Kim Stanley Robinson's 'Ministry for the Future' has lessons for the present
Mongabay Newscast
Five years since groundbreaking climate fiction novel, , hit The New York Times bestseller list, the Hugo and Nebula Award-winning writer shares reflections on themes explored in the book and how they apply directly to the world today. The utopian novel set in a not-so-distant future depicts how humans address and the , toppling oligarchic control of governments and addressing chronic inequality. Robinson explains how the novel works as ”a kind of cognitive map of the way the world is going now, the way things work and the way things might be bettered. And also a sort of...
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Why protected Congo rainforests look 'like a war zone'
Mongabay Newscast
Nearly half of the Republic of Congo’s dense rainforests are protected under the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) framework to receive climate finance payments, but Mongabay Africa staff writer Elodie Toto’s recent investigation the nation has also nearly 80 gold mining and exploration permits in areas covered by the project, driving deforestation and negatively impacting local people and wildlife. As the world scrambles for new sources of gold during these uncertain economic times, she joins the podcast to explain what her...
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Inspiring action for the ocean wins top environmental prize for ex-engineer
Mongabay Newscast
has been awarded the for protecting the marine biodiversity of Tenerife, the most populated of the Canary Islands. On this episode of Mongabay's podcast, Molina explains what led him to quit his job as a civil engineer on a road project impacting the Teno-Rasca marine protected area (MPA) and his subsequent campaign to stop the port project it was planned to connect to, which would have impacted the biodiversity of the area. His successful campaign contributed to the decision of the Canary Islands government to abandon the port plan. Now, Molina and his nonprofit are helping set up an...
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‘De-extinction’ is misleading and dangerous, ecologist says
Mongabay Newscast
A biotech company in the United States made last month by revealing photos of genetically modified gray wolves, calling them “dire wolves,” a species that hasn’t existed for more than 10,000 years. edited 14 genes among millions of base pairs in gray wolf DNA to arrive at the pups that were shown, leaving millions of between these wolves and real dire wolves. This hasn’t stopped some observers from asserting to the public that “de-extinction” is real. But , says podcast guest Dieter Hochuli, a professor at the at the University of Sydney. Hochuli explains why ecologists like...
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How the sounds of whales guide conservation efforts
Mongabay Newscast
Biological oceanographer John Ryan joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss his team’s multiyear study that examined vocalizations of baleen whales, including blue (Balaenoptera musculus), humpback (Megaptera novaeangliae) and fin whales (Balaenoptera physalus), and how this science is critical for understanding their feeding habits, and thus informing their conservation. The found that these whales’ songs rise and fall with their , which provides valuable insights into how changing ocean conditions can affect their health and guide management measures. “Some of the research we did...
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How a prize-winning project brought saiga antelope back from the brink
Mongabay Newscast
Two decades ago a group of NGOs came together with the government of Kazakhstan to save the dwindling population of saiga antelope living in the enormous Golden Steppe. Since then, the has successfully rehabilitated the saiga (Saiga tatarica) from a population of roughly 30,000 to nearly 4 million. For this effort, it was the 2024 Earthshot Prize in the “protect & restore nature” category. Joining the podcast to discuss this achievement is Vera Voronova, executive director of the , an NGO involved in the initiative. Voronova details the cultural and technological methods used to...
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The impact-driven success of Mongabay’s nonprofit news model
Mongabay Newscast
Media outlets are newsrooms and the audience for traditional news is in , but Mongabay continues to grow thanks to its , nonprofit model. Mongabay's director of philanthropy, , joins the podcast this week to explain the philosophy behind Mongabay's fundraising efforts, why the nonprofit model is essential for impact-driven reporting, and how the organization ensures editorial independence. " Those who fund us and read us, they're really expecting real-world impact and high-quality journalism. So, people are coming back to Mongabay because they're interested in what we're reporting on....
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The climate movement should emphasize humans, not just carbon, Paul Hawken says
Mongabay Newscast
Renowned author, activist and entrepreneur Paul Hawken joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss his new book, , and argues that the jargon and fear-based terms broadly used by the climate movement alienate the broader public and fail to communicate the nuance and complexity of the larger ecological crises that humans are causing. Instead, Hawken argues that real change begins in, and is propelled by, communities: "Community is the source of change, and what we have [are] obviously systems that are destroying community everywhere." The title of Hawken's book, carbon, is also the fourth most...
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Why has Australia paused key environment commitments?
Mongabay Newscast
The Australian government recently key environmental protection commitments indefinitely, including the establishment of an environmental protection agency, and a robust accounting of the nation’s ecological health via an environmental information authority. The latest suspension was announced by the Prime Minister just ahead of a federal election. Australia initially proposed these “nature positive” in 2022 and hosted the first in 2024 to great fanfare, but has not implemented any substantial domestic legislation to overhaul its old environmental laws. Joining the podcast to...
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What environmental history says about our current ‘planetary risk’
Mongabay Newscast
Recent and major shifts in international environmental policies and programs have historical precedent, but the context of global environmental degradation and climate change presents a planetary risk that’s new, say Sunil Amrith. A professor of history at Yale University, he joins this week’s Mongabay Newscast to discuss the current political moment and what history can teach us about it. " When we look at examples from the past, [societies’ ecological impacts] have tended to be confined to a particular region, to those states, and perhaps to their neighbors. Because of where we are...
info_outlineA paper in the journal Nature Climate Change concludes there is limited accountability for corporations that fail to achieve their climate change mitigation targets. The analysis shows 9% of company decarbonization plans missed their goals, while 31% “disappeared.”
However, 60% of companies met their targets. While this might initially seem like good news, it may not be leading to genuine climate action.
This week's podcast guest, Ketan Joshi, a consultant and researcher for nonprofit organizations in the climate sector, explains that many corporations are not actually decarbonizing their supply chains, but rather relying on buying renewable energy certificates and carbon credits to "offset" additional carbon emissions from their business.
While carbon offsets are often touted as a way to directly fund climate action on the ground, Joshi stresses there is no verifiable way to track how much is funding these projects. Typically, credits are purchased from a broker, and 90% of these intermediaries arranging such deals on the voluntary carbon market don't share their data.
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Image Credit: The 2015 Paris Agreement stipulates that countries must reduce carbon emissions in order to limit warming to 1.5°C, or at least well below 2°C. Image by jwvein via Pixabay (Public domain).
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Timestamps
(00:00) Are companies actually decarbonizing?
(16:06) The rise of climate litigation
(31:00) Carbon removal tech as an offset
(42:00) What is GreenSky?
(50:38) Credits