50 Shades of Green: A Climate Group Podcast

In this episode of Fifty Shades of Green, hosts Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran sit down with Lisa Sachs, Director of the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment and lead of Columbia’s M.S. in Climate Finance at Columbia Climate School, for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about net zero, carbon markets, and what it will actually take to decarbonize the global economy. Against a backdrop of record heat, wildfires, storms an...

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, hosts Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran sit down with Naftali Honig, Regional Operations Manager for Africa Parks’ Congo's region, for a deep, hopeful conversation about the Congo Basin — its global climate importance, the wildlife it supports, and the practical work and challenges of protecting and restoring these critical ecosystems. The show opens with light banter about the World Cu...

50 Shades of Green dives into the unexpected intersection of climate and the world’s most beloved sport in this timely episode. Hosts Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran welcome Elliot Arthur-Worsop, founder of Football for Future, to explore how football (soccer) can be a powerful vehicle for climate communication, action, and adaptation.

Fresh off the global spectacle of the World Cup, Adam and Katie frame the conversation wit...

Adam and Katie return to coverage of London Climate Action Week with a lively, optimistic episode that dives into the intersection of climate, health and technology. They set the scene with World Cup vibes before Adam shares his on‑the‑ground experience judging the Health in Climate hackathon — a fast, furious weekend of teams building working AI‑enabled prototypes to tackle real health risks from climate events.

Their gue...

This episode of 50 Shades of Green takes you straight into the heat — literally and figuratively — of London Climate Action Week. Hosts Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran unpack a timely, wide‑ranging discussion hosted by Climate Group on energy efficiency, electrification, cooling, finance and the role of technology in closing the gap between climate ambition and execution. From sweaty conference rooms in London to the bigge...

On this episode of Fifty Shades of Green, Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran dive into the intersection of theatre and climate with Molly Braverman, Executive Director of the Broadway Green Alliance. If you love Broadway — or care about practical climate action — this conversation reveals how the theatrical world backstage and onstage is being transformed to reduce emissions, cut waste, and inspire audiences.

Molly explain...

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green Adam Lake and Katie Lanegran speak with Betsy Apple, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Global Climate Legal Defense (CliDef). Betsy — a longtime human-rights lawyer who has worked across Africa, Asia and beyond — explains why legal protection for climate defenders is now essential, how CliDef operates in difficult and dangerous environments, and what ordinary listeners can do to ...

Katie and Adam kick off this episode with their usual warm banter (groundhogs, hay fever, and gardening included) before diving into a seriously inspiring conversation with Sam Elfmont, Director of Response at World Central Kitchen (WCK) — José Andrés’ disaster-response outfit that gets food to people fast when climate-driven storms, floods, fires and conflicts strike.

Sam walks us through what being “first on the ...

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, hosts Adam and Katie chat with Cecilia Brenner, Managing Director of Design for Good, about how design skills are being mobilized globally to tackle the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Design for Good is a global non-profit that convenes a global alliance of companies, design schools and NGOs to co-create open-source solutions for real community problems. Cecilia explains their two-year SDG ...

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, Adam and Katie sit down with Jamil Wine, founder of the Hazelwood Network, for a wide‑ranging conversation about climate finance and climate tech—from the fast‑moving innovation hubs of the Middle East to the practical realities of scaling solutions in vulnerable countries.

Jamil traces his accidental entry into climate work, explains why regions like the Gulf are both urgent hot spo...

As we prepare for Smart and Sustainable Mobility Week, where cities showcase their progress on clean transportation and identify the steps needed to advance effective mobility policies in their region, we're joined by the Québec Government Office in New York and Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) to take us through the agenda and identify how, why and where companies, transportation agencies, and community p...

Recorded live at the US Leaders Forum in Washington, D.C., this special episode of 50 Shades of Green dives into one of the biggest questions shaping climate action today: can the “abundance” narrative unlock real progress—or is it just another buzzword?

Featuring a live debate moderated by The Spectator’s Ben Clerkin, this episode brings together leaders from across politics, business, and climate advoca...

What does effective climate action look like in a conservative state, and how can clean energy actually save people money?

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, host Phil sits down with Sarah Wright, Founder of Utah Clean Energy, for a wide-ranging conversation on practical, people-centered climate solutions. Drawing on her background in geology and public health, Sarah explains why Utah Clean Energy focuses on energy efficienc...

In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, we’re joined by Peter Colavito, Executive Director of Invest in Our Future (IOF), to explore how community-led clean energy deployment can unlock economic opportunity while accelerating climate action.

Peter shares how IOF bridges the gap between policy and project implementation, ensuring federal clean energy investments like those from the Inflation Reduction Actactually reach the c...

What does it take to protect the Amazon when your life is on the line?

In this powerful episode of 50 Shades of Green, we sit down with Academy Award–winning filmmaker Fisher Stevens and forest guardian and co-director Chelsea Greene to talk about their urgent new documentary, WE ARE GUARDIANS.

The film follows Indigenous leaders, activists, and even loggers caught inside the world’s most dangerous environmental c...

Methane is one of the most powerful - and overlooked - drivers of climate change. In this episode of 50 Shades of Green, we sit down with Ken Alex, former senior policy advisor to California Governor Jerry Brown and current leader at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment (CLEE), to explore why methane reduction is one of the fastest ways to slow global warming.

Ken shares how his work on international an...

Wildfires are reshaping North America and the future of our forests. In this episode, we sit down with Grant Canary, CEO of Mast Reforestation, to explore how climate tech, biomass burial, and large‑scale reforestation can turn wildfire destruction into long‑term carbon removal.

Grant shares why fixing the atmosphere is “the problem all other problems report to,” and how Mast rebuilds forests faster by burying fire‑k...

Maryland is reshaping what climate leadership looks like — not just through bold targets, but through the dollars that bring those targets to life. In this episode of Fifty Shades of Green, we sit down with Secretary Serena McIlwain of the Maryland Department of the Environment to explore how the state is embedding climate action into its budgeting system and building a government where climate impact is part of every decisio...