Outrage + Optimism: The Climate Podcast8 Touko 2025

Technology vs Transition?: What Tony Blair gets right - and wrong - about net zero

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair says that net zero is politically unachievable without radical rethinking: a shift away from reducing consumption and toward technologies that can remove carbon both at the source and from the atmosphere. So, are carbon capture and carbon removal really viable - and more palatable - alternatives to a rapid fossil fuel phaseout? And is our net zero strategy failing, or simply failing to be explained?

Hosts Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson dive into the heart of these questions and explore what Blair’s comments mean for the wider net zero debate. At a time when climate action is becoming increasingly politicised and weaponised, they consider how we might frame net zero as something that improves people’s lives, rather than threatening them. And how we can ensure that every credible climate solution stays on the table.

With timely and provocative contributions from listeners and friends of the podcast - including former BBC News Science Editor David Shukman and Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture Sebastian Manhart - the hosts ask: can we rescue the net zero brand before it’s written off?

Learn more

📘 The Tony Blair Institute’s report, ‘The Climate Paradox: Why We Need to Reset Action on Climate Change’

✈️ ‘Aviation industry is ‘failing dramatically’ on climate, insiders say’ in the Guardian

🌱 The Future We Choose, by Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac

📣 Our previous episode on communicating climate change with John Marshall, whose work Christiana references in this episode

Instagram @outrageoptimism

LinkedIn @outrageoptimism

Or get in touch with us via this form.

Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(394)

Jacinda Ardern and… Is It Time to Talk About Geoengineering?

This week, hosts Tom Rivett Carnac and Paul Dickinson delve into the rapidly emerging - and faintly surreal - world of solar geoengineering. Politico journalist Karl Mathiesen joins us to unpack his i...

4 Joulu 202547min

Kim Stanley Robinson on Pre Traumatic Imagination and the stories that change us

This week on Outrage + Optimism, we’re taking a breath.After two intense weeks of daily updates from COP30 in Belém, we’re returning to weekly programming with something different - a slower, deeper, ...

27 Marras 202536min

Inside COP: The Final Hours of COP30 - and the road ahead

This is our final episode of Inside COP. For two weeks we’ve tried to bring you as close as possible to the heart of COP30 - the pace, the pressure, the progress, and the perspectives of those working...

23 Marras 202537min

Inside COP: Friday Night in Belém - uncertainty in the Blue Zone

We recorded this episode across Friday afternoon and deep into the evening inside the Blue Zone at COP30. At the time of publishing, there is still no final deal. The negotiations are ongoing, positio...

22 Marras 202538min

Inside COP: Friday Morning in Belém - what’s changed and why it matters

It’s Friday morning in Belém and COP30 is moving fast. After yesterday’s fire and the overnight closure of the venue, the Brazilian Presidency worked through the night and released a new draft text ea...

21 Marras 202515min

Inside COP: Fire at COP30 - and the work still to be done

Today was not meant to be this episode.At around 2pm local time, a fire broke out near the country pavilions, triggering the full evacuation of the Blue Zone. As COP30 entered its final stretch, we’d ...

21 Marras 202512min

Inside COP: Storms in Belém - Lula’s arrival, the carbon tariff debate, and the COP31 decision

We’re approaching crunch time in Belém, and a long-running COP30 saga may finally have found its landing spot. After days of rumour, diplomacy and thunderous rainforest downpours, the question of who ...

20 Marras 202538min

Inside COP: China, India… and the Text on the Table

It’s the middle of week two at COP30, and the negotiations are entering their crunch phase. A draft cover text has finally landed, ministers are on the ground, and the presidency is pushing hard to cl...

19 Marras 202544min