34 episodes

Conversations with experts from around the world that explore the biggest challenge of our time - before time runs out. 

The scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution.

So we talk to thinkers, researchers, makers and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues. And why they matter.

Presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in ASSOCIATION with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.

CONVERSATIONS ON CLIMATE United Renewables

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 4 Ratings

Conversations with experts from around the world that explore the biggest challenge of our time - before time runs out. 

The scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution.

So we talk to thinkers, researchers, makers and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues. And why they matter.

Presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in ASSOCIATION with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.

    Abel Martins-Alexandre: The one reason why industry might miss the Net-Zero window.

    Abel Martins-Alexandre: The one reason why industry might miss the Net-Zero window.

    We are in the middle of a revolution in the infrastructure of modernity.
    The plumbing of the 20th-century economy – the fossil fuel infrastructure that is in everything we do – is being ripped up. New, clean energy networks are being laid down. It is the most remarkable transformation in the economic substructure in history.
    And yet…for all the celebration of the transformation in demand around climate solutions, infrastructure is fundamentally a supply-side puzzle. And that means commodities.
    Even as we shake free from the shackles of oil, our net-zero future becomes shackled to other critical minerals instead. Copper. Lithium. Cobalt.
    Time to ride another supply-side supercycle. But is the world ready? Can we mine what we need both quickly and sustainably?
    This episode’s guest is the perfect person to ask. Abel Martins Alexandre spent a career in commodity financing, as VP at Natixis, Group Treasurer at Rio Tinto, and now MD and Head of Infrastructure, Energy and Industrials at Lloyds Bank.
    An expert both in the mining space and ESG finance – including a stint on the Financial Markets Standards Board – Abel has a sharp insider’s eye on these under-discussed markets. His view is not to be missed!
    "… for the discussions around chips and the scarcity of chips, which is which is true, there's a broader conversation about the scarcity of metals, which I think is going to hit all of us, I suppose more in a more meaningful way in the next the next couple of years… "
    "Well, the best advice I can give… I’m borrowing from many others, many great people I've met in my career,  … as the motto says, if we fail to prepare, we are preparing to fail. And that's very, very important … Always to know, to prepare well, to have a plan and to be resilient around a plan, which is to adapt very, very quickly."
    "… because the risk to physical infrastructure is real, because supply chain disruptions are happening and also because actually even in the context of higher inflation, which many people have not witnessed in their in their careers, you need to think about what it means for the business …"
    REFERENCES:
    https://www.lloydsbank.com/business/corporate-banking/banking-with-us/our-people/specialist-heads/abel-martins-alexandre.html
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/abel-martins-alexandre/?originalSubdomain=uk
     
     
     
    Conversations on Climate is a podcast produced by United Renewables in association with the London Business School Energy Alumni Club. 
    It brings together the best minds from academia and business, to offer their experience and expertise in the face of climate change –from game theorists to corporate diplomats, and oil industry veterans to micro-algae entrepreneurs. 
    For more top-quality interviews with our incredible guests, subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Twitter. We’d love to have you join us!
    Don’t forget to share with your colleagues, friends, and family. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback, so please leave your comments on our platforms.
    We talk about how the scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution. We listen to thinkers, researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues and why they matter.
     
    Season 2 is presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in association with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.
     
    Tune into the video version of this podcast NOW: https://www.unitedrenewables.co.uk/podcast
    Please visit our YouTube channel, where all of our Conversations are available for you to enjoy.
     
    SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL HERE: https://bit.ly/3GZpd7R  and ring the notification bell
     
    Join us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3MnhuSf 
    Join us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Q5UKcj 
    Join us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3tFEnK3 
     
    #leadership #organisationalbehaviour #climate #renewableenergy #conversationsonc

    • 58 min
    Insights On Leadership In The Face Of Climate Change - Dr Randall S. Peterson

    Insights On Leadership In The Face Of Climate Change - Dr Randall S. Peterson

    This episode we welcome Randall Peterson, author of Disaster in the Boardroom: Six Dysfunctions Everyone Should Understand. A widely cited expert on corporate governance and leadership, Randall has made a career out of analysing the worst of corporate behaviour.
    Professor Peterson has spent the last decade as the founding director of the Leadership Institute at London Business School, where he is also Professor of Organisational Behaviour. His teaching and research draws on organisational psychology and personality analysis, to help leaders achieve better outcomes – and avoid catastrophe along the way.
    Peterson talks to host Chris Caldwell and gives a fascinating insight into what happens behind the closed boardroom door.
    Highlights include:
    How Professor Peterson's own personality type impacts his work
    Why boards have been MIA on climate issues
    Six kinds of failing boards
    Leadership lessons from Elon Musk
    Representation, inclusion and getting results
    The power of asking the right question
    ‘… maybe we have to treat, you know, the debate about climate change in the same way we treat international relations, sometimes nuclear proliferation … like it shows that is possible … I'm always, you know, an optimist … research shows over and over is if you believe it's possible, it is possible … it doesn't make it easy.’
     
    REFERENCES:
    https://www.london.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/p/peterson-r-s
    https://randallspeterson.com
    https://randallspeterson.com/my-book/
    Conversations on Climate is a podcast produced by United Renewables in association with the London Business School Energy Alumni Club. 
    It brings together the best minds from academia and business, to offer their experience and expertise in the face of climate change –from game theorists to corporate diplomats, and oil industry veterans to micro-algae entrepreneurs. 
    For more top-quality interviews with our incredible guests, subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Twitter. We’d love to have you join us!
    Don’t forget to share with your colleagues, friends, and family. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback, so please leave your comments on our platforms.
    We talk about how the scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution. We listen to thinkers, researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues and why they matter.
     
    Season 2 is presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in association with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.
     
    Tune into the video version of this podcast NOW: https://www.unitedrenewables.co.uk/podcast
    Please visit our YouTube channel, where all of our Conversations are available for you to enjoy.
     
    SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL HERE: https://bit.ly/3GZpd7R  and ring the notification bell
     
    Join us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3MnhuSf 
    Join us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Q5UKcj 
    Join us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3tFEnK3 
     
    #leadership #organisationalbehaviour #climate #renewableenergy #conversationsonclimate

    • 1 hr
    Climate Change: Using Humour to Spread the Word - Matt Winning

    Climate Change: Using Humour to Spread the Word - Matt Winning

    Clothes for pets.  Some things will never make sense. Faced with the more absurd side of modern civilisation, what are we to do?  The secret, according to this week’s guest, is to find the funny anyway. In fact, he’s made it his job.   

    Integrating Matt’s green split personality: Climate chaos isn’t funny (but we should still make jokes about it) 


    …and here’s what it means for politics:


    Counting trees, pricing yachts, modelling CCS and other economic puzzles 
    The art of climate conversations: keep them light! 

    Here’s the set list for this show: 


    The Star Wars effect of humour in climate communication 


    ‘it’s more visceral’ – having a child and emotional engagement 
    Why we shouldn’t find hope in younger generations 
    Climate scientists are getting pissed off…  
     


    As well as his work as an academic economist, he is also a stand-up comedian who has delivered four sold-out Edinburgh Festival shows about climate change, and the author of the book Hot Mess: What on Earth can we do about Climate Change? 
     
    Matt Winning is the Senior Research Fellow at the Bartlett School of the Environment, Energy and Resources, University College of London.  
     
    To find out how (and why) to make light of the climate struggle for good, join Matt Winning on this episode of Conversations on Climate.
     
    It's hard as academics, you can't be making decisions about one technology in a positive way and other technologies in a negative light just because that's how you feel.
    ... there's choices you're constantly making when you're having conversations about whether you're making things more or less depressing. And it's actively trying to keep the positive parts of your brain engaged and trying to constantly engage other people and their positive parts of the brain ...
    … basically I'm saying go and talk to some comedians.
     
     
    Reference Links:
    The 14th Festival of Education at Wellington College: https://educationfest.co.uk
    Book: Hot Mess: https://mattwinning.com/book
    Climate Strange - TEDx Newcastle College: https://tinyurl.com/25bbo9p5
    Wellington College: https://www.wellingtoncollege.org.uk
     
    Conversations on Climate is a podcast produced by United Renewables in association with the London Business School Energy Alumni Club. 
    It brings together the best minds from academia and business, to offer their experience and expertise in the face of climate change –from game theorists to corporate diplomats, and oil industry veterans to micro-algae entrepreneurs. 
    For more top-quality interviews with our incredible guests, subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow us on Twitter. We’d love to have you join us!
    Don’t forget to share with your colleagues, friends, and family. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback, so please leave your comments on our platforms.
    We talk about how the scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution. We listen to thinkers, researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues and why they matter.
     
    Season 2 is presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in association with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.
     
    Tune into the video version of this podcast NOW: https://www.unitedrenewables.co.uk/podcast
    Please visit our YouTube channel, where all of our Conversations are available for you to enjoy.
     
    SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL HERE: https://bit.ly/3GZpd7R  and ring the notification bell
     
    Join us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3MnhuSf 
    Join us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Q5UKcj 
    Join us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3tFEnK3
     
    #technology #climate #economics #renewableenergy #conversationsonclimate

    • 59 min
    Insights On Innovation And Business Growth with Rajesh Chandy

    Insights On Innovation And Business Growth with Rajesh Chandy

    Our expert in this episode is Rajesh Chandy. He has achieved the remarkable feat of holding an academic Chair in two fields – marketing and entrepreneurship – and is currently Academic Director of the Wheeler Institute for Business and Development at London Business School. 
    An award-winning teacher and thinker, Rajesh has worked around the world, including as advisor to the US and UK governments, the WEF and the Global Innovation Forum. His current interests centre on innovation and micro-entrepreneurship in developing economies, where he has worked across South Africa, China, Egypt, Ghana and India.  
    … the change that we're seeing in this world today is unprecedented in human history 
    … we're extraordinarily fortunate to be living in a time where our actions can make a real difference because of the access we have to the knowledge of generations past.… each of us has this extraordinary, unprecedented opportunity to make a difference … 
    In this outstanding episode, Rajesh talks to Chris Caldwell and covers a lot of ground:
    Marketing beyond the profit motive
    Why has marketing been on the wrong side of climate for so long?
    The message for green campaigners: how to win a David vs Goliath match-up 
    The one true driver of innovation is… 
    How real is the incumbent’s curse? 
    The future of green innovation: let a hundred flowers bloom! 
    Speaking out again the dark side
    Developing economies – from source of sympathy to source of inspiration
    The magic of compressed change and unlocking micro-entrepreneurship  
    Rajesh’s advice: don’t get cynical! 
    REFERENCES:
    https://www.london.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/c/chandy-rk
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajesh-chandy-a51263/?originalSubdomain=uk
    Conversations on Climate is a podcast produced by United Renewables in association with the London Business School Energy Alumni Club. 
    It brings together the best minds from academia and business, to offer their experience and expertise in the face of climate change –from game theorists to corporate diplomats, and oil industry veterans to micro-algae entrepreneurs. 
    For more top-quality interviews with our incredible guests, subscribe to our youtube channel or follow us on Twitter. We’d love to have you join us!
    Don’t forget to share with your colleagues, friends and family. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback, so please leave your comments on our platforms.
    We talk about how the scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution. We listen to thinkers, researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues and why they matter.
    Season 2 is presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in association with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.
     
    Tune into the video version of this podcast NOW: https://www.unitedrenewables.co.uk/podcast
    Please visit our YouTube channel, where all of our Conversations are available for you to enjoy.
     
    SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL HERE: https://bit.ly/3GZpd7R  and ring the notification bell
    Join us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3MnhuSf 
    Join us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Q5UKcj 
    Join us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3tFEnK3
     
     
    #leadership #innovation #business #renewableenergy #conversationsonclimate #climate

    • 58 min
    The Energy Transition with James Samworth

    The Energy Transition with James Samworth

    With so many potential technologies and applications vying to shape the future, it can be hard to keep on top of the latest trends. But reading the runes is more important than ever, as the technologies we choose for transforming of our energy system will shape business forever.
    Energy storage, carbon capture, bioenergy, geoengineering, hydrogen in all its rainbow colours – there are a lot of calls to get right. To stay on top of this every-changing landscape you’ll need an expert guide.
    Our latest guest is making those calls; and as Partner in a world-leading green infrastructure investor with £9bn under management, you’ll find his money where his mouth is!
    Introducing James Samworth
    This week we go deep on the future of renewables tech with James Samworth, Partner at renewables infrastructure asset manager Schroders Greencoat. 
    After starting his career in steel, James did an MBA, graduated during the financial crisis and charted a path through the renewables sector. He has worked across various technology verticals and markets (including with another industry leader, Foresight) and currently heads up the Bioenergy and Heat Division at Schroders.
    In this Episode:
    From steel to renewables
    Risk and judgement in green infrastructure 
    A green asset class?
    Market waves and pension trends
    Decarbonisation, storage and the future of energy tech
    Bioenergy and the CCS puzzle
    Is there a place for hydrogen?
    Growing into the next challenge
    "… I think this challenge get solved by changing demand, not by throttling supply. I think we have to displace those materials and those emissions with something that is economic as a replacement …"
    "… in terms of the greening of infrastructure:  So so renewables has gone from being a smallish niche market to being really very mainstream and, and I mean the renewables market in the UK, there's probably 110, £120 billion worth of built assets now compared to say 90 billion of water companies … "
    REFERENCES:
    https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamessamworth/?originalSubdomain=uk
    https://www.schroders.com/en-us/us/institutional/insights/hydrogen-and-net-zero-which-ambitions-are-realistic-and-which-are-less-so/
     
    Conversations on Climate is a podcast produced by United Renewables in association with the London Business School Energy Alumni Club. 
    It brings together the best minds from academia and business, to offer their experience and expertise in the face of climate change –from game theorists to corporate diplomats, and oil industry veterans to micro-algae entrepreneurs. 
    For more top-quality interviews with our incredible guests, subscribe to our youtube channel or follow us on Twitter. We’d love to have you join us!
    Don’t forget to share with your colleagues, friends and family. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback, so please leave your comments on our platforms.
    We talk about how the scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution. We listen to thinkers, researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues and why they matter.
    Season 2 is presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in association with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.
     
    Tune into the video version of this podcast NOW: https://www.unitedrenewables.co.uk/podcast
    Please visit our YouTube channel, where all of our Conversations are available for you to enjoy.
     
    SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL HERE: https://bit.ly/3GZpd7R  and ring the notification bell
    Join us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3MnhuSf 
    Join us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Q5UKcj 
    Join us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3tFEnK3
     

    • 54 min
    What is ESG and who is it really for? Alex Edmans

    What is ESG and who is it really for? Alex Edmans

    In this episode, we sit down with Alex Edmans, Professor of Finance and Academic Director of the Centre for Corporate Governance at London Business School. Alex specialises in the integration of classical financial theory and ESG, from worker pay and diversity to climate and sustainability.  
    His book Grow the Pie: how great companies deliver both purpose and profit won the Financial Times award for Excellence in Sustainable Finance Education, and his TED talk ‘What to trust in a post-truth world,’ has been viewed over 2 million times. 
     
    In this  episode, we discuss: 
    Alex’s personal mission 
    Who we should listen to on climate? 
    Economics vs gut feel in ESG 
    Growing the pie (and taking climate seriously) 
    The end of ESG? 
    Embracing subjectivity 
    Stakeholders, shareholders, and getting Friedman right 
    Is pricing in ESG impossible? 
    Finding your potential 
    '… as we said throughout the theme of this talk, if you do something which is good for society, hopefully you will trust that the profits will follow. And I say the same thing is true for career. If you do things because you enjoy it and you think it's having a positive impact, ultimately it would lead to financial success and security later on.'
    'So before coming up with a time management plan, think about what the objective of your life or career is. It's like knowing how to get to a destination. We need to know where to go to first. And so I define my personal mission statement as to use rigorous research to influence the practice of business.'
    '…really important topics like climate change that does attract a lot of people and with very good intentions… People do want to contribute to it, but sometimes you might be contributing without some research behind it. And so this might lead to shooting from the hip rather than saying what is based on evidence.'
    Conversations on Climate is a podcast produced by United Renewables in association with the London Business School Energy Alumni Club. 
    It brings together the best minds from academia and business, to offer their experience and expertise in the face of climate change –from game theorists to corporate diplomats, and oil industry veterans to micro-algae entrepreneurs. 
    For more top-quality interviews with our incredible guests, subscribe to our youtube channel or follow us on Twitter. We’d love to have you join us!
    Don’t forget to share with your colleagues, friends and family. We would love to hear your opinions and feedback, so please leave your comments on our platforms.
    We talk about how the scope of the challenge before us is beyond that of any one individual or any one solution. We listen to thinkers, researchers, policymakers, and business leaders. They discuss a diversity of ideas and solutions to global climate and environmental issues and why they matter.
    Season 2 is presented by Chris Caldwell and produced by UNITED RENEWABLES in association with LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL, ALUMNI ENERGY CLUB.
     
    Tune into the video version of this podcast NOW: https://www.unitedrenewables.co.uk/podcast
    Please visit our YouTube channel, where all of our Conversations are available for you to enjoy.
     
    SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHANNEL HERE: https://bit.ly/3GZpd7R  and ring the notification bell
    Join us on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3MnhuSf 
    Join us on Facebook: https://bit.ly/3Q5UKcj 
    Join us on LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3tFEnK3
     
    REFERENCES:
    https://alexedmans.com/
    https://www.london.edu/faculty-and-research/faculty-profiles/e/edmans-a
    twitter - @aedmans
     

    • 53 min

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