Planet A - Talks on Climate Change Dan Jørgensen

In this episode of Planet A, Dan Jørgensen talks with Saber Hossain Chowdhury, Special Envoy for Environment and Climate Change to Honorable Prime Minister of Bangladesh and parliament member in Bangladesh, a country severely affected by global warming. Chowdhury sheds light on Bangladesh’s vulnerability, positioned between melting Himalayan glaciers and rising sea levels in the Bay of Bengal. 
They discuss the stark reality that Bangladesh represents the “ground zero” of climate change. As a country already facing the impacts of global warming, Bangladesh's experience offers a glimpse into the challenges that the rest of the world will soon face.
Chowdhury underscores the urgency of global collaboration and solidarity in climate action, emphasizing that the lessons learned from Bangladesh's experience are invaluable for preparing other nations for similar challenges. He calls for fair climate finance, stressing the need for global action and adaptation strategies to address the escalating climate crisis.

In this episode of Planet A, Dan Jørgensen is joined by Mafalda Duarte, the executive director of the world’s largest climate fund – the Green Climate Fund. 

Mafalda Duarte sheds light on how the fund is at the forefront of aiding developing countries on their path to development that is both low in emissions and resilient to the climate. 

She explains the fund’s projects which span billions of dollars and how to balance this with the needs of developing countries: “We have to put ourselves in the shoes of these people in developing countries.” 

What concrete investments lead to sustainable development? How can developed and developing countries better work together to achieve climate goals? 

Join us as Mafalda Duarte and Dan Jørgensen tackle these questions and discuss the potential of climate finance in the quest for sustainable development. 

In this episode of Planet A, Dan Jørgensen sits down with The European "Mr. Energy", Claude Turmes, for a conversation that spans personal anecdotes, political experiences, and urgent climate challenges.
Claude Turmes has served as the Minister for Energy in Luxembourg for almost five years, and has been a tireless and prominent advocate for green energy and sustainability for decades both within Luxembourg and the European Union. 
He was Vice President of the parliamentary group of the Green Party in the EU and has represented the European Parliament at numerous UN Climate Change Conferences.
Turmes thus has years of experience with energy politics and the fight for sustainable development and international cooperation. 
The episode kicks off with Turmes explaining what got him started being invested in the politics of energy and his time as a member of the European Parliament. 
As the dialogue continues, they discuss the challenge of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewables, especially in areas like heating. Turmes explains Luxembourg's approach, emphasizing the need for comprehensive politics, given the vast implications on households across the nation.
Rounding off the episode, Turmes then sheds light on the massive changes happening in energy intensive sectors and the promising potential of green technologies, including green hydrogen and e-fuels.

In this episode of Planet A, Dan Jørgensen talks to a true pioneer within the field of wind energy, the father of the modern Danish wind turbine and the world's first offshore wind farm, Henrik Stiesdal, former Chief Technology Officer of Siemens Wind Power.
 Stiesdal shares his personal story, recounting how, as a young farmer boy during the 1973 oil crisis, he built his first wind turbine to harness affordable wind power for his family. He also tells the story of how the world's wind turbines have ended up rotating clockwise and how they built the first offshore wind farm in the world, Vindeby Offshore Wind Farm.
 Aside from the fascinating stories from a whole life in the business he also describes the special conditions that made the Danish offshore wind adventure possible and explains key factors to the success – among others when Danish pensions funds started to invest in the wind farms before they were even built.
 They also discuss the low cost and other merits of offshore wind, even when the wind doesn’t blow. As well as the future of offshore wind, which could potentially meet global electricity consumption needs tenfold.
 Stiesdal finishes off with an insight into his latest projects – the floating offshore wind farm and the technology of pyrolysis, that he is now working on. 
 You can watch the TED-talk mentioned in the podcast, where Dan Jørgensen brought Stiesdal first small rotor to the international scene, here:
 https://youtu.be/adJnm7Yopdo?si=PuM9oEd_RAgpgu5u

In this episode of Planet A Dan Jørgensen talks to Chris Bowen, Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy. 
This July was the hottest month ever recorded. Just another fact that underlines that humanity has to live with the devastating consequenses of climate change such as natural disasters.  
“No country is being spared, and they're increasingly frequent, increasingly severe, and increasingly unnatural.  They're not natural disasters anymore, because they're caused by human activity” says Chris Bowen. 
But what can governments such as the Australian and the Danish do to tackle the climate crisis? How do you ensure green transition of an economy that used to build on fossil fuels? And what do we need to get out of COP28 in Dubai?  
That’s being discussed in this episode where Chris Bowen shares his experience with setting a new and ambitious course for Australian climate policy, passing Australia’s Climate Act and increasing the national climate targets.

In this episode of Planet A Dan Jørgensen talks to Achim Steiner, head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 
They discuss the threats climate change poses to global development and the fight against poverty, the urgent need for financial markets to support the green transition and climate adaptation in developing countries, as well as their  expectations for COP28.
Steiner brings almost thirty years of experience in sustainable development, climate resilience, and international cooperation to the table. 
Previously, he served as the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) from 2006 to 2016. Steiner has also held positions such as the Director-General of the United Nations Office at Nairobi and the Director-General of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Steiner’s expertise lies in understanding the connection between climate and development, and he emphasizes the importance of integrating climate action into development initiatives for sustainable outcomes.