Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

Naomi Oreskes, an earth scientist and historian, discusses the tactics used by climate change deniers and the role of disinformation. She explores the intersection of science and history and highlights the influence of free market ideology on environmental regulations. The chapter also delves into the rejection of science and the role of government in addressing global problems. Different approaches to combating climate change are examined, emphasizing the need for a clean and efficient economy.

Quentin Draper-Scrimshire, CEO of Modo Energy, discusses data analytics in battery energy storage and the battle between human traders and computer systems in the power industry. They also explore integrating grid scale batteries into the power market, financialization in the energy sector, and promote the guest's business.

Henrik Stiesdal, 'The Godfather of Wind', discusses his pioneering wind turbine technology, offshore turbine foundations, and innovations in thermal power storage and hydrogen. He reflects on the evolution of wind energy, the challenges of offshore installations, and the importance of reliability in turbine design. The podcast highlights European competitiveness, offshore wind farm development, and the safety implications in wind power engineering.

This week, Michael’s guest is Carine Smith Ihenacho, Chief Governance and Compliance Officer at Norges Bank Investment Group. NBIM operate the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, created to ensure responsible and long-term management of revenue from Norway’s vast oil and gas resources. The fund is the largest single owner in the world’s stock markets, and since her appointment in 2020, Carine has been outspoken in calling for robust emissions targets and climate risk reporting among its portfolio companies. Links and Related EpisodesRead Michael's write-up of the episode, arguing NBIM's investment strategy locks the world into its current climate trajectory: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/mliebreich_climate-climatechange-netzero-activity-7111416212349227008-BDrC?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktopRead NBIM’s 2025 Climate Action Plan: 2025 Climate action plan | Norges Bank Investment Management (nbim.no)Explore NBIM's Annual Report 2022: https://www.nbim.no/en/publications/reports/2022/annual-report-2022/You can read NBIM's investment mandate for the Government Pension Fund Global here: https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/9d68c55c272c41e99f0bf45d24397d8c/2023.02.27_gfpg_management_mandate.pdf Read the statement made by NBIM's CEO Nicolai Tangen at the hearing of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs of the Storting (Norwegian parliament) in April 2023: https://www.norges-bank.no/en/news-events/news-publications/Speeches/2023/2023-04-18-tangen/The Guardian: World’s biggest investment fund warns directors to tackle climate crisis or face sack: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/feb/03/worlds-biggest-investment-fund-warns-directors-to-tackle-climate-crisis-or-face-sackFT: Norway’s $1.4tn oil fund to step up ESG proposals to US companies: https://www.ft.com/content/62e3c629-44cf-43f7-9682-a056f9b5c634Watch Former Norwegian PM Jens Stoltenberg on “Avoiding the Oil Curse”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8f6geiVdwpk Guest BioCarine was appointed Chief Governance and Compliance Officer at Norges Bank Investment Management in 2020. She joined the company in August 2017 as Global Head of Ownership Strategies and was promoted to Chief Corporate Governance Officer in January 2018. Carine is responsible for ownership and responsible investment activities, control and operational risk, compliance and legal services.Prior to joining Norges Bank Investment Management, Carine was Vice President Legal and Chief Compliance Officer in Statoil ASA. She has more than 20 years’ experience as a lawyer, working in both financials and the oil and gas industry, as well as in law firms. She also has extensive board experience.Carine holds a law degree from the University of Oslo, a Master of Law from Harvard Law School and a Master of Economics from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).

Cleaning Up is back for its 10th season, and to start proceedings in style, Michael's first guest is Anya Hindmarch. Anya is one of Britain’s most celebrated fashion designers and a leading voice in the industry on sustainability. Anya started her business in London in 1987 and now has 16 stores worldwide, as well as her own retail village in Pont Street, Chelsea. With the launch of her I’m Not a Plastic Bag totes in 2007, she helped kick-start a country-wide debate around single-use plastics, and this year Anya is collaborating with leading supermarkets again to prevent plastics pollution in style. In 2017 Anya was awarded a CBE, and in 2019 she became a Greenpeace Ambassador.  Links and Related EpisodesRead about the impact of the original ‘I’m Not a Plastic Bag’ campaign: https://www.anyahindmarch.com/pages/im-not-a-plastic-bagYou can read Anya Hindmarch’s pledges to sustainability and more here: https://www.anyahindmarch.com/pages/our-commitmentsThe Industry: Anya Hindmarch brings circular shopping bags back with Tesco and Morrison’s: https://www.theindustry.fashion/anya-hindmarch-brings-circular-shopping-bags-back-with-tesco-and-morrisons/Politico: Fashion’s sustainability reckoning: https://www.politico.eu/article/fashion-sustainability-reckoning-industry-textile-regulation-evironment-human-rights/ Guest BioAnya Hindmarch founded her business in London in 1987 and it has since grown into a global brand. Today, it is as known for its luxury, organisation-obsessed accessories as it is for its ground-breaking work in sustainability and its playful experiential retail concepts. I Am A Plastic Bag was launched in 2020 to tackle post-consumer waste, with each bag crafted from 32 half-litre recycled plastic bottles. 2007’s I’m A Plastic Bag ignited the debate around the use of plastic bags and contributed to the decision to charge for plastic bags in the UK. In 2021, Anya launched The Universal Bag, a unique collaboration with supermarkets to rethink the reusable shopping bag.Anya is an Emeritus trustee of both the Royal Academy of Arts and the Design Museum. In 2017, Anya was awarded a CBE in recognition for her contribution to the British fashion industry. In 2021, Anya published her first book, If In Doubt Wash Your Hair.

This week's guest on Cleaning Up is entrepreneur, author and philanthropist Jim Mellon. Jim is Executive Director at Agronomics, one of the world’s leading investors in cellular agriculture, or lab-grown meat. Bypassing traditional agricultural methods with precision fermentation could have huge implications for CO2 emissions and the climate, and in 2020 Jim wrote Moo’s Law as a guide for fellow investors into what he calls the "new agrarian revolution."Jim and Michael discuss the latest developments in cellular agriculture - from pet food to leather goods and restaurant-grade sushi - and how far we are from finding lab-grown products on our supermarket shelves.  Links and Related EpisodesWatch Episode 110 with Lord Adair Turner: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep110-adair-turner-lord-of-the-net-zero-transition/Discover Agronomics and their portfolio companies here: https://agronomics.im/Read more about Moo’s Law here: https://mooslawbook.com/Discover Jim’s children’s book, Juno’s Ark, here: https://junosark.com/Jim spoke to Bloomberg’s In The City podcast in April about Britain’s economic health: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-04-06/podcast-burnbrae-s-jim-mellon-sees-a-bright-future-for-britain-and-the-city?in_source=embedded-checkout-banner#xj4y7vzkg Guest BioJim worked in Asia and the United States at two fund management companies, GT and Thornton, before establishing his own business in 1991. This business continues today, but Jim no longer works as a fund manager and is instead focused on biotech, clean food and property, with other business interests managed by his family office, the Burnbrae Group. Jim has a special interest in health resilience and longevity science, and is the co-founder of Juvenescence, a company investing in the development of therapies for ageing and the diseases of ageing. Jim also co-founded Agronomics Limited in 2011, an investment company focused on opportunities within the nascent industry of environmentally-friendly and cruelty-free modern foods.Jim holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oriel College, Oxford, where he is an honorary fellow and supports the Mellon Scholarship in Ageing and Cell Senescence. 

This week on Cleaning Up, Michael welcomes Kim Zou, CEO and co-founder of CTVC (Climate Tech VC). Launched in 2020, CTVC is a leading climate innovation resource and newsletter with 50,000 weekly readers, providing data-driven insights and analysis into the latest deals and developments in climate tech. CTVC launched their H1 2023 climate funding update at the end of June, reporting a 40% drop in venture funding. Michael wanted to hear from Zoe whether this was a moment of crisis or correction, and to compare notes on building a market intelligence platform, having jumped through so many of the same hoops building New Energy Finance. Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/ You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup  Links and Related EpisodesAll of the episodes mentioned by Michael at the end of the show can be found in our “Women Leaders of the Net-Zero Transition” playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe8ZTD7dMaaBJwVk9CfU-CZLeX42M7flC You can subscribe to CTVC here: https://www.ctvc.co/ Read CTVC’s H1 2023 climate tech funding update: https://www.ctvc.co/climate-tech-h1-2023-venture-funding/#:~:text=Highlights,35%25%20from%20H2'22. CTVC’s Climate Capital Stack is here: https://www.ctvc.co/the-climate-capital-stack/ In May CTCV announced their new climate intelligence platform: https://www.ctvc.co/ctvc-platform-fundraise/ Kim and co-founder Sophie Purdom spoke to Techonomy in September 2022: https://techonomy.com/video/the-state-of-climate-tech-venture-capital/  Guest Bio Kim has spent the last three years building Climate Tech VC, a leading source on climate and innovation with 50,000 weekly readers among climate investors, operators and market leaders. CTVC generates data-driven insights on the climate tech market which have been featured in channels including Bloomberg, Reuters, Financial Times, and TechCrunch. From 2020-2022, Kim was an Investor at Energy Impact Partners, a $2.5B AUM venture capital firm, and from 2018 – 2020, an Investment Banking Analyst at JP Morgan. From 2017 – 2019, Kim was Managing Partner at A-Level Capital. Kim holds a bachelor’s degree from John Hopkins University in Economics, Environmental Science and Applied Mathematics.

This week’s guest on Cleaning Up is Chris Gadomski, Lead Nuclear Analyst at BloombergNEF and adjunct assistant professor at NYU’s Centre for Global Affairs. Chris joined Michael to discuss the unfolding situation at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, which sits on the frontline of the Russian aggression against Ukraine and whose safety is a matter of mounting international concern.Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup Links and Related EpisodesWatch Episode 119 with Aneeqa Khan here: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep-119-dr-aneeqa-khan-fusion-energy-the-materials-challenge/Watch Episode 133 with Fatih Birol here: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep133-fatih-birol-the-worlds-preeminent-energy-economist/#:~:text=Fatih%20has%20been%20in%2Dpost,efficiency%20and%20net%2Dzero%20pathways.Read the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) July 7th update on the situation at Zaporizhzhia: https://www.iaea.org/newscenter/pressreleases/update-172-iaea-director-general-statement-on-situation-in-ukraineThe IAEA’s rolling updates on nuclear safety and security in Ukraine can be found here:https://www.iaea.org/nuclear-safety-and-security-in-ukraineThe New York Times on the evidence that Russia sabotaged Kakhovka Dam: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/06/16/world/europe/ukraine-kakhovka-dam-collapse.htmlPolitico on Ukraine’s warnings of nuclear disaster at Zaporizhzhia: https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-warn-disaster-russia-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant/ Guest BioChris was appointed to lead New Energy Finance’s nuclear analysis team in 2008, which provides global analysis on critical topics from within the nuclear industry. Chris spent most of the previous three decades at SMIdirect as a business development and marketing consultant. There he advised a wide range of clients from the Government of Egypt to IBM on strategic planning, business development, corporate communications and policy initiatives. Chris is a faculty member of the Centre for Global Affairs at New York University where he teaches courses on Energy Policy, Energy and the Environment, and the Economics and Finance of Energy. Chris holds a BA from College of the Holy Cross, an MS from NYU’s Polytechnic School of Engineering and an MBA from Baruch College. Chris is a member of the United States Energy Association and the American Nuclear Society.

This week’s guest is Fatih Birol, Executive Director of the International Energy Agency and one of the world’s foremost energy economists. Fatih has been in-post since 2015, and is a returning guest to Cleaning Up, having appeared on Episode 28, all the way back in January 2021. Under Fatih’s leadership, the IEA has expanded its mandate to become a leading voice on clean energy technologies, energy efficiency and net-zero pathways.Few people have as clear a view on the entire energy sector as Fatih, so Michael headed to Paris and IEA HQ to hear insights on surging EV sales, the urgent need for grid modernization and expansion, and a reality-check on hydrogen's role on the path to net-zero. Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningup Links and Related EpisodesWatch Fatih’s first appearance on Episode 28 of Cleaning Up here: https://www.cleaningup.live/episode-28-dr-fatih-birol/Watch Episode 131 with Tzeporah Berman here: https://www.cleaningup.live/ep131-tzeporah-berman-canadas-controversial-queen-of-green/Read Fatih’s latest thought leadership here:“COP28 is a moment of truth for the oil and gas industry’s efforts on climate”: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/cop28-is-a-moment-of-truth-for-the-oil-and-gas-industry-s-efforts-on-climate“Where things stand in the global energy crisis one year on”: https://www.iea.org/commentaries/where-things-stand-in-the-global-energy-crisis-one-year-onFatih’s official bio is available here: https://www.iea.org/contributors/dr-fatih-birolRead the IEA’s flagship 2021 report, Net Zero by 2050: https://www.iea.org/reports/net-zero-by-2050In the news:Time: Exclusive: IEA Head Fatih Birol Wants The Fossil Fuel Industry To Set Climate Targets: https://time.com/6284159/iea-fatih-birol-oil-gas-emission-targets/Euractiv: IEA chief calls for ‘serious self-criticism’ among EU’s nuclear opponents: https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/iea-chief-calls-for-serious-self-criticism-among-eus-nuclear-opponents/ Guest BioDr Fatih Birol has served as Executive Director of the IEA since 2015, taking up his current position after rising through the ranks of the IEA over two decades, from junior analyst to Chief Economist. He has been named in TIME's annual list of the world's 100 most influential people and by Forbes as one of the most influential people in the world of energy. He chairs the World Economic Forum’s (Davos) Energy Advisory Board. As Chief Economist at the IEA, he oversaw the World Energy Outlook series, the authoritative source for energy analysis and projections and flagship publication of the IEA. Fatih holds a BSc in Power Engineering from the Technical University of Istanbul, and an MSc and Ph.D. in Energy Economics from the Technical University of Vienna. Fatih is the recipient of numerous state decorations, including the French Legion of Honour and the Japanese Emperor’s Order of the Rising Sun. 

Make sure you like, subscribe, and share Cleaning Up. We're growing fast on LinkedIn, and we'd love for you tell your professional network about us: https://www.linkedin.com/company/cleaning-up-with-michael-liebreich/You can find everything you need to keep up with Cleaning Up here: https://linktr.ee/mlcleaningupLinks and Related Episodes Watch Episode 104 with Yanis Varoufakis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLbm8fg08hcYou can read Michael's piece The Secret of Eternal Growth from 2018 here: https://ifreetrade.org/?/article/the_secret_of_eternal_growth_the_physics_behind_pro_growth_environmentalismJon wrote about the reality of 40C heatwaves coming to UK cities in 2022: https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/heatwaves-are-now-reality-we-must-transform-our-cities-green-infrastructure/Jon called to nationalise the UK’s energy system in Big Issue in 2021: https://www.bigissue.com/opinion/power-for-the-people-its-time-to-renationalise-the-uk-energy-system/You can read Jon's piece on Sadiq Khan in Architects' Journal  here: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/news/opinion/londons-mayor-talks-the-talk-on-climate-pity-he-doesnt-walk-the-walkMichael cites the book Into the Cool:  Energy Flow, Thermodynamics, and Life. Read more about it here: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/I/bo3533936.htmlJon cites the work of Carly Ziter at Concordia University: https://www.carlyziter.com/Guest BioJon Burke is Climate Change and Decarbonisation Lead at Gloucester City Council. From 2014 to 2020, Jon was Councillor for the London Borough of Hackney, where he was Cabinet Member for Energy, Sustainability, Transport and Public Realm. In the role, he oversaw the largest urban tree planting campaign in the UK, the roll-out of low-traffic neighbourhoods, and established the borough’s first publicly-owned energy company in a century. From 2012-2016, he was Senior Policy Advisory to the London Assembly’s Labour Group.Jon holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Liverpool John Moores University and an MA in Political Economy from the University of Manchester. He is a Chartered Environmentalist, and sits on the advisory board of Climate Emergency UK.