zwick, Host and Producer, Bionic Planet and Renat Heuberger, CEO & Co-Founder, Terra Impact VenturesWe close out our Inside the Coffeehouse series this week with Steve Zwick and Renat Heuberger. Steve is Host & Producer of Bionic Planet, and Renat is CEO & Co-Founder of Terra Impact Ventures. David Greely sits down with Steve and Renat to discuss the paradoxes of the carbon markets – and what we can be doing better to bridge the gap between the complex realities and simple messages to move the conversation forward and support meaningful climate action.
2024-12-2142 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureMichael Greene: Carbon Cowboy or Lone Ranger? Part 1In this episode of Bionic Planet, I delve into the complex and often controversial world of conservation in the Amazon, featuring Michael Greene, a figure recently spotlighted in a Washington Post article that painted him as a land grabber. However, my intention is to provide a more nuanced perspective on his story, which I believe reflects broader challenges in the fight against deforestation. Michael Greene's journey began in 2009 when he entered the tangled legal landscape of land ownership in the Amazon. His work is set against a backdrop of illegal logging, land grabbing, and the struggles of...
2024-12-062h 12
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe Future of Environmental Finance: Strategies for Biodiversity and Climate Solutions, with David Hill and George Kelly
2024-11-2842 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureFantasy Football and Dynamic Baselines: New Tools for Impact AssessmentIn Episode 112 of Bionic Planet, titled "Fantasy Football and Dynamic Baselines: New Tools for Impact Assessment," we unpack the often misunderstood concept of dynamic baselines and its origin in synthetic controls, using fantasy football as an analogy. The episode begins with a clear and relatively simple explanation of dynamic baselines, which have emerged as a valuable tool in climate finance. Unlike traditional static baselines, which rely on fixed reference points, dynamic baselines adapt to changing conditions and provide a more accurate measure of impact. We discuss the importance of data and the need for robust methodologies to...
2024-10-121h 24
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe False Dichotomy Between Reductions and Removals (Rerun)Support Bionic Planet: https://www.patreon.com/bionicplanet Recent updates from the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) have pushed an old debate into public awareness, highlighting a perceived divide between emissions reductions and carbon removals. While SBTi's new guidelines focus on cutting emissions directly within company operations, some argue this creates a false dichotomy, downplaying the essential role of carbon removals in achieving net-zero goals. In reality, both strategies—reductions and removals—are not opposing forces but complementary tools needed to combat climate change effectively. In Episode 69 of Bionic Planet, I spoke with Eli Mitchell-Larsen, a self...
2024-09-031h 15
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureEcological Economics, Systems Thinking, and the Limits to GrowthSupport Bionic Planet: https://www.patreon.com/bionicplanet Guests: Jim Pittman (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamespittman/) Matt Orsagh (https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-orsagh-a1b8417/) Steve Rocco (https://www.linkedin.com/in/steverocco/) Books Referenced: Ecological Economics (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77985.Ecological_Economics?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=ZDNVmbxl5B&rank=1) The Limits to Growth (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/705418.Limits_to_Growth?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=1uh5jgBt1O&rank=1) The Web of L...
2024-08-221h 30
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow Brazil's Quilombola Communities are Planting the Seeds of Sustainability for Small Farms Around the World, with Vasco van Roosmalen of ReSeedSupport Bionic Planet: https://www.patreon.com/bionicplanet In episode 109 of Bionic Planet, we learn how the Quilombola people of Brazil are blending the IPCC Livelihood Vulnerability Index Assessment with soil carbon methodologies developed under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) to save themselves and their soil from urban expansion and agricultural encroachment. We begin with Sandra Pereira Braga, a descendant of enslaved peoples who has been farming on her family's land for almost 300 years. Sandra's story highlights the importance of recognizing and valuing the traditional practices and accumulated carbon stocks of these communities. Ou...
2024-08-081h 20
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe Washington Post's Head Scratcher of a Carbon StoryPhoto by Karol Stefański on Unsplash Support me at patreon.com/bionicplanet Related Links to Follow In episode 108 of Bionic Planet, I delve into a recent article published by the Washington Post that is riddled with inaccuracies, false premises, and misleading information. The episode serves as a critical analysis of the article, highlighting the importance of fact-checking and the credibility of mainstream media in reporting on complex issues such as climate change and carbon finance. The episode begins with a passionate rant about the Washington Post's story, titled "How Carbon C...
2024-08-0332 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureFrancis Bacon and the Prehistory of Climate Finance. Second in an intermittent series on the Untold Story of the Voluntary Carbon Market
2024-07-2432 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature106 | Steve Discusses the "Tribes of the Climate Realm" on the Smarter Markets PodcastThis episoed of Bionic Planet is technically an episode of Andrew Greely's podcast, Smarter Markets, where I appeared as a guest to discuss my new vertical "The Tribes of the Climate Realm." It's not a series but a vertical, where episodes will drop intermittently over the remainder of the year and probably for years to come. If you're sharing or referencing the show, please reference the original at https://www.smartermarketspod.com/carbon-frontiers-2024-episode-10-steve-zwick/ The discussion revolves around the historical context of the first generation of REDD projects and the media criticism t...
2024-07-0548 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature105 | The Role of Carbon Credits in Conservation: A Case Study from Guatemala In this episode of Bionic Planet, we delve into the inspiring journey of Marco Cerezo, the director of Fundaeco, a conservation NGO based in Guatemala. Marco shares his lifelong dedication to nature conservation, sustainable community development, and the fight against climate change. He recounts his early experiences studying development economics and the pivotal moment in 1989 when he learned about climate change from NASA geophysicists, which fueled his passion for conservation. Marco discusses the challenges faced by Fundaeco in its early days, relying on small grants and volunteers to support their conservation efforts. As the organization grew, they...
2024-06-2639 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureTransition Finance: How Carbon Markets REALLY Work, with David Antonioli In episode 104 of Bionic Planet, I delve into the intricacies of carbon finance with my guest, David Antonioli. We explore the concept of transformational finance, where carbon payments are used to catalyze sustainable practices that can eventually stand on their own. We discuss the limitations of the current additionality tool, which focuses on individual project assessments, and the need for a more holistic approach to drive long-term sector-wide transitions. David Antonioli, with his extensive experience in climate change and carbon markets, shares insights on the need for a paradigm shift in carbon finance. He emphasizes the importance...
2024-06-1455 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature103 | Jen Jenkins on Purists, Pragmatists, and Science-Based TargetsIn Episode 103 of Bionic Planet, titled "Purists, Pragmatists, and the Science-Based Targets Initiative," we delve into the complex world of emission reduction targets and the challenges companies face to reach net zero emissions by 2050. The episode explores the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTI), a program designed to assist companies in setting emission reduction targets aligned to achieve net zero emissions. The episode begins by highlighting the significant increase in companies committing to SBTI since January 2023, with many not submitting their plans until January 2025. We learn about the distinction between purists and pragmatists in the climate realm. Purists advocate...
2024-06-0340 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureUnderstanding Science and Communicating Uncertainty in Climate Solutions, with Gil Pontius (AKA, Dr Stardust)In this episode, I had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Gilmore Pontius, Jr., a geography professor at Clark University specializing in geographic information science. Dr. Pontius shared his expertise in computer simulation models of deforestation and the impact of land change on humans. Dr. Pontius discussed his journey into the field of geography, highlighting his passion for mathematics and maps. He emphasized the importance of simplicity in modeling and the need to eliminate distractions to focus on the essence of the problem. The conversation delved into the complexities of land change modeling, addressing the challenges...
2024-05-221h 31SmarterMarkets™Carbon Frontiers 2024 Episode 10 | Steve Zwick, Host and Producer, Bionic PlanetThis week on Carbon Frontiers 2024, we welcome Steve Zwick into the SmarterMarkets™ studio. Steve is Host and Producer of Bionic Planet, which focuses on navigating the new reality of life on a managed planet. David Greely sits down with Steve to put some of today’s controversies in the voluntary carbon markets into their historical context. David and Steve also discuss what’s gone wrong – and what’s gone right – with the first generation of REDD projects and the media criticism they’ve come under.
2024-05-1848 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature101 | Interface, Inc May Have Outgrown Offsets, but Most Have Not
2024-05-1343 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe Untold Story of the Voluntary Carbon MarketBecome a patron at https://www.patreon.com/bionicplanet In Episode 100 of Bionic Planet, part of the Tribes of the Climate Realm vertical, we delve into the origins of the voluntary carbon market -- a story that has never been told before. Today's show is the first of many offering a truer, completer, and more accurate glimpse into the origins of the Voluntary Carbon Market than you've probably ever heard before. The episode draws on a 2022 discussion with environmental economists Marc Stuart and Mark Kenber, who were instrumental in creating the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS...
2024-05-0144 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureMombasa's Big Ship: Reviving Urban Mangroves by Raising CommunitiesSupport Bionic Planet at patreon.com/bionicplanet In Episode 99 of Bionic Planet, recorded in Mombasa, Kenya, the focus is on the efforts to revive the coastal mangrove forests that protect the seaside city and support its fishing sector. The episode features guests from the community-based organization, Big Ship, who have been working on mangrove conservation for 15 years. The episode delves into the challenges faced in persuading communities to understand the importance of conserving mangroves and the innovative financing mechanisms used by Big Ship to fund their restoration efforts. The guests discuss the crucial role mangroves...
2024-04-2342 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature098 | The Case of the Tangled Titles: Unraveling the Legal Complexities of Land Ownership in the AmazonToday we're going to try and help you understand one of the most vexing components of the climate challenge — namely, the overlapping, interlinking, and contradictory land titles that determine control of so many tropical forests — in this case, the Amazon, the lungs of the planet. With no clarity over control and no realistic way of enforcing it, there's no way to sustainably manage and protect this massive bulwark against climate change. Today's episode centers around a few individuals, most notably a Japan-born physician named Jonas Morioka, who migrated to Brazil in the 1980s, purchased timberland in th...
2024-04-1649 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature97 | The Mosaic, the Minefield, and a ManifestoPhoto courtesey of HH58 - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70303656 This episode of Bionic Planet is entitled "The Mosaic, the Minefield, and a Manifesto." The "Mosaic" reminds us that there is no single solution to the climate challenge. Instead, we have a mosaic of interlocking solutions that fit together like a clock. Carbon finance is just one part of it, and it's one of the few parts that have worked well, albeit imperfectly. The "Minefield" reminds us that the mosaic of solutions sits in an ideological minefield, and you...
2024-04-0822 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureEncore Presentation: Tim Mohin on Overcoming Information Asymmetry in the ESG MovementTim Mohin wrote "Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Tree-Hugger's Guide to Working in Corporations" back in 2012, after three decades in sustainability — first in government, with the US Environmental Protection Agency, and then at companies like Intel, where he served as director of sustainable development. He went on to head the Global Reporting Initiative, which administers the GRI standards for sustainability. He recently helped launmch ESG data provider Persefoni and hosts his own podcast, "Sustainability Decoded with Tim and Caitlin." We look back on 40 years of sustaiability finance and ahead to the future of Environmental, Social, and corporate Go...
2024-02-2954 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature95 | "Co" Benefits Vs "Core Benefits:" Geoff Mwangi And His Theory Of Change
2024-02-101h 03
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureZimbabwe's Cannabis Queen, Zorodzai Maroveke, AKA "Dr Zoey"Dr. Zorodzai Maroveke -- AKA "Dr. Zoey" -- heads the Zimbabwe Industrial Hemp Trust, which is promoting the uptake of industrial hemp as a climate smart alternative to wood, cotton, and plastic. Hemp, she explains, replenishes faster than wood, uses far less water than cotton, and has almost no waste. Its ecological benefits are clear, and she hopes carbon finance can be used to overcome the financial challenges to scaling up. Supplemental Reading: "Commodities at a Glance: Special Issue on Industrial Hemp" https://www.mycannabis.com/cannabis-in-zimbabwe-conversation-with-dr-maroveke/
2024-01-1123 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureZimbabwe's Green Cheetahs, with Chiyedza Heri of the Ubuntu AllianceZimbabwean entrepreneur Chiyedza Heri runs the Ubuntu Alliance, a company that's helping farmers leverage carbon finance to shift to more sustainable forms of agriculture. She's one of more than a dozen young Africans I met at year-end climate talks in Dubai (COP 28) -- a new breed of entrepreneur that the late Ghanian economist George Ayittey calls "cheetahs" because they're nimble, quick, and hungry. Green Cheetahs pursue activities that are pro-nature as well as pro-growth, and today's guest certainly fits that bill.
2023-12-2126 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureCOP 28 Article 6: Expectations for Final DayWith just one full day of negotiations remaining, Pedro Venzon and Andrea Bonzanni of the International Emissions Trading Association summarize the remaining issues under Article 6
2023-12-1111 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureArticle 6 Update from Dubai with Kelley Hamrick Malvar of The Nature ConservancyArticle 6 negotiations, which focus on international carbon markets, remain stalled in Dubai. Kelley Hamrick Malvar of The Nature Conservancy offers a look into the current state of play and the road ahead.
2023-12-0828 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureGeorge Thumbi: Man of a Million Trees (5th Installment, "Carbon in Kenya")Kenyan agronomist George Thumbi is helping farmers in the region between Tsavo East and Tsavo West improve their yields and their soil by shifting to agroforestry and other forms of sustainable agriculture.
2023-12-0848 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow Agroforestry is Reshaping the Kenyan CountrysideThis piece, adapted from a piece that first ran in 2016, serves as the fourth installment in our continuing series on carbon finance in Kenya. Today, we look at how carbon finance supports Sustainable Agriculture Land Management (SALM), which has doubled the average income of more than 30,000 Kenyan family farmers while pulling more than 1 million tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by increasing the carbon content of soils.
2023-08-0924 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe Gospel of REDD+ According to BeesIn part three of our continuing series from Kenya, we hear how the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project helped people switch from burning trees for charcoal to conserving forests -- the their benefit and the benefit of us all.
2023-05-2538 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature087 | How Ending Deforestation Revived a Major River, Slowed Climate Change, and Saved LivesEvans Maneno is Makueni County Ecosystem Conservator for the Kenya Forestry Service. He walks us through a tree nursery in the Chyulu Hills and explains how the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project has reversed deforestation by helping people develop sustainable livelihoods -- reviving in the process a threatened river that provides water for people hundreds of miles away. Second in a series
2023-05-0128 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe Race to Save the Cloud Forests of Kenya's Chyulu HillsA decade ago, the cloud forests of Kenya's Chyulu Hills were on the brink of collapse, threatening water supplies for the Tsavo and Amboseli Plains — and for the coastal City of Mombasa, 250 kilometers away. Then the Kenya Forestry and Wildlife Services teamed up with the Maasai Wilderness Conservation Trust, the Big Life Foundation, the Sheldrake Wildlife Trust, Conservation International, and, most importantly, grazing collectives, called "community group ranches" to launch the Chyulu Hills REDD+ Project — a thirty-year private-public partnership designed to save the hills by overhauling the rural economy. First in a series focused on ecolog...
2023-04-0737 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureCan Ghana Leverage REDD+ to Save its Cocoa Farmers? A conversation with Roselyn Fosuah Adjei of Ghana's Forestry CommissionGhana's cocoa economy is second only to Côte d'Ivoire's, but climate change threatens to decimate it. Today's guest, Roselyn Fosuah Adjei of the Ghana Forestry Commission, is charged with leveraging carbon finance -- and specifically REDD+ -- to avert that disaster.
2023-02-1245 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature084 | Treeless Neighborhoods and Poverty: the Deadly Link and How to Address itA 2021 study of trees in America showed that poor neighborhoods had far fewer trees than wealthier ones, and that translates into higher temperatures, poorer air, and more deaths. Jad Daley of American Forests explains the Tree Equity Score, what it means, and his organization's effort to plant -- and, more importantly, grow -- 522 million trees across American cities.
2023-01-1837 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureWhat to Make of COP27, with Jos Cozijnsen of Climate Neutral GroupJos Cozijnsen has been working the climate puzzle for decades -- first by helping to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol and then by helping NGOs like the Environmental Defense Fund craft legal policies with teeth. Today, he offers his take on the year-end climate talks (COP27), which took place last month in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. We discuss the Bridgetown Initiative, the African Carbon Markets Initiative, and the new Loss and Damage Fund -- as well as the bad-faith arguments of those seeking to undermine carbon markets by pretending to make them perfect.
2022-12-1239 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureEvery Tree on the Planet Mapped, with Sassan Saatchi of NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab.Under the Paris Climate Agreement, countries must document all of their greenhouse gas emissions and sinks, and that means measuring changes in tree cover. NASA Senior Scientist Sassan Saatchi has spent 30 years helping the world's space agencies and foresters do just that by blending the newest science of the space age with centuries-old practices from ship-building and forestry. Thanks, to him, countries will soon be able track the growth and decay of every tree within their borders.
2022-11-2258 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow to Build a Methodology, with Max DuBuisson of Indigo AgJust over four years ago, Max DuBuisson took on one of the most difficult challenges you can imagine: namely, spearheading the creation of a new carbon methodoilogy undr both the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate Action Reserve. Dubbed the "Methodology for Improved Agricultural Land Management," it aims to expand the practice of climate-smart agriculture by paying farmers who adopt the practices before their neighbors do. This is the story of the creation of that methodology. Further reading: https://verra.org/methodologies/methodology-for-improved-agricultural-land-management/
2022-11-1635 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureForty Years of Sustainability Finance: Making ESG WorkTim Mohin wrote "Changing Business from the Inside Out: A Tree-Hugger's Guide to Working in Corporations" back in 2012, after three decades in sustainability -- first in government, with the US Environmental Protection Agency, and then at companies like Intel, where he served as director of sustainable development. He went on to head the Global Reporting Initiative, which administers the GRI standards for sustainability. He recently helped launmch ESG data provider Persefoni and hosts his own podcast, "Sustainability Decoded with Tim and Caitlin." We look back on 40 years of sustaiability finance and ahead to the future of Environmental, Social...
2022-11-0452 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureClean Water and the Courts: a Pre-History of Sackett vs EPAOn October 2, 2022, the US Supreme court heard a case that could impact the quality of water across the United States. Sackett v EPA dates back to 2004, but the forces impacting the case date back to the 1960s and, arguably, centuries earlier. Today we revisit a 2019 episode, where we dove deep into the history of the US Clean Water Act and the stealth effort to undermine it.
2022-10-1156 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHelping Farmers Save Forests in Guatemala's Caribbean CoastMarco Cerezo of Guatemalan NGO FUNDAECO explains how he's using carbon finance to help Guatemalan farmers demarcate their land and save surrounding forests. Related Links: https://www.worldlandtrust.org/news/2021/10/marco-cerezo/ https://registry.verra.org/mymodule/ProjectDoc/Project_ViewFile.asp?FileID=43006&IDKEY=2iquwesdfmnk0iei23nnm435oiojnc909dsflk9809adlkmlkfd59305274
2022-09-1239 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature77 | Where Does Healthy Critique End and Cynical Denial Begin?The science-denial movement delayed action on climate change for decades, and now the tropes they used are creeping into coverage of emerging climate solutions. Here's one way of differentiating between honest inquiry and something more nefarious. Third of a three-part series. All links available at: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/opinionwhere-does-healthy-critique-end-and-cynical-denial-begin/ https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/opinionwhere-does-healthy-critique-end-and-cynical-denial-begin/
2022-08-2939 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature76 | Six Lessons from 45 Years of Natural Climate SolutionsWhen popular media get natural climate solutions wrong, it's usually because they're struggling to understand complex mechanisms that have evolved over more than 45 years. Here is a brief look back on that evolution. Second of a three-part series adapted from Ecosystem Marketplace Click here for the original story and all related links: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/opinionsix-lessons-from-the-history-of-natural-climate-solutions/
2022-08-0842 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature75 l Coverage of Climate Solutions Suffer the Same Fate as Coverage of Climate Science?News outlets are finally allocating resources to coverage of climate solutions, and most reporters are trying to get these complex issues right. Some, however, are repeating the same mistakes that derailed coverage of climate science itself for decades. Adapted from stories that first appeared on Ecosystem Marketplace, available here: https://medium.com/@stevenwilliamzwick/will-coverage-of-climate-solutions-suffer-the-same-fate-as-coverage-of-climate-science-b63877e090f1
2022-05-0939 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature074 |Why the Global South Needs Voluntary Carbon MarketsWe kick off Season Seven with a look at the Voluntary Carbon Market Global Dialogue and the six keys to making sure voluntary carbon markets work for the Global South. Guests: Adriaan Korthuis, Paul Butarbutar, Kuki Soejachmoen, and Annie Groth. Related Links: https://vcm-gd.org/ https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/shades-of-redd-corresponding-adjustments-for-voluntary-markets-seriously/
2022-03-081h 11
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureWhy the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests may be More than Blah Blah, with Frances SeymourA conversation with WRI Senior Fellow Frances Seymour, who says there's plenty of reason to believe the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use could deliver on its high ambition of ending and reversing deforestation -- not so much because of the declaration itself, but because of the constellation of world events that birthed it. Frances is also co-author of the book "Why Forests? Why Now? The Science, Economics, and Politics of Tropical Forests and Climate Change."
2021-11-0836 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureInvesting in Pure Climate Stocks, with Matthias KreyFrom year-end climate talks in Glasgow: Want to put your money where your mouth is by investing in companies that move us closer to a net-zero economy? Matthias Krey of pureclimatestocks.com can help. He's identified hundreds of companies that he call "pure climate stocks", meaning stocks of companies that make 100% of their revenue from products and services that will help get us to net-zero emissions.
2021-11-071h 00
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe Down and Dirty, Nitty Gritty of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, Part 1On the ground at year-end climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland, Maria Carvalho and Frédéric Gagnon-Lebrun of South Pole Climate Solutions dissect the intricacies of Article 6 of the Paris Climate Agreement. They explain not only how it works, but how it fits into the net-zero movement and the larger effort to meet the climate challenge.
2021-11-0537 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureClimate Quickie: Leveraging Restoration for Net Zero Tourism WorldwideThe World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which is the United Nations specialized agency charged with promoting sustainable tourism, today unveiled the "Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism" at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) here. The Declaration commits companies to cutting their emissions in half by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with all residual emissions being absorbed through ecological restoration by 2050 at the latest. More than 300 stakeholders have signed the declaration, including the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents more than 300 companies responsible for more than 70 percent of global tourism. "The commitment is t...
2021-11-0406 minBionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureClimate Quickie: Leveraging Restoration for Net Zero Tourism WorldwideThe World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which is the United Nations specialized agency charged with promoting sustainable tourism, today unveiled the "Glasgow Declaration for Climate Action in Tourism" at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) here. The Declaration commits companies to cutting their emissions in half by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, with all residual emissions being absorbed through ecological restoration by 2050 at the latest. More than 300 stakeholders have signed the declaration, including the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), which represents more than 300 companies responsible for more than 70 percent of global tourism. "The commitment is t...
2021-11-0406 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe False Dichotomy of Reductions vs Removals, with Eli Mitchell-LarsonWe need to slash greenhouse-gas emissions while supporting activities that remove greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere, and carbon markets can both accelerate reductions and ramp up removals. Why, then, is the debate so contentious? For answers, I turned to Eli-Mitchell Larson, a self-proclaimed "Carbon Removal Evangelist" who's helping to build up Carbon Removal Advocacy Europe (CRAE). We had a long and fruitful discussion that I think serves as a sort of reductions and removals 101.
2021-10-161h 13
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureCarbon Exchanges and Green Supply Chains: The Future of Natural Climate SolutionsBiologists, economists, and environmental activists often seem like members of warring tribes, but Gabriel Eickhoff, CEO of Lestari Capital, says they're more like estranged family members who just haven't started talking to each other yet. In a wide-ranging discussion, we look at the legacy of the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, the structure of supply chains, and the interconnectedness of all things.
2021-10-141h 18
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureForests and the Billion-Dollar LEAF: New Hope for World ForestsGuest: Eron Bloomgarden, Emergent Capital Launched on Earth Day, the LEAF (Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest finance) Coalition aims to double the price of forest-carbon offsets and multiply the amount of money going into forest protection. Heres's how it works. Featuring: Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg; US Climate Envoy John Kerry; UK's Environment Minister Lord Zac Goldsmith; US State Dept Climate Change and Land Sector Expert Chris Dragisic; Amazon Chief Scientist Jamey Mulligan.
2021-08-1854 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureGerman Floods and the Futility of Adaptation Without MitigationWe cannot adapt our way out of the climate mess, as Allie Goldstein of Conservation International and Mark Trexler of the Climate Web make clear. We discuss the realities of systemic climate risk. Research cited in today's show: "The private sector's climate change risk and adaptation blind spots" https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-018-0340-5 "Persistent Business Blind Spots on Climate Risk and Adaptation," http://gca.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Persistent_Business_Blind_Spots_on_Climate_Risk_and_Adaptation.pdf The Climate Web: www...
2021-07-231h 00
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureCarbon Negative Carpets and Interface's Climate Neutral JourneyCarpetmaker Interface has won accolades for its carbon-negative carpet, the manufacture of which pulls more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than it emits. He're a look back on the company's 20-year journey from plundered of nature to climate leader. Guest: Buddy Hay, Interface VP for Sustainability
2021-04-0641 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureRace to Zero: Meet the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary CarbonWhat do Bill Gates, Mark Carney, Annette Nazareth, and Agustin Silvani have in common? They all believe that well-designed voluntary carbon markets can help the world achieve zero net greenhouse gas emissions in time to avert disaster. Today, they explain the new Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets (TSVDM) Most music provided by Blue Dot Sessions
2021-03-091h 02
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureCOVID-19 and the 2020 Emissions Chasm ReportThe UN's Emissions Gap Report showed that the current Paris Agreement Climate Plans (NDCs )will leave us nowhere near where we need to be to avert a climate catastrophe. Will Burns of the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy at American University joins me in a year-end retrospective.
2021-01-011h 03
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureAt What Temperature Do Forests Stop Absorbing Carbon?Today I speak with environmental scientist Jason Funk, who runs the Land Use and Climate Knowledge Initiative (LUCKI) about the important findings of a paper called "Long-term thermal sensitivity of earth's tropical forests," which looks at whether forests can continue to pull carbon from the atmosphere as temperatures rise. What they found is: it's complicated.
2020-11-0238 min
CooperTalkJoel Zwick - Episode 814Steve Cooper talks with director Joel Zwick. Joel's big break came when he started working with heavyweight sitcom producer/creator Garry Marshall, who gave him opportunities to direct a number of his shows, including Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Makin' It, and The New Odd Couple. He also directed working numerous sitcoms including Full House (97 episodes), Webster (63 episodes), Bosom Buddies (18 episodes) Family Matters (32 episodes), Perfect Strangers (100 Episodes) and many, many more. Television has been where most of his efforts have been focused but he has directed films such as the much-loved 2002 ethnic comedy, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and the 2004 l...
2020-09-281h 03
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureSeaweed, Cities, and Mangroves: The Blue Carbon StoryIn this episode, we speak with oceanographer and sedimentologist Steve Crooks, one of the world's leading authorities on coastal ecosystems and climate change. Related Link: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/em-audio-and-video-em-vietnamese-deputy-prime-minister-opens-katoomba-xvii-vows-to-integrate-economy-and-environment/
2020-07-011h 23
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureWhat The Civil Rights Movement Can Teach Us About Meeting the Climate Challenge (Encore Presentation)In this episode, which originally aired in October, 2018, we speak with the Reverend Dr. Gerald Durley, who says climate change and civil rights are inexorably intertwined, and not just because the destruction of our living ecosystems is robbing us of our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Born in Kansas and raised in California, Rev Durley finished high-school in Oregon and then marched with Martin Luther King Jr while earning his first of may academic degrees -- this one in psychology at Tennessee State. While there, Bobby Kennedy noticed him and persuaded Durley to...
2020-06-231h 07
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureEncore Presentation: Why the Sustainable Development Goals MatterIf there's one thing COVID-19 reminds us, it's that global institutions matter. For that reason, I'm replaying this 2016 episode looking at the Sustainable Development Goals.
2020-05-3134 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureForests, Fires, and Jurisdictional Offsets: A Conversation with Naomi Swickard of VerraGlobal greenhouse-gas emissions will drop 5.5 percent this year because of COVID-19, but they must drop 7.6 percent every year to meet the Paris Agreement's 1.5C target. Forest carbon offsets provide one way of getting there fast, but can we trust these offsets? Do they do what they say they do? This week, we hear how the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) handles carbon accounting at different scales. And my guest, Naomi Swickard, actually makes it interesting.
2020-05-0153 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureCOVID-19 and the Value of Resilience over EfficiencyWhen US President Donald Trump disbanded his country's pandemic response team, he did so because "I don't like having thousands of people around when we don't need them." That cost-cutting measure could cost hundreds of thousands of lives, and it's a classic example of what happens when we value efficiency over resilience. What are efficiency and resilience? Today we draw on the work of Cardiff University Lecturer Paul Nieuwenhuis to find out.
2020-04-0116 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow Costa Rica Grew Both its Forests and its EconomyCosta Rica says it will have zero net greenhouse-gas emissions by 2050, and its electrical grid already runs on 99 percent renewable energy. Today's guest is a key part of its success. As Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez has overseen programs that tripled the country's forest coverage while slashing its use of fossil fuels -- all while growing its economy.
2020-02-2422 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureThe Citizens Climate Lobby Wants to Spread the Carbon WealthToday's guest, Daniel Palken, volunteers with a group called the Citizens Climate Lobby, or "CCL", which aims to slash US greenhouse-gas emissions by imposing a fee on fossil fuels. The fee will be based on the amount of greenhouse gas that the coal, gasoline, and jet fuels will generate when we burn them, and it will probably make fossil-fuel energy more expensive. But there's a catch -- or, the opposite of a catch... a bonus -- a dividend, if you will, because that's what CCL calls it. Under the proposed "Energy Innovation and...
2020-02-131h 22
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureGive Us Ecotopia or Give Us Death Developing countries are the most vulnerable to – and least responsible for – climate change, but new research shows that some of them can dramatically boost their economies by managing their forests, farms, and fields in ways that pull greenhouse gasses from the atmosphere. At a carbon price of $50 for every metric ton of CO2 removed from the atmosphere, for example, Costa Rica can go beyond net-zero and end up pulling four times as much greenhouse gas out of the atmosphere as its entire economy emits right now. At that same carbon price, the Central African Republic can use NCS st...
2020-02-0150 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature53: A Marshall Plan for Forests, with Charlotte Streck of Climate FocusThere's a lot of money sloshing around forests, and most of it goes into agricultural subsidies and investments that destroy forests, while only a trickle goes into programs that save them. That's why today's guest, Charlotte Streck, wants to implement a Marshall Plan for Forests.
2019-12-0237 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureNatural Climate Solutions ExplainedOn the eve of year-end climate talks in Madrid, I revisit my 2017 conversation with Bronson Griscom, Director of Forest Carbon Science for the Nature Conservancy. He headed up a team of three dozen researchers from almost two dozen institutions tasked with identifying once and for all the realistic potential of using nature as a bulwark against climate change. The result is a report called "Natural Climate Solutions", which identifies 20 low-cost, natural "pathways" that can get us 37 percent of the way to meeting the Paris Climate Agreement targets -- sometimes at no cost, sometimes at just $10 per ton, and often wh...
2019-12-0140 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature051 | Forests in the Paris Agreement: a Conversation with Annie Petsonk of EDFThe third episode of our three-part look at the birth of REDD+, we speak with Annie Petsonk of the Environmental Defense Fund. Related Articles: "Shades of REDD+: A Marshall Plan for Tropical Forests?" Link: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/shades-of-redd-a-marshall-plan-for-tropical-forests/ "Forests, Farms, and the Global Carbon Sink: The Genesis" Link: https://www.ecosystemmarketplace.com/articles/forests-farms-global-carbon-sink-genesis/
2019-09-1648 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureForests in the Paris Climate Agreement, Part 2: The Birth of REDD+In this second part of our three-part series on the history of forests in the Paris Climate Agreement, we hear how REDD+ got its name and made its way into the climate negotiations. Special Guest: Kevin Conrad of the Coalition for Rainforest Nations
2019-08-2256 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureForests in the Paris Climate Agreement, Part 1: The Birth of Forest Carbon2019 is shaping up to be a pivotal summer in a pivotal year in the critical race to meet the climate challenge, with major media finally discovering the role that healthy forests can play in fixing the mess. In this episode, we examine the 40-year effort to slow climate change by saving forests. It's the first of three parts developed in accompaniment with the Ecosystem Marketplace series "Forests, Farms, and the Global Carbon Sink: It's Happening" Guest: Kevin Conrad, Coalition for Rainforest Nations
2019-08-1536 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureUnderstanding the IPCC's New Compendium of Science on Climate, Forests, and FarmsWe eat to live, but the food we're eating is killing us – not just because of what it does to our bodies, but because of what it does to our climate. Beef, for example, comes from cows that burp out methane, which is a powerful greenhouse gas that traps up to 80-times more heat than carbon dioxide does, and we often chop carbon-absorbing forests to graze those methane-emitting cows, only to throw away one-third of all the food we produce. If there are two things scientists who study this stuff agree on, it's that we can...
2019-08-1017 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureAn Accountability Framework For DeforestationEnvironmental NGOs have long pressured companies to reduce their impact on forests, and companies have long complained that every NGO seems to come with different demands. Now a coalition of more than a dozen NGOs have called the corporate bluff by creating a framework that provides a universal way of accounting for deforestation. They call it the Accountability Framework, and today's guest, Jeff Milder, is one of the people helping to pull it together.
2019-06-1845 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureRestoration Economy, Part Two: The Billion-Dollar FootIt's an article of faith among some on the left that markets and capitalism are the roots of all evil, while some on the right see pure, free markets as the invisible hand of God, and regulation as the work of the Devil. Most economists will tell you they're both wrong, because there's no such thing as either a pure free market or a marketless society. We need markets to get things done, and we need governance to keep markets honest. That's especially true in environmental markets, which almost always exist because of laws that r...
2019-04-301h 13
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureNature, Paid on Delivery, with Guest Tim MaleEnvironmental scientist Tim Male has worked the conservation puzzle from both the NGO and governmental sector -- first with NGOs like Environmental Defense Fund, then as an elected councilman, and finally as an adviser to the Obama Administration's Council on Environmental Quality. In 2017, he distilled his views in a paper called "Nature, Paid on Delivery", which examines the ways the US states of Louisiana, Maryland, California and Nevada are restoring large swathes of degraded land with only small amounts of taxpayer money being paid up-front. Can Pay for Success work in ecological restoration?
2019-04-0155 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureGreen New Deal Architect Rhiana Gunn-WrightWe've been fairly US-centric lately, but only because so much is finally happening there. In today's episode, we speak with Rhiana Gunn-Wright of New Consensus. That's the Think Tank that's helping freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and veteran Senator Ed Markey develop policy to support the Green New Deal they proposed last month.
2019-03-1834 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureBees Trees and Burning BluffsWe're losing pollinators at an alarming rate, which scientists attribute at least in part to the loss of native plants, which evolved alongside hundreds of native pollinators -- including bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies. Dave Neu and Joe Krischon of the Conservation Land Stewardship have been helping to resurrect a degraded ravine north of Chicago, and today they explain how this backbreaking work helps revive colonies of bees and butterflies, and how you, too, can join the restoration economy.
2019-03-0629 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureRestoration Economy, Part One: WaterWetlands cover 274 million acres of the United States, and they ultimately provide more than half the country's drinking water, which is one reason the federal government protects them -- or has, until now. Back in December, the US EPA and Army corps of engineers unveiled new rules for regulating water, and you'd be surprised what it leaves out. More half of the country's wetlands will no longer have federal protection, and neither will so-called "ephemeral streams", that only flow in certain conditions. As of February 15, the public has 60 days to comment on the rule, so I...
2019-03-0156 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureENCORE PRESENTATION: Why the Sustainable Development Goals Really Are a Very Big Bid DealWe hear a lot about the Sustainable Development Goals, or "SDGs" these days, with major pension funds like Calvert aligning their portfolios with them, and up to $12 trillion in finance, by one estimate, ready to do the same the same. But what are they? That's a question I tried answering almost three years ago -- way back in 2016. It was right after world leaders had reached the Paris Climate Agreement, and right before my fellow countrymen shot the world in the butt by electing Donald Trump as President of the United States. This encore presentation l...
2019-02-1534 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureFormer Climate Boss Yvo de BoerYvo de Boer served as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) from August, 2006 to July, 2010; and in November of last year, he became president of the Gold Standard, which is an NGO-led global partnership that sets standards for everything from carbon projects to the way we recognize contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) In this wide-ranging discussion, we discuss everything from the outcome of the most recent talks in Katowice to the odd phenomenon of explosive chickens -- as well as how we can quantify the impact that countries and c...
2019-01-231h 22
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow World's Farmers Finally Engaged the Climate Challenge Apparatus, and BiglyAgriculture emits roughly 20 percent of all greenhouse gasses, but sustainable management of forests, farms, and fields can turn the world's farms into massive carbon sinks that absorb greenhouse gasses by the gigaton, yet farmers -- as opposed to agriculture ministers -- have been nearly invisible at year-end climate talks. That changed this past year, thanks to a global farmer-led effort to promote climate-safe agriculture and the emergence of the Koronivia joint Working Group on Agriculture, which creates a fast track for integrating agriculture into the Paris Climate Agreement. Today's guest, Fred Yoder, is an Ohio family farmer who has...
2018-12-2451 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureNatural Climate Solutions at Katowice Climate TalksThe first week of year-end climate talks have wrapped up in Katowice, Poland, where natural climate solutions are finally getting the attention they deserve -- both in negotiations and on the sides. Everyone, it seems, agrees that we need to improve the way we manage our forests, farms, and fields -- which can get us more than a third of the way to meeting the Paris Agreement targets -- but how do you make that happen? We speak with Chris Meyer of the Environmental Defense Fund, Josefina Brana of WWF, Jason Funk of Carbon 180, Peter Graham of C...
2018-12-0851 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureOil Palm, The Prodigal Plant, Is Coming Home To Africa. What Does That Mean For Forests?Samuel Avaala shakes his head as he dips his fork into a bowl of red-red, a traditional Ghanaian stew that gets its color – and name – in part from red palm oil. "It doesn't make sense," he says. "Oil palm evolved here. It's in our food; it's in our medicine; but we built an economy on cocoa with little attention to oil palm." Oil palm is the tree that gives us palm oil, and the people of Western and Central Africa have been cultivating it for millennia – harvesting and processing the fruit for vitamin-rich oil, used in food a...
2018-12-0241 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureCan These Indigenous People Sustainably Log And Still Save Their Forest?Ilson López is the President of Belgium. Not the European country, but the indigenous village in the district of Tahuamanu, in the Peruvian state of Madre de Dios, at the western edge of the Amazon forest. He's part of the Yine people, who are scattered from here all the way to Cusco, the capital of the old Incan empire, about 500 kilometers to the southwest. The village gets its name from the alleged homeland of a rubber trader named Justo Bezada, who began working with the people of Belgium – or "Bélgica" in Spanish – in the early 1900s....
2018-11-2829 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureWhat The Civil Rights Movement Can Teach Us About Fixing The Climate In this episode, we speak with the Reverend Dr. Gerald Durley, who says climate change and civil rights are inexorably intertwined, and not just because the destruction of our living ecosystems is robbing us of our right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Born in Kansas and raised in California, Rev Durley finished high-school in Oregon and then marched with Martin Luther King Jr while earning his first of may academic degrees -- this one in psychology at Tennessee State. While there, Bobby Kennedy noticed him and persuaded Durley to join th...
2018-11-011h 02
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureClimate Shock Revisited: the Economics of Carbon PricingWhen countries around the world ratified the Paris Climate Agreement in 2016, they pledged to prevent average global temperatures from rising to a level more than 2 degrees Celsius, or 3.7 degrees Fahrenheit, above pre-industrial levels. They picked that number because 2 degrees Celsius is the point at which climate models start going haywire, but they also asked the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC, to review all of the available research and tell us what we'd have to do to keep that rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the point at which feedback loops like melting...
2018-10-101h 16
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureIndigenous Leader Hindou Ibrahim on Indigenous People and Global Commodity CompaniesHindou Ibrahim grew up in rural Chad, a member of the nomadic Mbororo people. Today, she co-chairs the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Climate Change, and she advises -- some would say cajoles -- everyone from major corporations like Asia Pulp and Paper to small indigenous communities from Ecuador to Indonesia to take action on climate change.
2018-09-111h 00
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow the Trump Administration Is Undermining the Clean Water Act, Part OneThis is the fifth in a five-part series. You can find the first installment here. US Environmental Protection Agency boss Scott Pruitt is gone – not because of his environmental malfeasance, but because his $43,000 phone booth, his $100,000 trip to Disneyland, and his attempts to get his wife a lucrative job were too tacky even for an administration built on bling. His replacement, Andrew Wheeler, is less embarrassing but more dangerous. A coal lobbyist until last year, Wheeler is also a long-time adviser to climate-science denier James Inhofe and a sure bet to continue Pruitt's policies – albeit with mor...
2018-07-0954 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow Nature Can Get Us 37 Percent Of The Way To The Paris Climate Target Today I speak with Bronson Griscom, Director of Forest Carbon Science for the Nature Conservancy. Last year, he headed up a team of three dozen researchers from almost two dozen institutions tasked with identifying once and for all the realistic potential of using nature as a bulwark against climate change. The result is a report called "Natural Climate Solutions", which identifies 20 low-cost, natural "pathways" that can get us 37 percent of the way to meeting the Paris Climate Agreement targets -- sometimes at no cost, sometimes at just $10 per ton, and often while increasing food yields and reducing the cost of fa...
2018-03-0140 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureA New Green Deal for the NetherlandsJos Cozijnsen shakes his tangled black mane and adjusts his leathery blue suit – fashioned, it turns out, from overalls discarded by German railroad workers and available through his sustainable clothing company, Goodfibrations. "[If you have] an office park, the Building Act says how much energy efficiency you need," he explains. "But if you go to zero energy use, you do much more." When it comes to fixing the climate mess, he wants everyone to do much more than the law requires, especially his fellow Dutchmen. Indeed, it seems to bother him immensely that here in the...
2018-01-3129 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureA Tale of Two CompaniesHundreds of consumer-facing companies have pledged to purge deforestation from their supply chains -- often by only buying products that are certified as being sustainably grown. But what happens when a certified company gets caught cheating? In this case, quite a lot.
2018-01-2338 min
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring Nature2017 Year In ReviewI've produced 19 episodes of Bionic Planet since the election of Donald Trump, mostly focused on the work of people trying to fix the climate mess -- and in today's episode I look back on some of the ones that seemed to resonate most with listeners. Today's guests include: Mike Korchinsky, who runs the private conservation group Wildlife Works Former UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo de Boer Anthony Hobley of the Carbon Tracker Initiative Christian Christian de Valle of Althelia Ecosphere Toby Gardner of the Stockholm Environment Institute Michael Mathres of Zaluvida...
2018-01-011h 31
Bionic Planet: Reversing Climate Change by Restoring NatureHow do the World Bank's BioCarbon Fund and Forest Carbon Partnership Facility Work?More and more countries across the developing world are launching large-scale, climate-smart initiatives to transform the way local communities derive their livelihoods from forests and broader land use. A key component to the success of these programs is engaging the private sector to shift behavior toward sustainable business models. The World Bank Group's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes (ISFL) have spent years working with private sector companies that produce, trade or buy commodities that play a role in driving deforestation or forest degradation. These funds have gained valuable insi...
2017-12-011h 17