Fascinating interview exploring the interwoven geopolitical, economic, and political history of Western democratic societies since the early 20th century, revealing the way in which the battles for energy and for resources has shaped politics, the fault lines ultimately leading to many recent crises. Helen shares her perspective on the evolving relationship between the US and China—the underlying dynamics, emphasising how the Chinese leadership thinks in strategic terms about green energy –unlike the US. Helen also highlights the scale of the challenge of the energy transition which, she argues, is often underestimated, pointing out how energy transitions in the age of fossil fuels has largely been about more energy sources, not directly replacing one energy source with another.
Helen Thompson is Professor of Political Economy at Cambridge and a fellow and Director of Studies at Clare College, Cambridge. Her current research concentrates on the political economy of energy and the long history of the democratic, economic, and geopolitical disruptions of the twenty-first century. She is the author of Oil and the Western Economic Crisis (2017), China and the Mortgaging of America (2010), and Might, Right, Prosperity and Consent: Representative Democracy and the International Economy (2008). Helen is a contributing writer to the New Statesman and has written articles for the London Review of Books, the New York Times, and the Financial Times. Her new book Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st century was published in February.
Episode 32: UN Climate Week Special: Dr. Per Espen Stoknes: The psychology behind climate change denial
Episode 31: UN Climate Week Special: Interview with Barry Parkin Chief Sustainability Officer at Mars, Inc.
Episode 30: UN Climate Week Special: Professor Michael Mann
Episode 29: Interview with Dr Richard Norgaard, Professor Emeritus of Ecological Economics
Episode 28: The future of the sustainability agenda: interview with Tony Juniper, CBE.
Episode 27: interview with Lynelle Cameron, President & CEO of the Autodesk Foundation and Senior Director of Sustainability at Autodesk, Inc.
Episode 26: Innovative ideas on how to survive on a fast changing planet. Interview with David Biello, author “The Unnatural World: The Race to Remake Civilization in Earth’s Newest Age.”
Episode 25: Sustainable procurement: how are companies doing? Interview with Pierre-Francois Thaler, co-founder and co-CEO of EcoVadis.
Episode 24: Keeping track of corporate sustainability commitments: interview with Toby Heap, the CEO and co-founder of Corporate Knights Inc. a media company
Episode 23: Interview with Jean Bennington Sweeney, Chief Sustainability Officer for 3M Company: 3M’s sustainability journey.
Episode 22: Professor Giorgos Kallis: Degrowth and the dangers of excessive economic growth
Episode 21: Michael Kobori, Vice-President, Sustainability, at Levi Strauss & Co. Levi’s Sustainability Journey
Episode 20: Martin Wolf: How economic policy can help deal with growing environmental challenges and climate change
Episode 19: Andreea Strachinescu | developments in new energy technologies and innovation in the EU
Episode 18: Katherine Collins| How to connect investing with the real world and how finance can learn from nature
Episode 17: Professor Kevin Anderson| Climate Change Warning
Episode 16: Interview with Ericsson’s Elaine Weidman-Grunewald: Ericsson’s sustainability journey
Episode 15: John Elkington| Exponential technologies, climate change, and sustainable development.
Episode 14: Hunter Lovins| New thinking that will drive Regenerative Capitalism, the next wave beyond sustainability
Episode 13: Professor Paul Ekins| Smart regulation, new technologies and carbon taxation
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