Zero

In this episode, I reflect on the wisdom, insights, and lessons learned that Kim Wasserman, Hilton Kelley, and Diane Wilson shared throughout the season. I examine the different topics and themes that all three speakers bring to try and understand the journeys they take in effecting change. I explore a range of topics including connection to place, community empowerment, the role of government, civil disobedience, the role of law and litigation, and sacrifice zones.

For more information about the speakers, see the links below:

Kim Wasserman - http://www.lvejo.org/

Hilton Kelley - https://www.cidainc.org/

Diane Wilson - https://dianewilsonactivist.org/

Thank you as well to the Goldman Environmental Prize - https://www.goldmanprize.org/

For more content, check out my substack at: https://podcastzero.substack.com/

Thoughts? Suggestions? infopodcastzero@gmail.com

Diane Wilson is a fourth-generation shrimper, former boat captain, author, and mother of five. She has launched environmental campaigns, demonstrations, hunger strikes, and climbed towers in the fight against local industrial polluters that make her rural Texas Gulf Coast community one of the most polluted in the country. She joins to discuss her connection to the San Antonio Bay Estuary, her fight against contamination in her community, the power of civil disobedience, and her successful $50m lawsuit against Formosa Plastics. Diane was the Goldman Environmental Prize recipient in 2023.

For more content, check out my substack at: https://podcastzero.substack.com/

Thoughts? Suggestions? infopodcastzero@gmail.com

Hilton Kelley is Executive Director and Founder of Community In-Power and Development Association (CIDA). CIDA is located in Port Arthur, TX and works to challenge the environmental violations of the petrochemical plants that loom over the community he calls home. He joins to discuss the health impacts the community faces, the willful negligence of local and state regulators, the role of air pollution monitoring, and the vision he has for his community. Hilton was the Goldman Prize winner in 2011 and has received Presidential recognition for his achievements.

For more content, check out my substack at: https://podcastzero.substack.com/

Thoughts? Suggestions? infopodcastzero@gmail.com

Kim Wasserman is the Executive Director of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (LVEJO), where she has worked since 1998. She joins to discuss her ten year campaign to close two local power plants, the importance of working together with various communities to effect change, and the intergenerational nature of community organizing. Kim was the recipient of the Goldman Prize for North America in 2013.

For more content, check out my substack at: https://podcastzero.substack.com/

Thoughts? Suggestions? infopodcastzero@gmail.com

Prof. Youba Sokona has over 40 years of experience addressing energy, environment, and sustainable development in Africa. He is currently Special Advisor for the Sustainable Development at South Centre, was Inaugural Coordinator of the African Climate Policy Centre, and Executive Secretary of the Sahara and the Sahel Observatory. He is currently Vice Chair of the IPCC. Youba joins to discuss sustainable and climate resilient development, and energy development in Africa.

Prof. Joyashree Roy is Chair Professor at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand, and has been a Coordinating Lead Author in Fifth and Sixth assessment cycles for Working Group III as part of the IPCC. Her research interests include resource and environmental economics, economics of pollution and climate change, sustainable development, and more. Joyashree joins to discuss demand-side emissions reductions and the effort to reduce energy demand while assuring wellbeing.

Dr. Yamina Saheb is a lecturer and researcher at SciencesPo (Paris), a lead author of the IPCC report on climate change mitigation, and a Senior Fellow at OpenExp. She was previously Senior Fellow Researcher at the University of Munster and University of Lausanne, where her research focused on energy efficiency. Yamina joins to discuss the role of the built environment on climate emissions, the concept of sufficiency, and the need for individuals in democracies to act as citizens as opposed to consumers.

Prof. Minal Pathak is Associate Professor at Ahmedabad University as well as Senior Scientist for IPCC Working Group III. Her publications focus on low carbon scenarios for India, demand-side mitigation actions and their interlinkages with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Minal joins to discuss deep decarbonization, the need to rapidly scale up climate change mitigation strategies, and the efforts made to engage with local and regional leaders to develop climate action plans.

Prof. Hans-Otto Poertner is a physiologist and marine biologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre. He explores the impact of climate change on ecosystems and physiology, with a focus on polar and marine regions. He is currently Co-Chair of the IPCC's Working Group II and was previously Coordinating Lead Author of Oceans Systems Chapter. Hans-Otto joins to discuss the relation between humans and ecosystems, the climate change implementation gap, and the need to rapidly transform society away from fossil fuels.

Muhammad Irfan Tariq has over 32 years of experience working in the public sector in Pakistan's federal and provincial governments focusing on policies, programmes, and projects related to environment, climate change, and sustainable development. He was most recently the Director General of Pakistan's Ministry of Climate Change where he led the provision of strategic guidance on climate change policy. Irfan joins to discuss the impact of climate change on Pakistan, the adaptation policies the ministry has implemented, and additional capacity building and localization efforts needed within the country.

Dr. Aida Diongue-Niang has worked for over twenty years in the Meteorological Service of Senegal in various roles including research, research-operations interface, and service delivery of weather and climate information. She has also been a lead author on the IPCC Working Group I. She has investigated monsoon system variability and predictability. Aida joins to to share the impact of climate change on monsoon systems, the need for additional local and regional meteorological infrastructure, and the need to scale up adaptation to climate change.

Dr. Jean-Pierre Gattuso is a CNRS Scientist at Sorbonne University and the Institute for Sustainable Development an International Relations. He studies the effects of climate change on marine ecosystems, as well as investigates ocean-based solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. He also coedited the first book on ocean acidification and has contributed to several IPCC reports. Jean-Pierre joins to discuss ocean acidification, ocean warming, their impacts on biodiversity, and efforts to adapt to sea level rise.

Prof. Mark Howden is Director of the Australian National University - Institute for Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions, an Honorary Professor at Melbourne Universitym, and Vice Chair of the IPCC Working Group II. His work over the last thirty years ahs focused on climate variability, climate change, innovation and adoption, and he has partnered with many industry, community, and policy groups. Mark joins to discuss the need to account for climate change in food systems, the role of climate variability, and the need for individual and systemic change to address climate change.

Dr. Greg Flato is the Acting Director - Climate Research Division within Environment and Climate Change Canada. He has spent his career in the development of global climate models to simulate historical variations and project future climate change. He has been involved in a number of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) cycles as author, and most recently was elected Vice-Chair of the IPCC's Working Group I. Greg joins to discuss the latest in climate modelling and earth system modelling, and the role that these models have in informing policy decisions at national, state, and local levels.

Charlie Martin oversees the BlueGreen Alliance's federal Buy Clean policy and campaign. His work includes close collaboration with the US Biden-Harris Administration, environmental groups, labor partners, and lawmakers. Charlie joins to discuss the transformative nature of "buying clean" at the federal level and its role in decarbonizing the industrial manufacturing sector. 

John Red Cloud is the Managing Director of Red Cloud Renewables and 6th generation direct descendant of Chief Red Cloud. He was born and raised on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and is one of the Oglala Lakota Oyate. John joins to shared Red Cloud Renewables' mission to assist tribal communities to move towards energy independence through renewable energy and sustainable living projects and training. 

Chibeze Ezekiel coordinates the Strategic Youth Network for Development (SYND), a youth-oriented NGO in Ghana that promotes youth inclusion in governance of the natural resources and environment. He's a member of the board of 350.org and the International Experts of the Environment of Peace 2022 project, and is a 2020 Goldman Enviromental Prize recipient. Chibeze joins to discuss the importance of including young people at the heart of climate solutions, and his successesful four-year grassroots organizing campaign to stop the construction of a 700 MW coal power plant. 

Julien Vincent is the founder and Executive Director of Market Forces. He has been an environmental activist and campaigner for over twenty years, working also at Greenpeace as a Climate and Energy Campaigner. He also writes the "Always Happy, Never Satisfied" substack. Julien joins to discuss his successful grassroots campaign to defund coal in Australia by receiving commitments from Australia's four largest banks to end funding for coal projects by 2030. 

Juan Jose Guzman Ayala is an economist and sustainable development professional. His work lies at the intersection of climate policy, economic policy, and financial decision-making, with a focus on the Global South. He co-founded Pacto X El Clima in 2019, a youth climate activist organization working to bring the voices of climate justice leaders to policy-making spaces in Colombia. Juan joins to discuss his efforts to develop economic and fiscal policy that enables a net-zero emissions future and promote human well being. 

Tanvir Chowdhury is a journalist currently working for Al Jazeera Intl Media Network. Based in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Tanvir has covered the great exodus of Rohingya refugees, climate change, and politics. Tanvir was part of a team to win a Webby People's Voice for his coverage of the Rohingya plight. Tanvir joins to share his insights of the state of climate activism in Bangladesh and community's response to two proposed industrial coal-fired power plants. 

Adam Minter is a columnist with Bloomberg Opinion, where he writes about emerging markets, technology, waste, and other topics. From 2002 to 2014, he was based in Shanghai, where he covered the trans-Pacific trade in recycling; he continued that coverage from Kuala Lumpur, where he was based from 2014 until Covid. His first book, "Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion Dollar Trash Trade," is an insider's look at the world of globalized recycling. His most recent book, "Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale" is a deep dive into the secondhand economy that thrives around the world. Adam joins to discuss his global journey exploring the world of scrap, recycling, reuse, and reduction. 

Adrian de Groot Ruiz is the Executive Director of the Impact Institute in The Netherlands, where he leads the development of the Integrated Profit & Loss accounting method and technologies. He is also the Co-Founder and Director of True Price, a social enterprise with a mission to realize that all products are sustainable and free of external costs. Adrian joins to discuss his motivation for founding True Price, his work towards developing an impact economy, and vision of accounting for social and environmental externalities to make the world a better place. 

Jacqueline Omania has been an environmental educator in the Berkeley, California Schools for over 30 years. She has worked to infuse sustainability into her curriculum, including starting a farm and garden at her school and developing a zero waste classroom. Her students have enjoyed the zero waste challenge, have reduced their annual waste down to one mason jar, and have set goals for a zero waste city. Jacqueline joins to discuss her passion for sustainability and the inspiring ways her students have worked to implement zero waste practices in their lives. 

Pascal Peduzzi is the Director at GRID-Geneva at the UN Environment Program, focusing on transforming data into information to support decision making processes relating to global environment, change, and risk. He and his team recently published a report, Ore-Sand, aimed at improving the sustainability of sand extraction and use throughout the world. Pascal joins to share his findings and discuss his approach to taking a systems view towards solving some of the world's most pressing environmental challenges. 

Mary Nyaruai is the Co-Founder of Nyungu Afrika, a social and environmental impact start-up that is adding value to agricultural waste of pineapple and corn husk fibres into eco-friendly and body friendly sanitary pads. Mary joins to share her motivation for using circular design to end period poverty by making use of underutilised, locally abundant materials. 

Jean Wiener has worked on environmental and coastal marine issues since 1991 when he founded Haiti's first coastal marine environment non-profit the Foundation pour la Protection de la Biodiversite Marine. As Executive Director of FoProBiM, he specializes in coastal and marine sciences, environmental monitoring and management, and community development. Jean joins to share his wealth of knowledge on how best to rehabilitate natural environments, form coalitions at all levels of governements, and develop community development models to align community and environmental needs. 

Dianna Cohen is the Co-founder and CEO of Plastic Pollution Coalition and a passionate advocate against plastic pollution. She is based in Los Angeles and uses plastic in her artwork to make a visual and social impact. She is interested in exploring plastic's materiality through modifications and the material's relationship to culture, media, toxicity, and the world at large. Dianna joins to share her experience fighting plastic pollution, forming coalitions to reduce plastics usage, and providing resources to the general public. You can learn more at: www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org.

David Jackson is the Director of Marketing & Public Affairs at Winnow, a company that develops Artificial Intelligence tools to help chefs run more profitable and sustainable kitchens by cutting food waste in half.  Trusted by thousands of chefs in 45 countries, Winnow is helping businesses like IKEA, Compass Group, and Hilton save 36m meals a year from trash.  David is a marketing professional with over 20 years working with brands like The Guardian, American Express, and NGOs like Shelter and WaterAid.  David joins to share his insights into the world of food waste and waste steps can be taken to prevent food from being thrown in the trash.

Timothy Kayondo is the Co-Founder of Aqua Methods Uganda. He graduated with a Bachelors in Industrial Chemistry, where he then spun out Aqua Methods and led the design, innovation, and implementation, of Eco Mobile purifiers to targeted communities. He joins Zero to explain how he converts agricultural wastes into activated carbon to help treat wastewater throughout Uganda. 

Sami Aaron is the founder of the nonprofit, The Resilient Activist. Their mission is to build resilience, optimism, and hope in response to the impact of the climate crisis by providing community, stress-relief, and nature-connected programming that supports positive ecological change. Sami joins to discuss the intersection of mental health and climate activism and shares how we can take a mindful approach to addressing climate change. 

George Ongkiehong is a marketer, climate activist, and is now running for a seat in local government.  He has spent decades in the advertising and marketing space, focusing on crafting various sustainability campaigns.  His campaigns have successfully eliminated free plastic bags at grocery stores, implemented new recycling programs, and recently worked to ban fossil fuel based ads.  He is now campaigning to join the local council in Den Hague, Netherlands.  George joins to speak about his concern for the planet, passion to make a positive impact, and views on how best to effect change. 

Survey Link: https://forms.gle/gXbaQsxy4Wbmh5Fc6

George Roter is the Managing Director of the Canada Plastic Pact, where he brings his leadership, organizational design, and social change skills with the goal of creating a circular economy in which plastic waste is kept in the economy and out of the environment. He previously served as CEO of Engineers Without Borders Canada and Director of Open Innovation Programs at Mozilla.  George joins Zero to discuss the value of taking a systems view to creating a circular economy.

Justine Burt is the Program Lead for the Future of Work at Manzanita Works, a non-profit in Silicon Valley focused on improving the life for workers and their families.  She has spent 20 years consulting on sustainability behavior change for waste prevention, and is the author of The Great Pivot: Creating Meaningful Work to Build a Sustainable Future.  Justine joins Zero to highlight the influence that work, and workforce development, can have on creating a circular economy.

Michael Cyr is a waste industry expert and entrepreneur based in New York City.  After years in commercial waste hauling he now educates on the  shortcomings of recycling and promotes waste reduction and reuse models.  He is the co-founder of Cup Zero - a reusable cup service for events,  venues, and cafes. Cup Zero provides a turn-key approach making the  switch to the circular economy seamless and easy.  Michael joins Zero to open up our trash bin, talk about the materials that are thrown in there, the global journey that some go on, and the steps we can take to improve recycling and reduce the amount of material thrown in the trash. 

Ana Pacheco is the Quality Assurance Manager at Homeboy Electronics Recyling - a social enterprise devoted to offering electronics recyling services while also offering employment opportunities for people who face systemic barriers at work. In her role, she handles operational logistics, customer accounts, and EH&S compliance.  Ana joins Zero to share her passion about the interplay of sustainability and green job creation. 

Pat Mapelli is the Land Use Manager and Bay Restoration Lead for Graniterock.  He has specialized in several wetland restoration projects in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, and has managed projects from inception to completion, including multi-agency permitting, negotiations, land use change, land entitlements and construction. Pat joins Zero to share his wisdom on beneficially reusing materials in the construction sector - primarily dirt - as a way to restore wetlands. 

Laura Vicaria is the Corporate Social Responsibility Manager for MUD Jeans, the world's first fully circular denim brand.  Through its Lease a Jeans model, MUD Jeans challenges the idea of ownership and aims to demonstrate that there is an alternative to fast fashion.  Laura joins Zero to discuss her work to drive continuous improvement in MUD Jeans' sustainability objectives and successes bringing circularity to the fashion industry.

As the co-founder and CEO of Sanergy, Ani Vallabhaneni oversees Sanergy's expansion, manages local resources, and sets the overall strategy for the company.  With a background in technology and operations, he previously built startups in India and the United States, and turned around a chain of dialysis clinics for low-income patients in the Philippines.  Ani joins Zero to discuss his experience implementing waste management ventures in Kenya, scaling start-ups, and beneficially reusing waste materials.

Cecile Pompei is a social entrepreneurship specialist with a passion for people and talent.  She is currently the Chief People Officer at Sistema.bio.  Her mission is to empower and grow people and operations, while fighting climate change and has done so for over 12 years in emerging markets (Asia, Africa, and Latin America).  Cecile joins Zero to shares her insights into the possiblity of making both a positive social and environmental impact, and how anyone can become more involved in social entrepreneurship. 

Pal Martensson has been in waste management for 20 years and in the Zero Waste movement for 15 years. He created the first ECO-Park in the world, Kretsloppsparken Goteborg, Sweden, that has been used as a model to public and private sectors worldwide. Pal is a board member of the Zero Waste International Alliance (ZWIA), Zero Waste Canada, and mentor and educator for the Let's Do It Movement.  Pal joins Zero to discusses the concept of zero waste, how governement agencies can encourage zero waste, and lessons learned from his many decades in the sector.