
Climate Confident
Tom Raftery

1 Creator

1 Creator
Climate Confident is your go-to podcast for the latest in climate innovation and sustainable solutions. Hosted by Tom Raftery, this weekly series explores the cutting-edge strategies and success stories driving our global journey toward a cooler planet.
Every Wednesday at 7 AM CET, Tom engages with senior industry executives, climate scientists, and sustainability pioneers to uncover actionable insights and transformative approaches to reducing emissions and revitalising our environment. Whether you're a business leader, policy maker, or simply passionate about climate action, Climate Confident provides the inspiration and knowledge you need to make a real difference.
Subscribe now to stay informed, inspired, and ready to contribute to a sustainable future. Let's turn every episode into a step closer to a greener, more resilient world.

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Top 10 Climate Confident Episodes
Goodpods has curated a list of the 10 best Climate Confident episodes, ranked by the number of listens and likes each episode have garnered from our listeners. If you are listening to Climate Confident for the first time, there's no better place to start than with one of these standout episodes. If you are a fan of the show, vote for your favorite Climate Confident episode by adding your comments to the episode page.

09/20/23 • 41 min
In today's episode of the Climate Confident podcast we dive deep into the intricacies of carbon markets with none other than Mike Azlen, the founder and CEO of Carbon Cap Management. Ever wondered how carbon trading actually works? Or whether it's effective in reducing emissions? Buckle up, because this episode has got you covered
🌱 The "Fit for 55" Initiative 🌱
Mike and I tackle the European Union's ambitious "Fit for 55" initiative, which aims to reduce emissions by 55% compared to the 1990 baseline. What are the chances of meeting this goal? Mike has got some insights that may surprise you!
📈 Cap-and-Trade Explained 📈
If you've been scratching your head over what a cap-and-trade system is, listen up! We dig into how these markets set a limit on emissions and create a financial incentive for companies to be more eco-friendly. The best part? It's a self-adjusting mechanism!
📉 Carbon Prices and Economic Cycles 📉
What happens to carbon prices during recessions? Well, they tend to fall! This episode sheds light on why this isn't necessarily a bad thing and how it can even help struggling companies.
🚨 Facing the Climate Crisis 🚨
Now, let's get real for a minute. Even though it may seem like we're making strides in combating climate change, the numbers tell a different story. We discuss the role of carbon removal and why it's crucial for us to get to grips with it, especially in the face of potential tipping points and runaway climate change.
📚 Bonus Resources 📚
If you're a data geek like me, you'll love the research Mike is offering on Carbon Cap Management's website, filled with educational videos, webinars, and papers.
So, don't wait! Hit that play button and get ready to become a carbon market expert, or watch the video version on YouTube! 🎧
Until next time, stay climate confident, and let's make our planet a be
Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:
- Lorcan Sheehan
- Jerry Sweeney
- Andreas Werner
- Stephen Carroll
- Roger Arnold
And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.
Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.
If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.
Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper
1 Listener

Moving the Climate Dial: Navigating Politics, Science, and Sustainability with Expertise
Climate Confident
10/04/23 • 55 min
In this week's episode of the Climate Confident podcast I chat with Professor Mark Maslin, Professor of Earth Systems Science from University College London.
🔥 Key Takeaways:
📉 Delving deep into the pressing matter of our global climate, we explored the current trajectory of global warming. With 2.5 to 2.8 degrees warming in sight, the aim is to shift the dial back towards a manageable 1.5 degrees. But how? 🤔
🌱 Green Economy & Global Policies:
Mark lends insights into the fragile but progressing shifts in climate policies and economic restructuring towards renewables, an undeniable necessity!
🇦🇪 COP28 in UAE:
A sneak peek into the upcoming COP28 in Dubai, where the leadership, despite being deeply rooted in oil and gas, shows an intriguing commitment towards a net zero future. Will they deliver under the global gaze?
🌎 Global Cooperation:
We tackled the herculean task of maintaining the momentum from Glasgow and the challenges met in Egypt, underscoring the vital role of global cooperation and strategic planning in climate diplomacy. 🤝
👥 Your Agency in Climate Action:
Remember, YOU hold power! Mark inspires us all to realize our agency in battling climate change. Be it in your community, workplace, or social circles, your voice can instigate powerful, positive changes!
💡 Get Informed:
For those hungry for straightforward facts, Mark’s book 📘 'How to Save Our Planet: The Facts’ serves as a practical guide with digesti
Discover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Higher Listenings: Joy for EducatorsA new podcast from Top Hat delivering ideas, relief, and joy to the future of teaching.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:
- Lorcan Sheehan
- Jerry Sweeney
- Andreas Werner
- Stephen Carroll
- Roger Arnold
And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.
Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.
If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.
Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper
1 Listener

The Rise of Blue Nation: An Innovative Approach to Climate Change
Climate Confident
02/15/23 • 33 min
Hey folks, in today's episode of the Climate Confident podcast I had the pleasure of sitting down (again!) with Steve Willis to talk in a little more depth about the idea of the ocean as a nation - which he mentioned briefly on last week's instalment of the show.
Steve's concept is a fascinating one, and we spent the whole episode discussing the potential benefits and challenges of such an idea. We talked about the steps that would need to be taken to turn this vision into a reality, and how we could start building a public discussion around it.
In addition to discussing the idea itself, we also talked about the potential for turning it into a Netflix series and how storytelling can play a role in raising awareness and inspiring action.
Overall, it was a thought-provoking episode and I hope you'll enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed recording it!
Here are the links that Steve mentioned during the episode:
- Steve's LinkedIn profile
- The green stories link
- The SoundCloud recording of some of the stories
- Link to buy the e-book direct
- Or the physical book direct from the publisher
Thanks for tuning in and I hope you'll join us for the next episode!
Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:
- Lorcan Sheehan
- Jerry Sweeney
- Andreas Werner
- Stephen Carroll
- Roger Arnold
And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.
Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.
If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.
Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

1 Listener

Decarbonizing Industry: Strategies for a Greener Future
Climate Confident
06/05/24 • 35 min
In this special episode of the Climate Confident Podcast sponsored by Siemens, I sit down with Constantin Ginet, Global Head of Energy Performance Services at Siemens, to explore the intricacies of industrial decarbonisation. We discuss the significant challenges industries face, from the urgency of reducing emissions to the complexities of scope one, two, and three emissions.
Constantin shares Siemens’ innovative approach, emphasising the role of digitalisation and the use of digital energy twins in creating precise energy models. We delve into the importance of scalable solutions, the need for comprehensive data transparency, and the critical role of smart electrification and renewable integration.
We also touch on how sectors like automotive and food and beverage are leading the way in decarbonisation efforts, and the necessity of looking at sustainability holistically. For those just starting their sustainability journey, Constantin offers valuable advice on setting clear goals, embracing digital solutions, and considering financing models.
This episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in the future of industrial sustainability and the practical steps we can take to achieve a greener future. Tune in for a deep dive into the strategies that are shaping a more sustainable world.
Links to more info:
- Siemens Smart Infrastructure web page
- Siemens Infrastructure LinkedIn page
- The video version of this episode
If you want to catch-up with Constantin, or any of the Siemens team at the Smarter E event, you'll find them at the Siemens stand in Hall B3, booth 110 from 19-21 June.
Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:
- Lorcan Sheehan
- Jerry Sweeney
- Andreas Werner
- Stephen Carroll
- Roger Arnold
And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.
Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.
If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.
Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

The Power of Climate Benchmarks - a chat with David Harris, Group Head of Sustainable Business an the London Stock Exchange Group
Climate Confident
04/21/21 • 33 min

Grid Decarbonisation at Scale: Can a Whole Country Go Net Zero?
Climate Confident
04/09/25 • 51 min
In this episode of the Climate Confident podcast, I sat down with John Sturman, Managing Director at NatPower UK, to dig deep into the realities of grid decarbonisation and energy transition at nation scale.
John pulled back the curtain on how NatPower is scaling up battery storage and renewable projects not just in the UK, but across the globe. From developing Europe’s largest battery storage pipeline to pioneering power solutions for maritime decarbonisation, this conversation gets into the detail of what's needed to hit net zero — and what’s holding us back.
We discussed:
- Why the UK is currently one of the strongest global markets for battery storage
- The urgent grid reform needed to meet the UK’s 2030 clean power targets
- How long-duration battery storage could replace gas peaker plants sooner than expected
- The overlooked challenge (and opportunity) of decarbonising the shipping industry
- Why AI will be essential to balancing increasingly complex power grids
- And why empowering communities is critical to speeding up the clean energy build-out
John didn’t shy away from naming the bottlenecks — planning delays, outdated infrastructure, and regulatory barriers — but he also laid out practical fixes that could unlock faster deployment of clean power.
If you’re serious about understanding the mechanics behind the transition to a net zero grid, this is one you don’t want to miss.
Listen now and get climate confident.
Digital Disruption with Geoff NielsonDiscover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:
- Lorcan Sheehan
- Jerry Sweeney
- Andreas Werner
- Stephen Carroll
- Roger Arnold
And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.
Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.
If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.
Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

Saving The Planet Is Now A Communications Challenge - A Chat With Deadline Co-Founder Huw Bunn
Climate Confident
09/29/21 • 35 min
There's a lot of talk these days about targets - be it Net Zero targets, SDGs, or other targets, but how do we measure progress against those targets?
Dedlyne is a startup based in the UK which aims to help out here by offering a dashboard with a very easy-to-understand interface - a simple date, which is articulated in a dial, which is red, Amber, or green, depending on how well an organisation is doing.
I invited Dedlyne co-founder Huw Bunn to come on the podcast to explain their proposition. We had a fascinating conversation around sustainability, targets, and communications. I thoroughly enjoyed the conversation, I learned loads as always, and I hope you do too.
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to leave me a voice message over on my SpeakPipe page, head on over to the Climate 21 Podcast Forum, or just send it to me as a direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. Audio messages will get played (unless you specifically ask me not to).
And if you want to know more about any of SAP's Sustainability solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/sustainability, and if you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. Thanks.
And remember, stay healthy, stay safe, stay sane!
Music credit - Intro and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

Reducing IT's carbon footprint - a chat with Michael Terrell, Director of Energy at Google
Climate Confident
04/14/21 • 32 min

Using Machine Learning To Reduce Climate Emissions In The Physical World - A Chat With PlutoShift's Prateek Joshi
Climate Confident
07/13/22 • 27 min
Machine Learning is great for helping us surface new series on Netflix, for helping us search through the thousands of photos on your phone to find that one of the cute cat you took a picture of all those months ago, or for things such as fraud detection by banks, but can it be used to impact the physical environment to help reduce climate emissions?
Prateek Joshi, the founder of PlutoShift thinks so! PlutoShift uses Machine Learning to help Anhueser-Busch, Dow Chemicals, and others reduce their emissions, so I invited him on the podcast to hear more.
We had a fascinating conversation covering why Prateek decided to tackle climate emissions using machine learning, some of the really interesting solutions they have come up with for their clients, and where they're headed next.
I learned loads. I hope you do too.
Links:
Prateek's personal website is at PrateekJ.com
And his weekly ML newsletter is available at https://prateekjoshi.substack.com/
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - feel free to leave me a voice message on my SpeakPipe page, head to the Climate 21 Podcast Forum, or send it to me as a direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn. Audio messages will get played (unless you specifically ask me not to).
And if you want to know more about any of SAP's Sustainability solutions, head on over to www.sap.com/sustainability, and if you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show. Thanks.
And remember, stay healthy, stay safe, stay sane!
Music credit - Intro and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper
Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:
- Lorcan Sheehan
- Jerry Sweeney
- Andreas Werner
- Stephen Carroll
- Roger Arnold
And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.
Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.
If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.
Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper

05/14/25 • 44 min
How do we scale nature-based carbon removal without greenwashing or over-promising? That’s exactly what I explore in this episode with Lisett Luik, co-founder of Arbonics.
We all know forests are powerful carbon sinks. But turning that into credible, measurable climate action is harder than it sounds. Lisett shares how Arbonics is using satellite data, digital twins, and over 50 layers of land analysis to help landowners across Europe grow new forests or manage existing ones for long-term carbon storage, without defaulting to clear-cutting or monoculture plantations.
We discuss the difference between planting trees and restoring ecosystems, how continuous cover forestry can deliver carbon and timber, and why Europe’s underused farmland holds massive potential for afforestation. Lisett also tackles the big issue of trust in carbon markets - explaining how dynamic baselines, data transparency, and strong EU regulations are helping improve the integrity of nature-based carbon credits.
If you work in sustainability, forestry, or carbon markets, or you just want to understand the real role of nature-based solutions alongside tech like direct air capture, this episode is for you.
Listen now to learn how technology and nature can work together to deliver scalable, high-quality carbon removal.
Find out more at https://arbonics.com, and connect with Lisett on Bluesky here.
Digital Disruption with Geoff NielsonDiscover how technology is reshaping our lives and livelihoods.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify
Podcast supporters
I'd like to sincerely thank this podcast's amazing supporters:
- Lorcan Sheehan
- Jerry Sweeney
- Andreas Werner
- Stephen Carroll
- Roger Arnold
And remember you too can Support the Podcast - it is really easy and hugely important as it will enable me to continue to create more excellent Climate Confident episodes like this one.
Contact
If you have any comments/suggestions or questions for the podcast - get in touch via direct message on Twitter/LinkedIn.
If you liked this show, please don't forget to rate and/or review it. It makes a big difference to help new people discover the show.
Credits
Music credits - Intro by Joseph McDade, and Outro music for this podcast was composed, played, and produced by my daughter Luna Juniper
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FAQ
How many episodes does Climate Confident have?
Climate Confident currently has 226 episodes available.
What topics does Climate Confident cover?
The podcast is about Climate, Climate Change, Podcasts, Science and Business.
What is the most popular episode on Climate Confident?
The episode title 'The Rise of Blue Nation: An Innovative Approach to Climate Change' is the most popular.
What is the average episode length on Climate Confident?
The average episode length on Climate Confident is 37 minutes.
How often are episodes of Climate Confident released?
Episodes of Climate Confident are typically released every 7 days.
When was the first episode of Climate Confident?
The first episode of Climate Confident was released on Sep 7, 2020.
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