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Climate Confident
Climate Confident is the podcast for business leaders, policy-makers, and climate tech professionals who want real, practical strategies for cutting emissions and building a resilient low-carbon future.
Every Wednesday at 7am CET, I sit down with the people doing the work, executives, engineers, scientists, founders, and policymakers, to unpack what’s actually driving climate progress across energy, transport, industry, supply chains, food, finance, and more.
This isn’t about vague pledges or greenwash. It’s about what’s working, what isn’t, and what leaders need to understand now to make better decisions faster.
Expect conversations on:
- scalable solutions in energy, mobility, food, industry, and finance
- the politics, markets, and policies shaping the transition
- the technologies and tools improving climate accountability, resilience, and risk management
- hard truths, hidden bottlenecks, bold ideas, and real-world success stories
Subscribers also get Bonus episodes, including highlight reels, analysis, emerging themes I’m seeing across conversations, and other subscriber-only extras.
You can still listen to the most recent episodes for free, and if you want to go deeper, subscription gives you more Climate Confident in your feed.
Want to shape the conversation? Drop me a line anytime at Tom@tomraftery.com
, whether it’s feedback, a guest suggestion, or just a hello.
Ready to stop doomscrolling and start climate-doing? Hit follow and let’s get to work.
Episodes
272 episodes
As Grids Get Cleaner, Building Materials Become the Real Climate Problem
Concrete alone accounts for around 7-8% of global emissions. So what happens when the real climate problem in buildings is no longer just energy, but the materials themselves?In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by
Why the War on Iran Is Accelerating the Shift to Renewables and EVs
What if fossil fuels aren’t energy security at all, but exposure dressed up as realism?This war is making that harder and harder to ignore.In this bonus episode of Climate Confident+, I unpack why the US and Israel’s war again...
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Most Food Waste Never Reaches a Plate
What if one of the most effective climate tech moves in hospitality isn’t flashy at all, but simply wasting less food with far better data?In this episode, I’m joined by Olaf van der Veen...
The Infrastructure Was Built for the Climate We Had. Not the Climate We’re Getting
Heat is becoming a business risk in plain sight. And if cooling demand is set to soar, the energy transition has a problem most people still aren’t talking about. In this episode, I’m joined by
Why Fossil Fuel Dependence Is a Terrible Business Model
What if fossil fuels aren’t just polluting, but a standing threat to economic stability?This episode makes the case that the energy transition is now as much about security and cost as it is about climate.In this solo Climate Confide...
Carbon Markets as Outsourced Mitigation: Smart Climate Strategy or Convenient Fiction?
What if voluntary carbon markets are either a vital climate tool... or a polished excuse to delay real decarbonisation?In this episode of Climate Confident, I’m joined by Dr Jenni...
Why Turbine Shortages Could Slow AI, Data Centres, and Decarbonisation
AI may be booming, but the real bottleneck to it's growth may be turbines. And if firm power can’t scale fast enough, parts of the energy transition hit a wall.In this episode, I’m joined by
The Iran War, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Real Cost of Fossil Dependence
War doesn’t just kill people. It also blows up energy security, drives up emissions, and exposes fossil fuels for the liability they’ve always been.In this first Climate Confident+ bonus episode, available exclusively to subscribe...
Geothermal Isn’t Just HVAC. It’s Grid Infrastructure
What if one of the biggest climate problems in our buildings isn’t power generation, but the fact we’re still burning fuel in the basement?In this episode, I’m joined by Dan Yate...
Why Science Alone Won’t Deliver Climate Action
What if the real barrier to climate action isn’t a lack of science, but a lack of pressure? And what happens when climate risk collides with political instability, fossil fuel dependence, and public anger in real time?In this epis...
Fashion’s 10% Emissions Problem, And the Utilisation Fix
What if the biggest climate lever in fashion isn’t better materials, but simply wearing clothes longer?The fashion industry accounts for roughly 10% of global carbon emissions and 20% of industrial water pollution. In this episode...
You Can’t Photograph CO₂: The Visual Bias Distorting the Energy Transition
Coal produces 4,000–8,000x more waste per MWh than wind.But you can’t take a photo of CO₂, so we ignore it.In this episode, I’m joined by climate futurist and long-term decarbonisation modeller
AI Energy Demand, Grid Constraints & Decarbonisation
AI’s energy demand isn’t a future problem. It’s straining grids today. And most companies aren’t ready.In this episode, I’m joined by Beatrice Clark, Vice Pre...
Designing Buildings for a Climate That No Longer Exists
What if the biggest mistake in climate action is that we’re still designing buildings for a climate that no longer exists?In this episode of the Climate Confident Podcast, I’m joined by
Why Heat Pumps, Not Cars, Will Cut Urban Emissions Fastest
Heating cities by opening windows is not a joke. It’s how many buildings still control temperature in winter, and it’s a climate disaster hiding in plain sight.In this episode, I’m joined by
How Long-Duration Storage Makes Clean Energy Reliable
Europe is drowning in cheap clean power, and still wasting it.The problem isn’t renewables. It’s what happens when the grid can’t cope with abundance.In this episode of the Climate Confident Podcast, I’m joined by
Solar Isn’t Breaking the Grid. Our Grid Is Breaking Solar.
Europe doesn’t have a clean energy problem. It has a grid problem.Solar is cheap. Batteries are scaling. Demand is exploding. The system in the middle is cracking.In this episode, I’m joined by Rob Stait, Managing Direc...
Decarbonising Concrete With Carbon-Neutral Materials
8% of global emissions come from the material we barely talk about.Concrete. Cement. The literal foundations of modern life, and one of the hardest climate problems we face.In this episode, I’m joined by
LEED v5, Embodied Carbon, and Real Emissions Cuts
What if the biggest barrier to decarbonising buildings isn’t technology, cost, or ambition - but sheer complexity?The built environment produces nearly 40% of global emissions, yet we still make low-carbon construction harder than...
Why Bad Data Is Blocking Scope 3 Emissions Reduction
Most companies say they’re tackling Scope 3. Then they rely on averages and hope for the best. That’s not decarbonisation. That’s denial with spreadsheets.In this episode, I’m joined by
Decarbonising Food Supply Chains with Real Data
What if the biggest lever for food-system decarbonisation isn’t factories or fleets, but soil you’ll never see on a corporate balance sheet?In this episode, I’m joined by Rhyannon Gale...
Decarbonising Shipping with Drop-In Waste-Based Fuels
What if the fastest way to decarbonise shipping isn’t a shiny new fuel, but the waste it’s already throwing away?Shipping moves 90% of global trade, yet it’s still one of the hardest sectors to decarbonise. In this episode, I’m jo...
Deep Sea Minerals and the Future of Climate Tech
What if the clean energy transition depended on potato-sized rocks four miles under the Pacific, and we’ve barely started talking about it?In this episode I’m joined by Oliver Gunasekara<...
