Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Pierre Wunsch, Governor of the National Bank of Belgium and ECB governing council member, brings central banking and climate transition expertise. He discusses energy price shocks and why inflation proved persistent. He weighs the real costs of reaching net zero and why industry decarbonisation is tougher than household changes. He also warns about policy uncertainty, political backlash, and the need for credible, pragmatic climate tools.

Ricken Patel, founder of Avaaz and Principal at The Climate Hub, is a veteran campaigner in climate and democracy. He discusses underestimated climate risks and the cooling effects we may be losing. He argues for researching geoengineering and carbon removal. He also explores links between democratic resilience, misinformation, and building effective climate movements.

Emmanouil Kakaras, engineer, academic, and Senior Advisor at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, draws on decades in energy engineering and decarbonization. He talks gas turbines pushing thermodynamic limits. He compares hydrogen, ammonia and synthetic fuels. He revisits carbon capture, CCS projects for cement and industry, and industrial long-duration storage and power-to-X options.

Steve Smith, leader of National Grid Partners driving grid innovation, and Varun Sivaram, founder of Emerald AI focused on grid-friendly AI data centres, discuss how hyperscale compute can adapt to the electricity system. They cover a live trial showing software can throttle and shift GPU loads in seconds, the idea of flexible demand, speed-to-power vs cheap power, and plans to scale this approach commercially.

Fiona Howarth, founder of Octopus Electric Vehicles and senior Octopus Energy leader, who built EV leasing and V2G programmes. She discusses how falling battery costs and Chinese competition sped EV adoption. She explores vehicle-to-grid tech turning cars into distributed batteries. She also covers policy drivers like ZEV mandates and tensions with traditional automakers.

Discussion of how recent Iran-linked strikes are reshaping global oil, LNG and price risk across Asia, Europe and the Gulf. Exploration of possible supply route changes, pipelines and defensive investments to bypass chokepoints. Debate over whether short-term coal use will rise or if Asia’s electrification and clean-tech adoption will accelerate. Consideration of political fallout, energy security and investment shifts.

Hilde Tonne, Chair of Arup and former Statnett CEO, brings decades of infrastructure and energy leadership. She discusses why grid upgrades often lag generation, the pressure from AI and data centres, and how ‘total design’ can cut carbon early. They also tackle permitting, who should pay for grid expansion, and how systems thinking boosts resilience and competitiveness.

Laurent Segalen, investor and energy strategist and founder of MegawattX, outlines a bold plan to link Canadian hydro and wind to Europe via a 5,000km subsea HVDC cable. He discusses how long-distance interconnectors earn money, the technical feasibility of ultra-high-voltage cables, and why sodium batteries and carbon market design matter for the clean transition.

Miguel Stilwell d'Andrade, CEO who led EDP from coal-heavy utility to over 90% renewables. He talks about surging US electricity demand from AI and re-industrialisation. He recalls the Iberian grid collapse and what it taught about resilience. He explores why renewables look like a top investment, rising PPA prices, and the role of offshore wind and networks in energy independence.

Robert Höglund, carbon removal strategist behind Marginal Carbon, CDR.fyi and MilkyWire’s Climate Transformation Fund, shares five years of hands-on experimentation. He discusses why we should shift from speed-and-scale to prove-and-learn. Short takes cover corporate motivation, measurement and permanence challenges, which CDR methods show promise, and how early purchases shape startups.