The Climate Briefing

Ruth Townend is joined in the studio by Gwynne Dyer, author of Climate Wars, and Chatham House’s own Dr Daniel Quiggin to talk about climate solutions from the magical to the mundane. For his forthcoming book Intervention Earth, Dyer has spoken with more than 50 thinkers, innovators and engineers about how we might cool the planet and avoid catast...

In the second of two COP28 takeover episodes, Research Fellow Ruth Townend gathers Chatham House teammates to discuss how the conference went, with a particular focus on the politics and geopolitics that shaped the conference outcome.

Ruth reflects on the global stocktake and loss and damage, while Antony Froggatt and Bernice Lee reflect on how different actors shaped the outcomes, as well as the changing shape of the conference ov...

In the first of two COP28 takeover episodes, Research Fellow Ruth Townend gathers Chatham House Environment and Society Centre teammates to discuss how the conference might go, and what they will be looking out for when they travel to Dubai.

This episode is released a week before the start of the conference. Professor Tim Benton discusses agriculture, food, land use and nature. Antony Froggatt talks about  energy transition and how...

Antony Froggatt is joined in the studio by Ed Mountfield who is Vice President of the World Bank in charge of Operational Policy and Country Service.

Finance remains one of the most important and contentious issues in the international climate change negotiations. As COP28 approaches, Antony discusses with Ed the World Bank's ongoing reform initiatives and delves into the degree to which cl...

Indigenous peoples make up 5 per cent of the world's population and are responsible for the careful stewardship of land home to much of our planet's biodiversity. International negotiations have recently begun to recognize the important role that indigenous c...

In the race to create a net-zero, sustainable world, activities like mining and farming can clash with the lives of people in forests and rural areas. As the international community ponders over solutions for responsible resource management, Ghana's experiences offer invaluable lessons.

In this first episode of a two-part special of the Climate Briefing, Henry Throp takes us through a journey of discovery through the Ghanaian Gold ...

Climate change poses increasingly severe security challenges. What does this mean for defence forces? To find out, Anna speaks to Tobias Ellwood (Chair of the House of Common’s Defence Committee) and Anum Farhan (Chatham House).

The episode is published on the same day the Defence Committee is releasing its report ‘Defence and Climate Change’, which is available here: https://publications....

Ambassador Patricia Espinosa Cantellano served as executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) between July 2016 and July 2022. 

In this role, she headed the UN entity tasked with supporting the global response to climate change.

In this episode of the Climate Briefing, Ambassador Cantellano talks about the major developments in in...

A conversation with Vanatu's climate change minister about building a coalition within the United Nations (UN) to request an advisory opinion on climate change from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

An advisory opinion could help provide clarity on how existing international laws can be applied to strengthen action on climate change, protect people and the environment, and save ...

In the first episode of the season, Anna speaks to Laurence Tubiana about the outcomes of the 2022 UN climate conference in Egypt, COP27, and the issues that will shape the international climate agenda in 2023.

Tubiana was a key architect of the Paris Agreement in her previous role as France’s Climate Change Ambassador and Special Representative for COP21, and currently serves as CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a profess...

South Asia is home to one-quarter of the global population who reside in only 3.5 per cent of the world’s land area, making it the most populous and most densely-populated region in the world.

It is also one of the most vulnerable regions to climate change: a recent study found that Chittagong in Bangladesh and Ahmedabad in India are two of the fastest-sinking coastal cities, leaving mi...

Earlier this year, India and Pakistan witnessed a prolonged heatwave, starting in March months before usual hot weather. This was followed by, and was in part the cause of, major flooding in Pakistan, as well as in parts of India.

The heatwave severely affected agriculture, while the flooding came with immense cost to property and infrastructure. Millions of people were affected.

The crossover between water security and climate change is hugely important especially given that the next two COPs are taking place in Africa and the Middle East, both with a history of being water stressed.

What should policymakers and negotiators from these regions working on water security focus on at COP27? What does it mean to achieve water security? What are the main barriers or challenges? How is water security relevant to ...

Quamrul Chowdhury has been involved in the climate negotiations for almost three decades. He currently serves as a lead negotiator for the G77 and the least developed countries group, and is a member of Bangladesh’s negotiating team. In this bonus episode of the Climate Briefing, Anna speaks to Mr. Chowdhury about the outcome of COP26.

Find out more:

COP26: What happened, what does this mean, and what happens next? >> https://www.c...

What was achieved at COP26? And what do different parties make of the outcome? In this episode, Anna speaks to a range of negotiators, advisers and experts about the results of the Glasgow conference.

Interviewees include Camilla Born (policy adviser to the COP26 president), Farhana Yamin (deputy-chair of the expert advisory group of the climate vulnerable forum), Jacob Werksman (head of the EU delegation), Isatou Camara (climate f...