Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

The Second Coming of the Lord Turner - Ep148: Lord Adair Turner

Dec 20, 2023

Lord Adair Turner, a prominent figure in business, policy, and academia, discusses progress and challenges in transitioning away from fossil fuels, the debate between reducing consumption and offsetting emissions, the effectiveness of heat pumps, advancements in solar and wind energy, implementing clear policies for the green premium in global shipping, the importance of blended finance and global financial support for climate change initiatives, and the challenges faced by countries in attracting private external investment.

01:07:57

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Episode guests

Lord Adair Turner

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

The importance of global commitment to reducing fossil fuel use and investing in renewable energy

The challenge of overcoming the green premium in clean alternatives and the need for supportive policies and investments

The need for streamlined processes and government capacity to expedite the approval and implementation of renewable energy projects

Deep dives

Transitioning away from fossil fuels

The podcast discusses the progress made at COP28 in transitioning away from fossil fuels. It highlights the importance of getting 190 countries to recognize the need for moving beyond fossil fuels and committing to reducing their use. The podcast emphasizes the significance of the commitment to tripling renewable capacity by 2030 and the focus on creating expectations for investing in renewable energy. It acknowledges that there is still work to be done to reach the 1.5-degree centigrade target, but emphasizes the importance of bending the arc and continuing efforts to reduce emissions.

Introduction

3min

Progress and Challenges in Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels

7min

Reducing Fossil Fuel Consumption vs Offsetting Emissions

19min

Heat pumps and progress in the power sector

2min

Progress and Challenges in Solar and Wind Energy

17min

Implementing Clear Policies for the Green Premium in Global Shipping

14min

The Importance of Blended Finance and Global Financial Support for Climate Change Initiatives

3min

Challenges Faced by Countries in Attracting Private External Investment

3min

For a second consecutive year-closer, Michael welcomes Lord Adair Turner of Ecchinswell back to Cleaning Up. Lord Turner has combined careers in business, public policy and academia. He chairs the Energy Transitions Commission, a global coalition of major power and industrial companies, investors, environmental NGOs and experts working out achievable pathways to limit global warming to well below 2˚C by 2040 while stimulating economic development and social progress. He was chairman of the Institute for New Economic Thinking until January 2019, where he remains a Senior Fellow. He is Chairman of Chubb Europe and on the Advisory Board of Envision Energy, a Shanghai-based group focussed on renewable energy, batteries and digital systems.

He became a cross bench member of the House of Lords in 2006.

Amongst his business roles, Lord Turner was at McKinsey&Co (1982-1995); was Vice-Chairman of Merrill Lynch Europe (2000-2006) and a Non-Executive Director of a number of companies, including Standard Chartered plc (2006-2008). He is Senior Fellow at the Centre for Financial Studies (Frankfurt) and a Visiting Fellow at the People’s Bank of China School of Finance, Tsinghua University (Beijing). He writes regularly for Project Syndicate, and has published “Between Debt and the Devil” (Princeton 2015), and Economics after the Crisis (MIT 2012).

He is a Trustee Emeritus of the British Museum, honorary fellow of The Royal Society, and received an Honorary Degree from Cambridge University in 2017.

Links

Michael’s BNEF piece - Clean Hydrogen’s Missing Trillions: https://about.bnef.com/blog/liebreich-clean-hydrogens-missing-trillions/#:~:text=My%20estimate%20for%20the%20total,a%20shortfall%20of%20over%2090%25

Michael’s X thread on battery recycling: https://twitter.com/MLiebreich/status/1733376573875609629

An overview of the COP28 Global Stocktake: https://unfccc.int/news/cop28-agreement-signals-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-fossil-fuel-era

The Guardian’s piece on Aramco’s Oil Demand Sustainability Program: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/27/revealed-saudi-arabia-plan-poor-countries-oil

Related Episodes

Lord of the Net Zero Transition – Ep 110: Lord Adair Turner: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep110-adair-turner-lord-of-the-net-zero-transition/

Investing in Climate Leadership – Ep 2: Rachel Kyte: https://www.cleaningup.live/episode-2-rachel-kyte/

Lifting the Curtain on Climate Change Denial – Ep 141: Prof Naomi Oreske: https://www.cleaningup.live/lifting-the-curtain-on-climate-change-denial-ep-141-prof-naomi-oreskes/

Is Shipping the Easiest "Hard-to-Abate" Sector? - Ep143: Johannah Christensen: https://www.cleaningup.live/is-shipping-the-easiest-hard-to-abate-sector-ep143-johannah-christensen/

The Bridgetown Initiator – Ep 145: Prof Avinash Persaud: https://www.cleaningup.live/the-bridgetown-initiator-ep145-prof-avinash-persaud/