Shaken Not Burned

In this discussion, Nick Wirth, an aerodynamicist and former Formula One team owner, now cleantech entrepreneur, shares his insights on fast-tracking climate solutions. He reveals how treating sustainability as an engineering challenge leads to impactful innovations like EcoBlade and AirDoor, cutting energy costs by up to 70%. Wirth emphasizes the importance of aligning sustainability with strong financial returns and critiques the slow adoption of heat pumps. His journey shows that the keys to a more energy-efficient future already exist, but we must implement them at scale.

Let’s step out of the ESG echo chamber and into a much bigger conversation: what are the real limits of our planet and how close are we to crossing them? Life on Earth has remained stable for the last 12,000 years, but that stability is starting to unravel.It’s tempting to treat climate change, pollution, biodiversity loss, and land use as separate “issues,” each with their own strategy, timeline, and department. But that’s not how Earth works, and businesses that think that way are flying blind.In this week’s episode, Felicia speaks with Dr. Katherine Richardson, Earth system scientist, professor of biological oceanography at the University of Copenhagen, and one of the architects of the Planetary Boundaries framework. We explore why six of the nine planetary boundaries have already been breached and what that really means for our future. Katherine explains how Earth system science reframes sustainability, moving us beyond the idea of simply doing less harm toward a far more urgent goal: staying within the planet’s safe operating space. We may be overdue for a social tipping point, and business leaders can help accelerate that shift. We ask what executives actually need to understand about science (hint: it’s not the chemistry), and examine how outdated metrics, short-term thinking, and misaligned incentives keep many companies stuck, while others are quietly forging a different path.This episode is a wake-up call, but also a message of hope. Change is happening, albeit not fast enough. But as we’ve learned from smoking bans to seat belts, social tipping points often come quickly if enough of us help push.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

From climate volatility to food insecurity and antibiotic resistance, the global food system is at a breaking point. Industrial agriculture contributes up to 25% of global emissions, drives biodiversity loss, and strains farmers with volatile prices and precarity. It’s clear we need to change how food is made, not just how it's consumed: one bold solution is clean agriculture.In this week’s episode, Felicia speaks with Jim Mellon, entrepreneur, investor, and executive chairman of Agronomics, a company backing cellular agriculture and precision fermentation to create meat, dairy, eggs, and oils, without animal cruelty, deforestation, or ultra-processed additives.Agronomics is invested in companies such as Meatly, BlueNalu, Liberation Labs, and Clean Food Group, aiming to industrially replace high-impact ingredients such as palm oil, dairy proteins, and even bluefin tuna with bio-identical, lower-impact alternatives.In this episode, we unpack what clean agriculture really means, and why it’s fundamentally different from plant-based food and from GM. We explore its potential to cut emissions, reduce antibiotic use, ease pressure on land, and stabilise food prices in an era of growing volatility. Jim Mellon why new fermentation infrastructure is critical, what investors often misunderstand about this emerging sector, and how dogs might just be the unlikely bridge to a cleaner, more sustainable future for meat.Whether you care about emissions, animal welfare, farmer livelihoods, or just the price of chocolate, this episode makes the case for why clean agriculture might just be the food system moonshot we need.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

The world needs to plug a biodiversity finance gap worth $700 billion per year to effectively protect and restore nature, according to the United Nations. This issue is garnering more attention as sustainability efforts have evolved from reducing carbon emissions to protecting nature – moving from ‘do no harm’ to taking positive action.A turning point was the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, to which most countries agreed in 2022, defining biodiversity commitments, pushing for reporting and regulation and calling for more than $200 billion from public and private capital. One potential solution is raising financing through biodiversity markets. But establishing biodiversity credits isn’t as simple as carbon credits: a tonne of CO2 emitted has the same impact globally, while nature and biodiversity impacts are very specific and local.The history of the development of the carbon markets has had its own challenges, as they were fraught with significant controversies, raising concerns about the same issues developing in the biodiversity markets. In this week’s episode, Giulia explores this new space with Simas Gradeckas, founder at Bloom Labs.The conversation touches upon the role of corporate responsibility in addressing biodiversity loss, ethical considerations surrounding projects in the Global South and putting a price on nature, the differences between compliance and voluntary markets, and the future prospects for scaling biodiversity finance.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

There’s no denying that continuing to treat the natural world as we do will lead to ecological breakdown. We don’t seem to take into account how our consumption of natural resources affects the planet – which, ultimately, may stop providing those resources in the first place. UK economist Kate Raworth has developed a model, called doughnut economics, which provides an alternative system where humans can thrive without breaching planetary boundaries. In her landmark book, “Doughnut Economics: seven ways to think like a 21st century economist,” she suggests seven transformation points in our current economic system. In this week’s episode, Giulia explores this framework with Carolina Eboli and Jo Woods, board members of the London Doughnut Economy Coalition. The interview covers the Coalition’s work at a local level, engaging communities in South London while acknowledging the urgency to maintain a global perspective in addressing these issues.The conversation also touches upon the challenges for businesses in integrating the doughnut principles in their operations. While some companies have successfully implemented them, adopting this mindset isn’t straightforward, as each business navigates its unique context. Yet, this shouldn’t discourage action; ultimately, operating within planetary boundaries means future-proofing and building an organisation for the 21st century and beyond.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

From heating and cooling to construction materials and power demand, buildings are responsible for up to a third of global emissions – but rarely get the political or media attention they deserve. This week, Felicia talks to Lord Adair Turner, chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, to explore why that needs to change now.We dig into why electrification is the only real path to decarbonising the built environment, and why heat pumps – not hydrogen – are the smarter, more efficient bet for home heating. Better insulation can drive down energy costs; we urgently need to upgrade transmission and distribution networks, despite the costs and complexity because, without them, electrification can’t deliver.We also look at the opportunity for the Global South to leapfrog outdated systems and build smarter from the ground up, designing cities and buildings that are efficient by default, not by retrofit.It's clear: there’s no single solution. We need a range of solutions and systemic shifts, tailored to place and purpose, including smarter design, reuse of excess heat, and flexible demand systems that reduce pressure on the grid.If we’re serious about climate action, we can’t keep ignoring the buildings we live and work in. The transition won’t succeed without them, and done right, it could mean lower energy bills, healthier homes, and a more resilient future. This is not about net zero targets but about what we build today, and how we power it tomorrow.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

In this week’s episode Felicia Jackson talks to Phil Korbel, co-founder and director of advocacy at The Carbon Literacy Project, about what it truly means to move beyond awareness into action.Too often, climate conversations are filled with well-meaning phrases and distant threats. We hear about melting ice caps, rising seas, and catastrophic futures—but what do these really mean for our daily lives, our work, and our ability to shape the world around us?We dive into what carbon literacy actually is: not another layer of theory, but a practical framework that helps individuals and organisations understand their carbon impact and, crucially, do something about it.Phil shares stories of real people, from corporate executives to shop floor staff, who have shifted not just how they think, but how they act. Whether it’s changing how a company sets its net-zero targets, or how a single employee reimagines waste in a retail store, these are stories of measurable, empowering change.If you’re interested in learning more about carbon literacy for your organisation, or for yourselves, you can find out more at www.carbonliteracy.com. Or if this is something you’d be interested in us delivering for you, let us know at Shaken Not Burned and we'll see what we can deliver - reach out to info@shakennotburned.com.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

With extreme weather disrupting harvests, food prices spiking, and soil health declining globally, regenerative agriculture is emerging as a compelling solution – not just for farmers, but for everyone who eats. This week, Felicia talks to Andrew Voysey, chief impact officer at Soil Capital, about why regenerative agriculture matters to farmers, industry and individuals.Regenerative agriculture isn’t just about greener farms: it’s about the resilience of our food system in the face of increasingly volatile weather. But while data shows how broken soil leads to broken supply chains and higher prices at the checkout, the public conversation hasn’t caught up. We talk about climate and food prices as if they're distinct – but they're not. We have headlines about drought, and headlines about inflation, but no understanding of how the two are connected. We’re not just talking about emissions or yields; we’re talking about the very resilience of our food system. And resilience is now a business, cost-of-living, and national security issue.We assume change will cost more. But staying the same is already costing us. We need to reframe the conversation – urgently.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

There are many ways to take climate action: one of these involves going to court. An increasing number of groups worldwide are driving change through legal means, in a process commonly known as climate litigation. Climate litigation matters because it brings climate responsibility into the legal arena, where science, rights, and accountability can meet enforceable action. It's not just about winning court cases—it's about creating leverage for systemic transformation. The strategic use of law has an important role to play in the sustainable transition. Some landmark cases have led to policy reforms or court-ordered emissions reductions, influencing broader societal and economic change. Even if courts rule against environmentalists’ claims, bringing a climate case to court raises awareness among the public and can set precedents for future lawsuits. But what does it mean for companies? We explore this topic in this week’s episode with Zaneta Sedilekova, director of climate and nature risk at Planet Law Lab. In conversation with co-host Giulia Bottaro, they unpack the definition of climate litigation, how this trend has grown in the last few years, and the role of citizens in keeping governments and corporations accountable.  The conversation also touches on high-profile cases – one of which, Saúl Luciano Lliuya vs RWE, is due a decision imminently. This landmark case is the first one where an individual, a Peruvian farmer named Saúl Luciano Lliuya, is claiming damages against the German energy giant RWE for historical emissions, which in turn are behind the risk of floods in his town.If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?

Not long ago, climate ambition was peaking: companies were racing to make net zero pledges and get approvals by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). But now, the mood has shifted.While most businesses haven’t completely walked away from climate action, many of them are rethinking their plans, moving deadlines forward or cutting their targets. Unfortunately, some are abandoning their initiatives altogether. In this week’s episode, which was our first-ever live recording, co-host Felicia Jackson interviews Chris Hocknell, director of Eight Versa, to explore whether corporate decarbonisation is dead, or just due for a rethink.Their conversation – which is followed by a Q&A with the audience – delves into the challenges companies face in achieving net zero targets, the complexities of supply chains, and the economic pressures impacting sustainability efforts. Chris talks about the evolution of carbon neutral compared to net zero, the credibility of carbon offsetting, and the role of nature-based solutions. If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn, TikTok and Instagram – and why not spread the word with your friends and colleagues?