The Sustainability Agenda

In this episode, we talk with Eric Holthaus about his outlook for the future with climate change. Although our circumstances are certainly dire and much damage has already been done, Eric maintains hope...

In this, the 100th episode of the Sustainability Agenda, we speak to Dr. Anne Poelina an indigenous Australian academic and human and earth rights activist. Dr. Poelina explains her role as a “Yimardoowarra marnin,” which, translated from the Nyikina language, means “a woman who belongs to the Martuwarra River,” in Western Australia. Dr. Poelina discusses...

In this episode we meet with Dr. Rebecca Henderson to discuss her ideas on how to reimagine capitalism, ideas at the heart of the new book, Reimagining Capitalism in a World in Fire. This is a wide-ranging spirited discussion, assessing the state of the corporation today, identifying key shortcomings–oligopolies, excessive pay, power, share buybacks –particularly...

In today’s episode we talk with Rutger Bregman about the ideas underlying his thought-provoking new book, Humankind. Rutger Bregman is a historian and author. He has published five books on history, philosophy, and economics. His books Humankind (2020) and Utopia for Realists (2017) were both New York Times Bestsellers and have been translated in more...

In this episode, we meet for the second time with Jeremy Lent and discuss the present time with COVID-19. Jeremy identifies how this disruption in our normal lives is a critical time to recognize and begin implementing solutions for some of the deep structural problems exposed. Jeremy builds on the ideas discussed in his first...

Geoff is Director of the Centre for Global Political Economy, Simon Fraser University in Canada- his teaching and research concern the politics and political economy of capitalism. Geoff the author of several books most recently Climate Leviathan: A Political Theory of Our Planetary Future, written with Joel Wainright, a explores the challenges global climate change...

In this episode, we meet with Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, an atmospheric scientist who focuses on projecting and communicating tangible, local effects of climate change to increase people’s willingness to act now. Dealing with time lags, is one of our biggest challenges as humans; if we can’t see the impacts of our actions today, we’re unwilling...

In today’s episode, we discuss Earth System science and tipping points with Will Steffen. We often hear about tipping points in relation to climate change–the dangers of arctic ice melt, sea level rise and the 2-2.5 degrees C temperature threshold beyond which things become catastrophic. What we don’t always realize is the complexity of system...

In this episode we speak with Eva Gladek, founder and CEO of Metabolic, and a leader in the space of circular economies. She talks about the importance of resilience especially in times of crisis as we’re experiencing now with COVID-19. Eva talks about the importance of taking a systems approach to the problems we are now...

In this interview, we talk with renowned Indian social activist Medha Patkar. She speaks about many of the social and environmental issues facing India for which she has been a leader and champion in fighting injustice with peaceful protests and marches. This includes dam and watershed projects which displace populations while also devastating farmland. Medha...

In today’s episode, we speak with Professor Ioannis Ioannou on business sustainability four years after his first interview for this podcast. Professor Ioannou gives an overview of the progress that has been made over this time. He argues that sustainability is the mother of all disruptions–and as it is a domain where companies lack necessary...

In today’s episode we speak with John Dennis Liu on the large-scale disruption of ecosystems caused by human activity and the approach we must take to ecological restoration. Everyone likes to focus on CO2, but that’s just one greenhouse gas indicator of an egregious problem. We need to shift our focus from placing too much...

In this episode we speak with Naomi Klein, renowned author and activist on the state of crisis we’re in and the hope provided by Green New Deals. We’ve made a lot of progress in lifting the importance of climate change in the progressive political agenda, but Naomi explains that we can’t just apply a narrow,...

Today we speak with Dr. Mike Hulme about climate change from an enlightening perspective that encompasses the relationship between science and policy, science and culture, the politics of climate change, and the possibilities for action in the world. Mike claims we are beyond “stopping” climate change, we must be pragmatic and scale back to simply...

Today we speak with Dr. Keir Milburn about the ongoing shift of young people to the left in the UK. In this interview, Keir notes how the material interests of older people are aligned with the performance of the financial sector and real estate whereas younger people are less tied to such measures and more...

In today’s episode with Professor Colin Mayer, we look at the role of corporations in society. Colin believes that corporations must evolve from a focus on profit maximisation to embrace purposeful goals as being positive contributors to society. Ultimately, this is should be enforced by law and performance measured using principles for purposeful business. While...

Today we talk about the expectations and outcomes of the COP 25 climate summit with Professor Maisa Rojas, COP 25 scientific coordinator. Professor Rojas hopes that this will be be a time for mobilization and turning scientific reports into action. However, she acknowledges the large social and political hurdles remaining, and that getting people to...

Described by the New York Times as “arguably the most important intellectual alive,” Noam Chomsky is a pioneering American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called “the father of modern linguistics”, Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. Chomsky has been...

In this wide-ranging interview, Nate highlights the vital, and oft-overlooked, role that a systems synthesis plays in our understanding of the human predicament. Integrating human behavior, energy, money, economy, ecology into the story that brought humans to this point – is the only way we can make sense of future paths, according to Hagens. He...

We are living in a very vulnerable, unprecedented situation–an ecological crisis which is as social as it is environmental. The way we look at technology and economic systems, and the way we interact as social beings in a globalized world is often as if they are separate from nature, but in reality they’re inextricably intertwined....