Climate Confident

Send me a messageWhat if the real disruption in solar isn’t the technology — but the business model behind it?This week I’m joined by Scott Therien, Director of Strategic Partnerships at REC Solar, to unpack one of the most important, and least discussed, shifts in the energy transition: the move from one-off construction projects to long-term, risk-bearing power-purchase agreements. It’s a change that’s quietly reshaping who owns energy infrastructure, who carries the financial risk, and how quickly commercial sectors can decarbonise.In this episode, you’ll hear why the old “buy a solar system and hope it performs” mindset is being replaced by something far more aligned - developers putting up the capital, carrying the downside, and only winning when the customer wins. We dig into how solar-plus-storage now beats diesel on cost and resilience in many markets, why procurement processes often sabotage their own climate goals, and what separates successful projects from expensive disappointments. You might be surprised to learn how much hinges not on panels or batteries, but on load profiles, tariff structures, and whether an organisation actually knows what it wants.We also explore the future: a post-ITC world, the rise of data centres as demand engines, and unexpected benefits like agrivoltaics, including sheep producing better wool under solar arrays. It’s a vivid reminder that decarbonisation isn’t just an engineering exercise; it’s a systems shift.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Scott and REC Solar are reshaping real-world decarbonisation through smarter ownership, smarter incentives, and smarter design.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageWhat if cutting emissions isn’t enough, and never was?And what if the real lever we’ve been ignoring is regeneration, not reduction?This week I’m joined by Chad Frischmann, co-creator of Project Drawdown and founder of Regenerative Intelligence, for a conversation that goes right to the core of what the climate movement keeps getting wrong. We dig into why stopping global warming requires more than technology, pledges, or net-zero spreadsheets. It demands a full systems shift that places life, human and non-human, at the centre of every decision.You’ll hear how Chad went from studying the history of propaganda at Oxford to mapping the most comprehensive catalogue of climate solutions ever assembled. We uncover why today’s climate discourse has become strangely timid, how a tiny group of entrenched interests is still steering the global response, and why he believes we’re entering the “death throes” of the old extractive economy.You might be surprised to learn that regeneration isn’t just about soils or forests. Chad makes the case for regenerative energy systems, regenerative supply chains, regenerative finance, and explains how each one creates cascading benefits that ripple far beyond emissions. We explore food systems, supergrids, biodiversity, justice, and the uncomfortable truth that climate “risk” is no longer risk at all… it’s reality.If you want a fresh, hopeful, deeply practical frame for the climate transition, this episode delivers it.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Chad Frischmann is reimagining the future of climate action through regeneration, not simply reduction.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageMost people never think about industrial heat. Yet half of all manufacturing emissions come from it. My guest this week, Addison Stark, CEO and co-founder of AtmosZero, is on a mission to electrify one of the dirtiest, most overlooked pieces of infrastructure on Earth: the steam boiler.In this episode, Addison and I uncover how a technology unchanged since the 1860s can finally go clean. We talk about the hidden carbon footprint of steam, why “waste heat recovery” can actually slow progress, and how heat-pump boilers can cut industrial energy use in half while delivering zero-emission steam. You’ll hear how his team’s first installation at a Colorado brewery is already brewing beer with carbon-free heat, proof that decarbonisation doesn’t have to mean disruption.We also explore the bigger picture: how electrified heat could transform everything from food and pharma to chemicals and cosmetics, why Europe’s gas crisis is accelerating the shift, and what policy tweaks could make clean steam the default everywhere.If you’ve ever wondered how to decarbonise the “hard-to-abate” sectors, this is the episode you’ve been waiting for.🎙️ Listen now to hear how AtmosZero is re-engineering industrial heat for a zero-carbon future.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageWhat if business, not politics, held the real key to ending the climate crisis?In this week’s episode, I sit down with Rinaldo Brutoco, founder and CEO of the World Business Academy, to explore a radical but beautifully simple idea: that stakeholder capitalism - where companies serve people and planet, not just shareholders, can actually outperform the old profit-only model. Rinaldo’s been proving it for decades, from helping shut down a dangerous nuclear plant in California to showing how responsible companies consistently beat the market.You’ll hear how he believes we can replace 100% of fossil fuels in California within ten years, at lower cost than maintaining the current grid. We unpack why distributed microgrids could end blackouts and wildfires, how geothermal energy is finally having its moment, and why green hydrogen, done right, could power the next industrial era. You might be surprised by Rinaldo’s blunt take on corporate inertia, his optimism about AI as a tool for truth (not hype), and his warning that business must act now or face a market collapse of its own making.This is one of those wide-ranging, perspective-shifting conversations that’ll make you rethink who’s really steering the energy transition, and why it has to be the private sector leading the charge.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Rinaldo Brutoco and the World Business Academy are redefining what profitable climate leadership looks like.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageWhat if upgrading your home to be climate-friendly was as simple as scanning it with your phone?In this week’s episode of the Climate Confident Podcast, I talk with Grant Gunnison, founder and CEO of Zero Homes - a former NASA and MIT engineer who’s now tackling one of climate tech’s toughest challenges: decarbonising existing homes. His company uses smartphone scans and digital twins to design fully-scoped, permit-ready electrification plans - no site visit, no clipboard, no chaos.You’ll hear how Grant’s team is cutting out the “truck rolls” that make home upgrades expensive and slow, saving homeowners money while helping contractors stay profitable. We dig into why electrifying 60 million U.S. homes is both an engineering nightmare and a golden opportunity, and how technology, not policy alone, can finally make it scale.We also unpack the human side: what really motivates homeowners to switch to heat pumps, why induction cooking is a secret health win, and how removing the awkwardness of having strangers poke around your home can actually accelerate climate action.🎙️ Listen now to hear how Zero Homes is reshaping the future of home electrification - making sustainable living smarter, faster, and far more comfortable.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageIn this week’s episode of Climate Confident, I sat down with Johanna Wolfson, co-founder and general partner at Azolla Ventures, to talk about how we can rethink climate-tech investing - not as a game of chasing returns, but as a mission to fund what truly matters.Johanna’s firm takes a bold approach using catalytic capital, money that embraces higher risk to bring breakthrough technologies from lab to market. We explored why that matters right now, as parts of the venture community hesitate just when the planet has, as she put it, “negative time to spare.”We dug into the uncomfortable truth: the pull of the “returns-first” mindset is still powerful, even in climate investing. But Johanna makes a compelling case for impact-first capital that can back ideas others won’t touch, from gigaton-scale carbon removal to early-stage innovations in shipping, geothermal, and bioplastics.She also flagged two blind spots investors urgently need to address: methane and nitrous oxide, gases far more potent than CO₂ yet largely ignored - and the coming wave of adaptation and resilience tech as climate impacts intensify.This conversation will make you think differently about where climate capital flows, who it serves, and what true impact investing looks like in a world that can’t afford to wait.🎧 Listen now to hear how Azolla Ventures is rewriting the rules of climate finance, and why the next frontier may be investing in resilience itself.Keywords: climate tech investing, catalytic capital, climate finance, venture capital, methane reduction, resilience technology, impact investing, Azolla Ventures, gigaton-scale emissions reduction, Climate Confident podcastSupport the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageIn this week’s episode of Climate Confident, I sat down with Christopher Carrick, founder and CTO of Lignin Industries, to explore a game-changing innovation in the fight against plastic pollution, turning waste from the paper industry into carbon-negative bioplastics.Christopher’s story starts in his kitchen, where curiosity (and a Star Wars ice-cube tray) led to a breakthrough: modifying lignin, the brown polymer in wood, so it can be melted, shaped, and blended into everyday plastics like polypropylene, polyethylene, and ABS. The result? Materials that can replace up to 40 percent of fossil plastics, perform just as well, and even smell faintly of forest.We unpacked how this process works, why recyclability and stability are critical, and how Lignin’s bioplastics outperform many “green” alternatives by avoiding thermal degradation during recycling. Christopher also explains why regulation — not technology — is now the biggest bottleneck in decarbonising the plastics sector.What struck me most is the scale of impact possible here. Plastics are one of the hardest sectors to clean up, yet Lignin’s approach shows that circularity, chemistry, and creativity can combine to make fossil-free materials commercially viable.We also touched on scalability, partnerships, and the hope Christopher finds in consumers — the moment someone holds one of their wood-scented bags and realises that sustainability can feel good too.🎧 Listen in to hear how lignin could transform the global plastics market — and why the future might just smell like trees.👉 Available now on climateconfidentpodcast.com and all major podcast platforms.Keywords: bioplastics, lignin, sustainable materials, circular economy, plastic recycling, decarbonisation, climate innovation, fossil-free plasticsSupport the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageIn this week’s episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Sherie Nelson, Senior Director of Responsibility & Wellness at Elior North America, a food service company serving millions of meals daily across schools, hospitals, universities, and businesses. Sherie sits at the fascinating intersection of nutrition, sustainability, and systems change - proving that what’s good for people is, quite literally, good for the planet.We discuss how Elior has cut food waste by 64% since 2022, rolled out data-driven carbon tracking across thousands of kitchens, and committed to making 50% of all new menus meatless by 2025. Sherie explains how her team is re-engineering menus to be both craveable and climate-friendly, and why naming and presentation matter just as much as emissions data when driving behaviour change.From plant-forward menu design and sustainable packaging to the hard truths of scalability and regulation, Sherie offers a masterclass in how large-scale food operations can reduce emissions without compromising on flavour or health.If you’ve ever wondered how the global food service industry can help deliver on climate goals, or how data and diet can work together to cut emissions at scale, this episode is a must-listen.Listen now to learn why the future of sustainable dining starts with the choices we make, and the stories we tell, on every plate.#Sustainability #ClimateAction #FoodSystems #NetZero #PlantBased #CircularEconomy #ClimateConfidentSupport the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageIn this week’s episode of the Climate Confident Podcast, I sit down with Dr. Gary Yohe, one of the world’s leading climate economists, long-time IPCC author, and a member of the Nobel Peace Prize, winning IPCC team of 2007. Gary has spent over four decades shaping how we understand climate change, not just as an environmental issue, but as a fundamental risk management challenge.We explore his powerful framework: abate, adapt, or suffer. These are, he argues, the only three choices humanity has left, and crucially, some level of suffering is now unavoidable. Mitigation slows the pace of warming, adaptation reduces impacts, but neither can eliminate all risks. The insurance crisis unfolding in California and beyond shows what happens when climate risks become uninsurable, raising the threat of financial instability on a global scale.Gary also reminds us that climate decisions must be iterative. Policies cannot be fixed for 100 years; they must evolve as science, technology, and risk tolerance change. He illustrates this with striking examples, from New York’s evacuation planning after Hurricane Sandy to San Francisco’s flexible approach to sea-level rise.Yet, despite the scale of the challenge, Gary insists on hope, not blind optimism, but the conviction, as Václav Havel wrote, that action makes sense regardless of outcome. It’s this perspective that has kept him, and many others, working relentlessly on solutions for over 40 years.If you want to understand why climate change is ultimately a risk management problem, why insurance, finance, and resilience are inseparable, and why hope is a strategy we can’t do without, this episode is essential listening.Support the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.

Send me a messageIn this week’s episode of Climate Confident, I sit down with Emily Wilkinson, Principal Research Fellow at ODI Global and Director of the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI), to explore one of the most pressing and least discussed frontlines of the climate crisis: small island developing states (SIDS).These 39 nations, scattered across the Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean, contribute less than 1% of global emissions yet face the most existential threats, from rising seas and saltwater intrusion to increasingly frequent Category 5 hurricanes. Emily explains why Dominica’s 2017 disaster, damage equivalent to 226% of its GDP, was a turning point, sparking its bold ambition to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation.We also dive into the financial side of resilience. Emily outlines groundbreaking tools such as climate-resilient debt clauses, debt-for-nature swaps, and pooled insurance schemes, innovations that give vulnerable economies breathing space after disasters. She shares examples of islands turning challenges into opportunities, like converting invasive sargassum seaweed into clean biogas, deploying floating solar in lagoons, and tapping geothermal energy beneath volcanic islands.We discuss the Bridgetown Initiative spearheaded by Mia Mottley, which is reshaping global climate finance debates, and how small island leaders are punching above their weight on the international stage.If you want to understand why SIDS are both the most vulnerable and the most innovative actors in the climate fight, and what their experiments can teach the rest of us, this is an episode you won’t want to miss.Listen now to hear how small islands are rewriting the rules of resilience.Also check out Emily's podcast - Small Islands, Big PictureSupport the showPodcast subscribersI'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing subscribers:Anita KrajncCecilia SkarupaBen GrossJerry SweeneyAndreas WernerStephen CarrollRoger ArnoldAnd remember you too can Subscribe to the Podcast  - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one, as well as give you access to the entire back catalog of Climate Confident episodes.ContactIf you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on LinkedIn. If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.