Carnegie Council Podcasts

It is important to reflect internationally on climate-altering approaches such as Solar Radiation Modification, in case the world is not capable of meeting the mitigation challenge, says Marc Vanheukelen the European External Action Service’s ambassador at large for climate diplomacy during a C2GTalk interview. But these approaches should not become an “alibi for inaction. International governance will be needed, but strategically it is best not to move too quickly, but rather first familiarize smaller groups with these ideas, at the expert level, and then to start moving these ideas gradually up the policy ladder as discussions gain traction. Marc Vanheukelen is "hors classe" adviser and ambassador at large for climate diplomacy at the EU’s External Action Service. From 2015 till 2019 he was the EU ambassador to the World Trade Organisation in Geneva. Prior to his ambassadorial posting, Vanheukelen was director in DG TRADE (European Commission) responsible for sustainable development, economic partnership agreements, and agri-food and fisheries, preceded by his role as head of cabinet for former EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht. He has also served as head of cabinet to the former Belgian minister for foreign affairs. This interview was recorded on May 25, 2021, and is available with interpretation into 中文, Español, and Français. For more, including an edited transcript, please go to C2G's website.

Context matters and without clarity on the impacts that climate-altering approaches will have from different perspectives, it will be difficult to deal with the ethical and governance dimensions, said Youba Sokona during a C2GTalk interview. He highlights the need for research that not only considers the global level, but seeks to understand the national and local levels where people’s lives are impacted. Sokona has over 40 years of experience addressing energy, environment, and sustainable development in Africa and has been at the heart of numerous national and continental initiatives. Professor Sokona was elected vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2015. Prior to this, he was co-chair of the IPCC Working Group III on the mitigation of climate change for the Fifth Assessment Report after serving as a lead author since 1990. In addition to these achievements, Professor Sokona has a proven track record of organizational leadership and management, for example, as inaugural coordinator of the African Climate Policy Center and as executive secretary of the Sahara and Sahel Observatory. This interview was recorded on February 24, 2021, and is available with interpretation into 中 文, Español, and Français. For more, including an edited transcript, please go to C2G's website.  

Almost half of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are associated with the energy used to produce, process, transport, and dispose of the food we eat and the goods we use—multiply this around the world. Waste, from food to plastics, not only affects climate change but also affects people's lives in ways that we don't always consider. Saumya Roy brings these issues to life in her book Castaway Mountain. In this podcast, Roy and Carnegie Council Senior Fellows Tatiana Serafin and Nikolas Gvosdev discuss how Mumbai's forgotten community reflects the massive problem of waste around the world.  For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

Will AI systems transform the future battlefield so dramatically that it will render existing paradigms and doctrines obsolete, feeding new intense security dilemmas? In this Artificial Intelligence & Equality podcast, Senior Fellow Anja Kaspersen is joined by Kenneth Payne, a King’s College London reader and the author of I, Warbot: The Dawn of Artificially Intelligent Conflict, to discuss the impact of AI systems on military affairs, the nature and character of war and warfare, strategic culture, and geopolitical affairs. Fore more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Finding harmony between man and nature is essential as we tackle the climate crisis, said Professor Pan Jiahua in an interview with C2GTalk. In this episode, he explores the concept of ecological civilization, and how carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation modification approaches aimed at altering the climate might be considered in this framework. Pan Jiahua is professor of economics and director at the Institute of Ecocivilization Studies at Beijing University of Technology. He was elected in 2018 as member of the academic board of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. In 2020, he was appointed by the UN secretary-general as one of the 15 members of the Independent Group of Scientists for drafting the Global Sustainable Development Report 2023. Professor Pan is also editor-in-chief of the Chinese Journal of Urban & Environmental Studies, and a member of the China National Expert Panel on Climate Change and the National Foreign Policy Advisory Group, and advisor to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment. He has edited and authored over 300 papers, articles and books in English and Chinese, and was lead author of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Working Group III 3rd, 4th, and 5th Assessment Reports on Mitigation. This interview was recorded on February 25, 2021, and is available with interpretation into 中文, Español, and Français. For more, including an edited transcript, please go to C2G's website.

By 2030, Africa is projected to be home to 60 percent of the world's working-age population. Columbia Journalism School's Professor Howard W. French, author of the recently published Born in Blackness, joins Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to explain how this will impact global economies, climate change politics, and U.S.-China relations. French also calls for a reckoning with history that recognizes the importance of Africa in the global conversation. For more on U.S. foreign policy in Africa, check out last year's Doorstep talk with Charles A. Ray,  chair of the Africa Program at Foreign Policy Research Institute and former U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe and Cambodia. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org. 

Many countries in the ECE region are embracing carbon neutrality recognized as the first milestone towards sustainable energy, with leaders like Canada, Denmark, France, and the United Kingdom, says Olga Algayerova during a C2GTalk interview. She calls for countries to recommit to the future: "We are really running out of time and urgent action is needed." She highlights that UNECE provides a platform for technology-neutral dialogue and are keen to work with C2G to help countries get better informed about new emerging technologies that could play an important role in fighting climate change in the future. Olga Algayerova is the executive secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Algayerova took office on June 1, 2017. She previously served as permanent representative of Slovakia to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria (since 2012). She was previously president of the Millennium Development Goals of Slovakia (2010-2012); secretary of state, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2006-2010) and export director at Zentiva International (2004-2006). The 56 countries of the UNECE region span from North America to Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus and Central Asia. For more, including an edited transcript, please go to C2G's website.

In this episode of the Artificial Intelligence & Equality Initiative podcast, Senior Fellow Anja Kaspersen sits down with Gary Marcus, a cognitive scientist, author, and entrepreneur, to discuss the need for an open and healthy scientific discourse on AI. What we can learn from particle physics and CERN to create an international AI mission to make sure this technology becomes a responsible and ethical public good? For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.

Governance is the key element in any climate-altering approaches being proposed, particularly from the point of view of climate vulnerable nations, says Professor Saleemul Huq in an interview with C2GTalk. His greatest concern is that decisions that have repercussions for the most vulnerable will be taken without them having a chance to take part in the discussion, so it is extremely important that climate vulnerable nations have a say when decisions are taken regarding climate-altering approaches, including carbon dioxide removal and solar radiation modification. Professor Saleemul Huq is the director of the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) and chair of the Climate Vulnerable Forum Expert Advisory Group. Huq is an expert on the links between climate change and sustainable development, particularly from the perspective of developing countries. He leads the annual Gobeshona Global Conference, which brings together scholars, policymakers, researchers, and practitioners from around the world to discuss climate change. Huq was the lead author of the chapter on adaptation and sustainable development in the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), and was the lead author of the chapter on adaptation and mitigation in the Fourth Assessment Report. His current focus is on supporting the engagement of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This interview was recorded on March 1, 2021, and is also available with interpretation into 中文, Español, and Français. For more, including an edited transcript, please go to C2G's website.

It's election season in the U.S. and around the world. Wilson Center's Francisco de Santibañes joins Doorstep co-hosts Nick Gvosdev and Tatiana Serafin to discuss the rise in popular conservatism across Latin America and how new evangelical-church-supported, anti-establishment leaders are changing the conversation and winning elections in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. De Santibañes connects the dots of right-wing movements around the globe sparked by Donald Trump's election to the U.S. presidency in 2016. For more, please go to carnegiecouncil.org.