What Can We Actually Do To Speed Up The Transition? Ep283: Lindsay Levin, Sage Lenier, James Cameron

How can we accelerate the transition, and keep the public with us?

Recorded at TED Countdown House at COP31 in Türkiye, Michael Liebreich is joined by TED Countdown founder Lindsay Levin, climate lawyer and entrepreneur James Cameron, and educator Sage Lenier to discuss what it will take to accelerate the energy transition.

They explore why the climate movement needs better storytelling, why solutions and the people building them deserve more attention, and whether the annual COP gatherings are actually helping to deliver change.

They also debate the balance between optimism and activism, the importance of bringing business, policymakers and civil society together, and why the next generation needs a more compelling vision of the future.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Does COP still matter?
• The climate movement’s storytelling problem
• Making climate solutions relatable
• Climate optimism versus despair
• The divide between activists, business and policymakers
• The value of international climate diplomacy
• The pace of the clean-energy transition
• China and India's emissions trajectories
• The need to communicate progress
• The importance of convening people

Leadership Circle:

Cleaning Up is proud to be supported by its Leadership Circle. The members are Actis, Alcazar Energy, Arup, Climate Imperative Foundation, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Cygnum Capital, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, KKR, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, National Grid, Oaklin, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, Schneider Electric, SDCL and Wärtsilä.

Links:

• TED Countdown: https://countdown.ted.com/
• Ani Dasgupta’s Book, The New Global Possible: https://disruptionbooks.com/books/the-new-global-possible
• The Pragmatic Climate Reset: Part One — Michael Liebreich: https://youtu.be/OHKGor2_BzQ
• James and Michael Debate COP: https://youtu.be/UPPjAbSxl5c
• Hannah Ritchie on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/voLbbuPEWY4
• Bill McKibben’s book, Here Comes the Sun: https://billmckibben.com/books/here-comes-the-sun

Chapters:

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 02:19 - Telling Good Climate Stories
• 07:43 - The Origins of Climate Negotiations
• 12:55 - Is COP useful?
• 17:44 - Model Solutions
• 23:44 - Have We Wasted 30 Years?
• 27:04 - Bring The Builders On Board
• 33:30 - James Defends COP
• 39:25 - Where Are The Activists?
• 42:30 - Climate Doom, Climate Hopium
• 52:30 - The Progress We’ve Made
• 57:39 - Outro