50 Shades of Green: A Climate Group Podcast (Climate Group)

In the latest episode of 50 Shades of Green, Climate Group's Adam Lake joins with Dr. Jeffrey Shaman, Interim Dean of the Columbia Climate School and Joshua Amponsem, Strategy Director of the Youth Climate Justice Fund, to explore the connection between climate change and human health, and the interdisciplinary policy solutions needed to address this linkage in a just and equitable way.

Check out the Climate Week NYC website to learn more about all of our wonderful community partners and stay engaged with all of the events happening September 17-24.

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, we’re bringing together some of the top minds in media and advertising to explore the role of marketing, entertainment, and journalism in shaping positive climate action and understanding. We speak to Chuck Monn, Creative Director at Go Humans and former Executive Creative Director of Apple’s Media Arts Lab, about the power of messaging and branding on climate action.  

Climate Group’s Adam Lake then dives the impact of some of the most influential print and broadcast media on covering climate change. He sits down with Shyla Raghav, Chief Climate Officer of TIME, and Steve Bodow, former Executive Producer and Showrunner of Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj and The Daily Show, to explore the intersections and parallels between print and entertainment, and if these forms of media have the power to change the world. 

To celebrate the official launch of Climate Week NYC event host registration, we broadcasted a LinkedIn Live on how climate change reshapes cultures, identities, and communities around the world.

Discover how artists, activists, and leaders drive cultural resilience and inspire global action in the face of climate disruption.

Featured speakers include:

⭕ Adam Lake, Head of North America Communications, Climate Group

⭕ AY Young 🔌, Chief Executive Officer, Battery Tour

⭕ David Campany, Creative Director, International Center of Photography

⭕Audrey Decker, Co-Founder, Street Art for Mankind

In this episode, we’re looking back at the US Climate Action Summit –what happened and how we’re carrying progress forward from the week.

First, Climate Group’s Executive Director for North America Angela Barranco will join with Antonieta Cadiz Vargas, Deputy Executive Director of Climate Power En Accion, for the inside scoop on the US Climate Action Summit’s flagship event – the Leaders’ Forum and how partnerships and engagement are forging a better future for Latino communities.

Then, Adam Lake speaks to Seema Wadwha, Executive Director of Environmental Stewardship at Kaiser Permanente, on the US Climate Action Summit’s first ever Climate and Health Day and how healthcare companies are adapting to new paradigms in the connection between climate change and healthcare.

In episode 5 we join together with Anna Wong, Manager of Zero Emission Vehicle Regulations at the California Air Resources Board, and Terry Niemeier Director of Electric Vehicles at the Government of New South Wales, to dive into the varying electric vehicle policy landscapes in the US and Australia. Both California and New South Wales are members of the ZEV Community Project. ZEV Community brings together all levels of governments to share and learn about exciting ZEV (zero emission vehicle) initiatives taking place around the world.

From the creators of Climate Week NYC, the largest climate event of its kind in the world, Climate Group brings you the Fifty Shades of Green podcast.  

Each episode introduces you to leading experts, influencers and campaigners who are changing the way we fight climate change.  

We take you behind the scenes with some of the most critical, and often unexpected, stories and people from the US and around the world.  

Fifty Shades of Green is a podcast that brings the changemakers to you, hosted by our team of guest correspondents and experts.  

Join us at Fifty Shades of Green, a Climate Group podcast. Available on all major platforms. 

In this episode, we're diving deep into climate finance - how governments are paying for and facilitating climate action.

In our first segment, Climate Group's Gillian Ertel speaks with Kaitlin Butler, Vice President of NY Green Bank, on how green bank investments accelerate clean energy and renewable infrastructure deployment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

In our next segment, Gillian continues the conversation with Champa Patel and Toby Walker from Climate Group's Governments & Policy team on all things COP29, specifically the impact of the UN's annual climate conference and what to expect ahead of COP30 in Brazil.

Then, Gillian closes out the episode with Nehmat Kaur, Climate Group's Director of the Under2 Coalition and Subnational Governments on the impact cities, states and regions can have in the fight against climate change.

The first of three live sessions aimed at getting to the heart of how the way we talk about climate has shifted and how stakeholders across the media, business, and nonprofit world are adapting to meet communities where they are.

In episode 6, we join with Climate Group Executive Director for North America Angela Barranco and Christine Harada, Executive Director of the Federal Permitting Improvement Steering Council (FPISC), to discuss the most pressing climate issue facing the US today: implementation of key climate investment laws like the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

In this episode, we take a deep dive into COP28 – what does this iteration of the UN’s annual climate conference mean for the future of climate action?

First, we join with join with Champa Patel, Executive Director of Governments and Policy at Climate Group to give us a recap of the conference and provide insight on the role of NGOs and subnational stakeholders in the decision-making process.

Then, we speak to John Morton, Managing Director, and Head of Americas at Pollination Group, a specialist climate change investment and advisory firm, to discuss the role of climate finance in shaping the global transition to net zero.  

Welcome to the second of our three-part series on Communicating Climate Change. Three live sessions aimed at getting to the heart of how the way we talk about climate has shifted and how stakeholders across the media, business, and nonprofit world are adapting to meet communities where they are.

Hosted in partnership with the Impact Communications Institute as part of the US Climate Action Summit. In this episode, Adam speaks to Climate and Health consultant Rebecca Jacobs, as well as Sergio Velasquez-Rose, Global Head of Strategy, Insight, and Analytics at Potential Energy Coalition.

In episode 3, we cover some amazing highlights from Climate Week NYC and talk sustainable food with Joy Lehman from Meatless Monday. 

We’re looking at climate jobs - specifically how the concept of a green job has evolved across various industries and how governments and the private sector have adapted to changing labor circumstances in the energy transition.

First, Climate Group’s Executive Director for North America Angela Barranco joins with Maggie Thomas, Special Assistant to the President for Climate at the White House Office of Domestic Climate Policy for the inside scoop on what to expect from some new federal labor initiatives like the American Climate Corps.

Then, guest correspondent Liisa Kaufman, our Senior Manager of North America Industry, speaks to Climate Group CEO Helen Clarkson and Pete Rose, Senior Director of Stakeholder Relations at Hydro Quebec, to discuss how new climate jobs are shaping the transition to net zero.   

Episode two of 50 Shades of Green highlights several Climate Week NYC events at the intersection of climate action and the arts and features a conversation with Emily Bice, playwright and creator of before the flood.

To register for these wonderful events, go to climateweeknyc.org.

For more information and tickets to before the flood, go to beforethefloodplay.com.

How can we quantify the real human impact of extreme weather? According to NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, 2024 alone saw 27 individual weather and climate disasters with at least $1 billion in damages, trailing only the record-setting 28 events analyzed in 2023. Across hurricanes, wildfires, floods, tornados, and more the impacts of the climate crisis are apparent, but where do we begin to measure the real toll, these disasters take on the people affected and how do those folks carry on?

In this episode, we speak to three members of Extreme Weather Survivors, an organization dedicated to building community, providing support and training, and advocating for change for all those impacted by extreme weather. I join Executive Director and Co-Founder Chris Kocher, Melissa Whittaker, a small business owner from Montpelier, Vermont, and Erica Solove, a psychologist from Boulder, Colorado in a discussion about what it means to make connections, stay resilient, and create positive change in the wake of the climate crisis.

For the first time, we broadcasted 50 Shades of Green from The Hub Live at Climate Week NYC in front of a live audience. 50 Shades of Green LIVE: The Innovation Episode brought together some of the most exciting leaders in the innovation space, showcasing the latest technologies, inventions, initiatives and ideas on earth – and far beyond. Whether they're creating solar panels from moon rock or turning sea water into rocket fuel, this session heard from those at the forefront of the next generation of climate action.

In this episode, we’re exploring the world of climate journalism – specifically how climate change is covered across a variety of media from short form rapid response news to long form narrative documentaries – and how it's evolved over the years.

First, Executive Director of Climate Group North America Angela Barranco joins with Sammy Roth, Climate Columnist at the L.A. Times and host of the new podcast Boiling Point, on how major print publications are covering climate and communicating climate risk, how this has changed, and what we can do to combat misinformation.

Then, Climate Group’s Adam Lake speaks with Stephanie Abrams, Meteorologist at The Weather Channel, to explore how broadcast coverage of climate change has evolved and how audiences are responding to more frequent instances of extreme weather. 

Finally, Climate Group’s Liisa Kaufman joins with Kira Akerman, Director of the climate change documentary Hollow Tree, to walk us through her filmmaking process and how longform media and storytelling can shape the narrative around climate action.

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, we're talking resilience. We sat down with Mercy Corps' Chief Climate Officer, David Nicholson, and Julie Kjestrup, Head of Policy and Thought Leadership at VELUX, to chat about different avenues of climate resilience.

From adaptation projects in the humanitarian development sector to creating a Renovation Revolution in buildings across Europe, we explore the strategies and capacity needed to prepare communities for current and future impacts of the climate crisis. 

In the latest bonus episode of 50 Shades of Green, we cover the role of cities and states in building smart and sustainable transportation infrastructure.

Speakers include:

Featured speakers include:

⭕ Richard Parker, Senior Manager, Transportation Programs, Climate Group North America

⭕ Frederic Langlois, Sustainable Mobility & Renewable Energy, Québec Government Office in New York

⭕ Michael Carroll, Deputy Managing Director, Office of Transportation and Infrastructure Systems, City of Philadelphia

⭕ Emily Duncan, Manager of Business Innovation, Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA)

Our inaugural episode highlights some amazing events focused on the theme of environmental justice and features an engaging conversation with Diandra Marizet Esparza, Executive Director of Intersectional Environmentalist.

Learn more about the amazing work IE is doing in the environmental justice movement and follow along on their Instagram @intersectionalenvironmentalist. 

In episode seven, we hear from Climate Group Head of Communications for North America, Adam Lake, and Secretary of the New York City Agriculture Collective, Sarah JanJua, as they discuss the current state of food security in the city and how we can drive progress toward a more equitable future.

Juliana Villabona de Climate Group habla con Fabiola Muñoz, ex Ministra de Ambiente de Perú, y Verónica Cardozo, miembro de la Alianza por una Ganadería regenerativa en la Amazonía Peruana - AGRAP, sobre cómo los agricultores de América Latina están trabajando para hacer que la ganadería sea más sostenible en asociación con WWF.

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Climate Group's Juliana Villabona speaks with Fabiola Munoz, Former Minister of the Environment of Peru, and Veronica Cardozo, member of Alianza por una Ganadería regenerativa en la Amazonía Peruana - AGRAP, about how farmers in Latin America are working to make cattle ranching more sustainable in partnership with WWF.

Networks like Climate Group's ⁠Under2 Coalition⁠ and ⁠Regions4⁠ are making significant progress to accelerate climate action at the local level.

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, we speak with Nehmat Kaur, Head of Under2 at Climate Group, and Héloïse Chicou, Climate Action Lead at Regions4, to discuss the latest advancements, achievements, and challenges facing subnational climate governance ahead of COP28.

We're closing out the year at Climate Group and 50 Shades of Green with reflections on COP27 from Jebi Rahman, Head of Climate Transparency and Pathways at Climate Group, and a year of climate progress Rhiannon Williams, our North America Communications Manager

Welcome to the third and final of our three-part series on Communicating Climate Change.

Three live sessions aimed at getting to the heart of how the way we talk about climate has shifted and how stakeholders across the media, business, and nonprofit world are adapting to meet communities where they are.

In this special third episode, we hear from Climate Group’s Adam Lake, speaking to Wawa Gatheru, Founder and Executive Director of Black Girl Environmentalist, live from the Green Media Summit in March 2025.

Join us for a special bonus episode of 50 Shades of Green. In this episode, we dive into the state of EV charging from California Public Utility Commission's perspective and the role utility commissions can play in expediting the buildout of critical infrastructure and innovations.

Speakers include:

⭕ Angela Barranco, Executive Director, Climate Group North America

⭕ Matthew Baker, Commissioner,California Public Utilities Commission

⭕ Richard Parker, Senior Manager, Transportation Programs, Climate Group North America