Policy Innovation Podcast

Listen to Emma and Natalie, Co-Founders of Dear Bump, talk about their ideas for innovating policy to help pregnant women in the workplace.

Gemma Guilera, Co-Founder & Director of Moving Beans, suggests city councils, waste facility managers, and big industries come together to build a common budget, overseen by an executive body, to be responsible for driving sustainability forward. Promisingly, she says as long as we breathe we can solve issues!

In addition, Nawful Raj, Founder of Yū Pods, believes we need to reduce consumption, eliminate the use of non-recyclable and micro-plastics, and fund more non-tech-based companies (to solve environmental issues).

Tinesh Chhaya, Founder & CEO of Decipher Cyber, discusses why:

1. Governments should prioritise e-safety policies, and
2. Companies should add the role of Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to the C-Suite

Today's guest is Kabiné Komara, an Adviser, Author, and former Prime Minister of Guinea.

In this episode, key topics discussed include:

• Why climate change and access to jobs are two of our biggest shared issues globally
• Good governance is one of the biggest challenges facing Africa
• We need to better manage and share resources, especially water - otherwise there is angriness and conflict
• Conflicts over water in Nigeria and Syria led to deaths, demonstrations and mass migration
• Water sharing between countries brings about peace!
• Budgets need to reflect the priority and size of problems
• Seeing young people around the world coming together to find solutions is a source of hope, but it needs to be sustained and protected

Today’s guest is Pippa Gawley, Founder and Director of Zero Carbon Capital. 

In this episode, Pippa explores why lithium is becoming the new gasoline, the cultural differences between UK and US venture capital, and making a healthy financial return because of purpose (not in spite of it).

In addition, Pippa discusses why:

• Governments should implement legally binding targets for every year up to 2050 (to hold current governments to account and not just future ones)
• Carbon emissions need to be priced more accurately
• Deep-tech startup founders need to keep the faith
• Innovate UK and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) grants are helping scientific and deep-tech companies to innovate over longer time horizons
• The UK’s Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) is compelling tax relief for investors

Today's guest is Amit Mishra, Founder of ID8VC, Policy Adviser to the Indian Government, and ex-Country Head of F6S and Sansan.

In this episode, Amit explores:

• the appeal of the Indian market and Tier 2 cities, including as a place to build a Proof of Concept (PoC)
• the uptick in activity for the AgriTech, medical, education, e-commerce and electric vehicle (EV) sectors since COVID-19
• why change is both the biggest challenge and opportunity
• the importance of being a conscious citizen and responsible employer

Today's guest is Stephanie Jensen-Cormier, a biodiversity advocate living in Costa Rica.

In this episode, Stephanie discusses why we need to understand the urgency of reducing our emissions because it threatens our survival as a specifies. In addition, Steph explains why:

1. government-funded projects need to embed top-notch environmental, social and corporate governance into projects e.g. China’s Belt and Road Initiative
2. we as consumers should choose to eat a mostly plant-based diet, buy reusable diapers/nappies, and rent toys for our kids (not necessarily in that order)
3. governments should stop subsidising the meat industry and reprioritise spending on education and sustainability (like Costa Rica did after demilitarisation)