Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Episodes

Ep66: David Sandalow 'US China - strategic rivals, climate partners'
67
Dec. 1, 2021

Ep66: David Sandalow 'US China - strategic rivals, climate partners'

David Sandalow is the Inaugural Fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy and co-Director of the Energy and Environment Concentration at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He founded and directs the Center’s U.S.-China Program.David is as a director at Fermata Energy and senior advisor to APL. He is a member of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Selection Committee, Global CO2 Initiative Advisory Board, Electric Drive Transport Association’s “Hall of Fame” and Council on Foreign Relations.David held senior positions at the White House, State Department and U.S. Department of Energy. At DOE he served as Under Secretary of Energy (acting) and Assistant Secretary for Policy & International Affairs. Before joining DOE, David was a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution and Executive Vice President at WWF.David holds a B.A. from Yale University and J.D. from University of Michigan Law School.
Ep65: Dan Doctoroff 'Cities, Service, and Cities-as-a-Service'
66
Nov. 24, 2021

Ep65: Dan Doctoroff 'Cities, Service, and Cities-as-a-Service'

Dan Doctoroff is the Founder and CEO of Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet company that works with cities to address key urban problems.Before founding Sidewalk Labs in 2015, Dan spent 6 years working at Bloomberg L.P. first as President and since 2011 as CEO. He joined that company after leading the post 9/11 recovery of the New York city for 7 years as its Deputy Mayor for Economic Development and Rebuilding.Prior to working in the Mayor Bloomberg administration, Dan was Managing Partner at Oak Hill Capital Partners and worked as an investment banker at Lehman Brothers.Dan is a board member of the University of Chicago, World Resource Institute and Human Rights First. He founded Target ALS, an initiative aimed at finding new approaches to treating the illness.Dan holds a B.A. in government from Harvard College and a J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Ep64: Guy Turner 'Good COP, bad COP?'
65
Nov. 17, 2021

Ep64: Guy Turner 'Good COP, bad COP?'

Guy Turner is the founder and CEO of Trove Research and an expert on carbon markets.Guy has 30 years’ experience in research and strategy in sustainability and the energy transition. He spent his first 15 years in consulting advising companies and governments on a wide range of sustainability issues. In 2006 he joined New Energy Finance (NEF) to create the carbon market research business (New Carbon Finance) which was integrated into NEF. After the sale to Bloomberg, Guy continued as Head of Commodities and Chief Economist of BNEF, building out power and gas market analysis and renewables economics.In 2017 Guy joined BP Economics where he was responsible for global oil supply analysis and worked on BP’s Energy Outlook. From 2018 to 2020 Guy was the Strategy and Analysis Manager at EDF Renewables, overseeing market and financial analysis to support investments in offshore and onshore wind, solar, battery storage and hydrogen.Guy has undergraduate degrees in Mechanical Engin…
Ep63: Glen Peters 'The Past, Present & Future of CO2 Emissions'
63
Nov. 10, 2021

Ep63: Glen Peters 'The Past, Present & Future of CO2 Emissions'

Glen Peters is Research Director at Center for International Climate Research (CICERO) in Oslo. Previously he was a post-doctoral researcher at the Industrial Ecology Programme at NTNU.Dr Peters is a worldwide authority on socio-economic drivers of emissions. He has performed pioneering work on how international trade intricately connects emission drivers in different countries. Recent work has focused on trends in carbon emissions, socio-economic drivers, and future emission pathways at the global and country level (particularly China and India). Other key research areas include emission metrics and the carbon cycle. Dr Peters is on the Scientific Steering Committee of the Global Carbon Project.While at the University of Newcastle (Australia) he received a University Medal and Deans Medal for undergraduate performance (Mathematics/Physics) and the DH Trollope Medal for his PhD (Environmental Engineering). He has twice received the Environmental Science & Technology Best Polic…
Ep62: Damilola Ogunbiyi  'Energy - The red Thread Through the SDGs'
64
Nov. 3, 2021

Ep62: Damilola Ogunbiyi 'Energy - The red Thread Through the SDGs'

Damilola Ogunbiyi is the CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All and Co-Chair of UN-Energy Mrs. Ogunbiyi has extensive experience in the energy space. Before joining SEforAll she was Managing Director of the Nigerian Rural Electrification Agency, the first woman to be appointed to the post. Before that she was Senior Special Assistant to the Nigerian President on Power and a senior official in the Lagos State Government. Mrs. Ogunbiyi worked for the British Government as a Consultant in the Department for International Development and at the HM Treasury.Mrs. Ogunbiyi maintains a keen interest in mentoring and empowering young people through skills acquisitions. She created the Lagos State Energy Academy to build the capacity of young people in renewable energy technology, and the Energizing Education Programme (EEP) which launched a Female STEM Student Internship Programme to provide hands-on p…
Ep61: Julia King 'Engineering the UK’s Net Zero Transition'
63
Oct. 27, 2021

Ep61: Julia King 'Engineering the UK’s Net Zero Transition'

Professor Dame Julia King (Baroness Brown of Cambridge) DBE, FRS, FREng is an engineer, crossbench member of the House of Lords and Chair of The Carbon Trust.Julia started her career in academia as a Rolls-Royce fellow at University of Cambridge and was involved in teaching and research for 16 years, before moving to business. Between 1994 and 2002 she held a number of managerial positions at Rolls-Royce. In 2002 she became the Chief Executive of the Institute of Physics. Between 2004 and 2006 Julia was the Principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College London. After that, she was Vice-Chancellor of Aston University for a decade. Julia has worked closely with the government on a number of climate, technology and education issues. She led the King Review of low-carbon cars (published in 2008) and sat on numerous government bodies, such as Climate Change Committee's Adaptation Sub-Committee of which she is the chair. Julia was appointed a life peer in the House of …
Ep60: Todd Stern 'President Obama's climate negotiator'
62
Oct. 20, 2021

Ep60: Todd Stern 'President Obama's climate negotiator'

Todd Stern is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, best known for leading the US delegation at COP21 in his capacity as Special Envoy for Climate Change at the Department of State.Todd’s political career started in 1993, when he joined President Clinton’s administration. Between 1997 and 1999, he led the US government efforts on global climate change – he was the senior White House negotiator at the Kyoto and Buenos Aires negotiations. Between 1999 and 2001 he was a Counsellor to the Secretary of the Treasury.After 7 years in the private sector, Todd returned to politics, joining President Obama’s administration as the Special Envoy for Climate Change, U.S. Department of State in 2009. As the chief climate negotiator he led the US delegation at COP21 and was one of the key architects of the Paris Agreement.Todd is now a Senior Fellow at Cross-Brookings Initiative on Climate and Energy. He graduated from Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School. Todd is a member of th…
Ep 59: Alain Ebobissé 'Meeting Africa's Infrastructure Needs'
61
Oct. 13, 2021

Ep 59: Alain Ebobissé 'Meeting Africa's Infrastructure Needs'

Alain Ebobissé is a specialist in the financing and development of infrastructure and CEO of Africa50. Prior to joining the organization, Mr. Ebobissé served as the Global Head of the World Bank Group’s Global Infrastructure Project Development Fund (IFC InfraVentures), where he oversaw a team of infrastructure specialists and led the development of and investment in numerous infrastructure projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Mr. Ebobissé led the design, structuring, and implementation of IFC InfraVentures from its inception. He also served as Chief Investment Officer in the Global Infrastructure and Natural Resources Department of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-sector arm of the World Bank Group, based in Washington.Prior to joining the IFC in 1998, he held several positions in the financial services industry in France, including Deputy Head of Project and Structured Finance at Caisse des Depots et Consignations. Ebobissé holds a Master…
Ep 58: John Redfern 'Cracking the Geothermal Code'
60
Oct. 11, 2021

Ep 58: John Redfern 'Cracking the Geothermal Code'

John Redfern is an investor, advisor and serial entrepreneur in the data analytics, oil service and energy tech verticals. John spent his career in executive roles at multiple international oil and oil service companiess including as a Director at Hess in London, President of Accumap in Calgary and President of IHS Energy in Denver. Prior to Eavor, John spent 13 years in China co-founding a series of start-ups, the most recent of which is LocalGravity, the leading retail data analytics platform in China. As a director, executive and advisor over the years, John has specialized in commercial strategy, negotiations, alliancing, M&A, and private equity. John holds a degree in Engineering Physics from Queen’s University in Kingston, Law degrees from McGill University in Montreal, and an MBA degree from INSEAD in France.
Ep 57: Julie Klinger 'Rare Earths, Real Insight'
59
Oct. 6, 2021

Ep 57: Julie Klinger 'Rare Earths, Real Insight'

Julie Klinger is an Assistant Professor of Geographer at the University of Delaware and also affiliated with the university's new Minerals, Materials and Society Program. She is the author of "Rare Earth Frontiers: From Terrestrial Subsoils to Lunar Landscapes”, Cornell University Press.Julie Klinger was formerly Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University.Julie lists her research interests as “the dynamics of global resource frontiers and space-based technologies with particular emphases in China, Brazil, and the United States; how diverse forms of violence and strategies for survival shape land use, environmental conservation, and livelihood security; rare earth elements; natural resource use; environmental politics; and outer space.
Ep 56: The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor William Russell 'Greening the City of London'
58
Sept. 29, 2021

Ep 56: The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor William Russell 'Greening the City of London'

William Russel was elected as Alderman for the Ward of Bread Street in 2013 and served as Sheriff of the City of London in 2016-17. He has been the Lord Mayor of the City of London since 2019.Before leaving for public service, William Russell spent over 30 years working in the financial sector. In 1987 he went to work for First Boston Corporation before joining Merrill Lynch in 1992 as an investment banker in Institutional Equity Sales, working in Asia, New York and London. William is currently Chair of CDAM, a London based Asset Management business, and Senior Advisor to STJ Advisors. He was also on the Board of Innovate Finance, the industry body for the UK based FinTech community.He has a number of charitable interests. He has served as Chair of the Development Board of the Royal Court Theatre, he is a Board Member of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Barbican Centre and is on the Council of the Royal Theatrical Support Trust. He is immediate past Chair of Prostate …
Ep55: Elizabeth Wathuti 'Planting the Seeds of Inspiration'
57
Sept. 22, 2021

Ep55: Elizabeth Wathuti 'Planting the Seeds of Inspiration'

Elizabeth Wathuti is a Kenyan environment and climate activist and founder of the Green Generation Initiative, which nurtures young people to be environmentally conscious and has planted 30,000 tree seedlings in Kenya.She grew up in Nyeri County, which has the highest forest cover in Kenya, planting her first tree at the age of seven and establishing an environmental club in her high school. She was part of the leadership of Kenyatta University Environmental Club (KUNEC) where she led tree plantings, clean ups and environmental education and education on climate change.She is a recipient of a Wangari Maathai Scholarship award for her outstanding passion and commitment to environmental conservation. She is also a full member of the Green Belt Movement, which was founded by the late Professor Wangari Maathai who is Wathuti’s role model and a big inspiration and influence. In 2019, Wathuti was awarded the Africa Green Person of the Year Award by the Eleven Eleven Twelve Foun…
Ep 54: Laurence Tubiana 'The Éminence Grise of the Paris Agreement'
56
Sept. 15, 2021

Ep 54: Laurence Tubiana 'The Éminence Grise of the Paris Agreement'

Laurence Tubiana is CEO of the European Climate Foundation (ECF). In addition, she is the Chair of the Board of Governors at the French Development Agency (AFD), the Chair of the Board at Expertise France (The French public agency for international technical assistance) and a Professor at Sciences Po, Paris. Before joining ECF, Laurence was France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP21, and as such a key architect of the landmark Paris Agreement. Following COP21 and through COP22, she was appointed UN High Level Champion for climate action, after a long career in public service - from 1997 to 2002, she served as Senior Adviser on the Environment to the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin. From 2009 to 2010, she created and then led the newly established Directorate for Global Public Goods at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE). In 2013, she chaired the French National Debate on the Energy Transition. In 2002 she founded Institute of Sustainab…
Ep53: Eamon Ryan 'Ireland's Jolly Green Giant'
55
Sept. 8, 2021

Ep53: Eamon Ryan 'Ireland's Jolly Green Giant'

Eamon Ryan is the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications, Minister for Transport in the Irish government and leader of the Green Party.Eamon’s political career began in 1998 when he was co-opted to Dublin City Council. In 2002 he was elected to the Dáil Éireann. In 2007, when the Green party entered the government, he became the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. His time in office saw doubling of the renewable share in the electricity mix and a wide-ranging house retrofit programme. He resigned in 2011 after the Green Party left the government. After the Green Party failed to win any seats in the 2011 general election, Eamon became the party leader and has led it ever since. Eamon was elected TD for Dublin Bay South in 2016 and re-elected in 2020.Eamon graduated from University College Dublin with a Bachelor of Commerce.
Ep52: Tony Abbott  'Green Trade or Green Trade-Off'
54
Sept. 1, 2021

Ep52: Tony Abbott 'Green Trade or Green Trade-Off'

Tony Abbott was the Australian PM between 2013 and 2015, the leader of the Liberal Party between 2009 and 2015 and an MP for Warringah between 1994 and 2019. He currently serves as an advisor to the UK Board of Trade alongside Michael.During his time in office he repealed Australia’s carbon tax and finalized trade deals with China, Japan and Korea. Tony Abbott was also Health Minister between 2003 and 2007.Prior to entering parliament, he was a journalist with The Australian, a senior adviser to opposition leader John Hewson, and director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. He has degrees in economics and law from Sydney University and in politics and philosophy from Oxford which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.
Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 4: Separating Hype from Hydrogen – Part Two: The Demand Side
53
Aug. 11, 2021

Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 4: Separating Hype from Hydrogen – Part Two: The Demand Side

This episode of Cleaning Up is based on a October 2020 blog written by Michael for BloombergNEFhttps://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-separating-hype-from-hydrogen-part-two-the-demand-side/We would like to thank BloombergNEF for allowing us to record it.
Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 3: Separating Hype from Hydrogen – Part One: The Supply Side
52
Aug. 4, 2021

Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 3: Separating Hype from Hydrogen – Part One: The Supply Side

This episode of Cleaning Up is based on a October 2020 blog written by Michael for BloombergNEFhttps://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-separating-hype-from-hydrogen-part-one-the-supply-side/We would like to thank BloombergNEF for allowing us to record it.
Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 2: Climate Action – It’s The Trade, Stupid
July 28, 2021

Cleaning Up Audioblog Episode 2: Climate Action – It’s The Trade, Stupid

This episode of Cleaning Up is based on a June 2021 blog written by Michael for BloombergNEF https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-climate-action-its-the-trade-stupid/We would like to thank BloombergNEF for allowing us to record it.
Ep51: Yousef Alshammari 'Saudi Arabia's net zero conundrum'
51
July 21, 2021

Ep51: Yousef Alshammari 'Saudi Arabia's net zero conundrum'

Dr. Yousef Alshammari, is the CEO and Head of Oil Research at CMarkits. He is a former Research Fellow in energy economics at OPEC. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London where he worked on designing innovative processes for clean hydrogen generation from heavy oil fields. Following that, he pursued his postdoctoral research in energy economics at the IAEA, KAUST, and the University of Vienna. He was awarded a research fellowship from King Faisal Centre for Research and Islamic Studies chaired HRH Prince Turki Alfaisal, and SABIC. He has also been a peer-reviewer for research papers at Energy Policy and the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, and he published a wide range of research papers in the field of energy technology and energy economics. Yousef is an assistant professor of energy economics at Prince Mohammad bin Fahd University in Saudi Arabia, and he taught more than 800 Saudi students including some of the first female engineering…
Ep50: Lord John Browne 'Beyond Net Zero'
50
July 14, 2021

Ep50: Lord John Browne 'Beyond Net Zero'

Lord Browne is a Senior Advisor at General Atlantic on climate and Net Zero, providing strategic support and advice to the firm’s investment teams and portfolio companies. He served as Group Chief Executive of BP from 1995 to 2007, after having joined the company in 1966 as a university apprentice. In 2007, Lord Browne joined Riverstone, where he was co-head of the world’s largest renewable energy private equity fund until 2015. He is currently Chairman of Wintershall Dea, Europe’s largest indep...
Ep49: Johan Rockström 'Pushing Planetary Boundaries'
49
July 7, 2021

Ep49: Johan Rockström 'Pushing Planetary Boundaries'

Johan Rockström is Director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and Professor in Earth System Science at the University of Potsdam.He is an internationally recognized scientist on global sustainability issues, most known for developing the Planetary Boundaries framework for human development. Professor Rockström is a leading scientist on global water resources, with more than 25 years’ experience in applied water research in tropical regions, and more than 150 research publications in fields ranging from applied land and water management to global sustainability. Apart from that, Professor Rockström is a member of European Commission expert group: Mission Board for adaptation to climate change including societal transformation, chair of the Earth Commission and an elected member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina. Between 2004 and 2012 he led the Stockholm Environment Institute, in 2007 he co-founded the Stockholm Resilience Centre.Professo…
Ep48: Nick Stern 'Planetary Crisis? Call an Economist!'
48
June 30, 2021

Ep48: Nick Stern 'Planetary Crisis? Call an Economist!'

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern is the IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government, Chairman of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, Chair of the Centre for Climate Change Economics and Policy and Head of the India Observatory at the London School of Economics.Professor Stern led the Grantham Research Institute since its establishment in 2008. Between 2013 and 2017 he was the President of the British Academy. His academic career took him all over the world: he held appointments at, inter alia, Oxford University, MIT, Collège de France, the Indian Statistical Institute and the People’s University of China in Beijing. Professor Stern was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 2014.Apart from his academic career, he worked for international institutions like the World Bank and the EBRD and for the British government. In that capacity, he led the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006, a pioneering work looking into long-term cos…
Ep47: Gina Domanig 'Open to Innovation'
47
June 23, 2021

Ep47: Gina Domanig 'Open to Innovation'

Gina Domanig is the Managing Partner and founder of Emerald Technology Ventures, the first independent cleantech venture capital fund in Europe. Gina currently serves on the boards of the following portfolio companies: GeoDigital International Inc, a geo-spatial intelligence provider for electric utilities, Spear Power Systems Inc, a battery management solutions provider for aerospace and marine and Urgently Inc, a digital platform for roadside assistanceIn addition to Emerald activities Gina is a board member of Die Mobiliar, SolarPack Corporacion Tecnologica S.A., u-blox AG and Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy Foundation. She is a member of the advisory boards of the Institute on the Environment of the University of Minnesota, and the PRIME Impact Fund. Gina has over 35 years of experience in the area of finance, banking and venture capital – before founding Emerald in 2000 she was vice president at Sulzer, responsible for M&A.Gina holds a Bachelor Degree in Finance f…
Ep46: Angelina Galiteva 'California's Clean Energy Dream'
46
June 16, 2021

Ep46: Angelina Galiteva 'California's Clean Energy Dream'

Angelina Galiteva has been appointed Chair of the California Independent System Operator’s Board of Governors in 2020, after a decade spent on the Board as a member. Angelina is the founder & Chair of the Board of Renewables 100 Policy Institute. She is also a Renewable Energy Expert Speaker at the US Department of State.Angelina’s carer in energy started in 1994 when she was a Power Services Analyst at the New York Power Authority. In 1997 she became an Executive Director at the LA Department of Water and Power. Angelina has experience in private sector as well - in 2003 she founded NEOoptions, a renewable energy and new technology product design firm.Angelina is a lawyer by education: she holds a J.D. and LLM Degrees, with a specialization in Environmental and Energy Law