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Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

Climate Confident is for business leaders, climate professionals and policymakers who need to understand what is actually cutting emissions—and what it takes to make those solutions work at scale.

Each Wednesday, technology and sustainability analyst, keynote speaker and former SAP Global VP Tom Raftery speaks with the executives, engineers, scientists, founders and policymakers turning climate ambition into measurable progress. Together, they examine the technologies, business models, policies and implementation strategies reshaping energy, transport, industry, supply chains, food and finance.

These are not conversations about distant targets, vague pledges or greenwash. They are candid discussions about what is working, what is failing, where the real bottlenecks lie, and how leaders can make better decisions about decarbonisation, resilience, investment and risk.

You will hear:

Proven approaches to reducing emissions
Hard-earned lessons from real-world implementation
Analysis of the markets, technologies and policies driving the transition
Honest examination of costs, trade-offs, setbacks and unintended consequences
Practical ideas for turning climate commitments into action

New episodes are published every Wednesday at 7am CET. Subscribers also receive bonus episodes featuring highlights, analysis and emerging themes from across the series.

Follow Climate Confident for practical climate solutions, informed debate and the insights you need to turn ambition into measurable progress.

Guest suggestions and feedback are welcome at Tom@tomraftery.com.

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Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

The Infrastructure Was Built for the Climate We Had. Not the Climate We’re Getting

April 08, 2026 • Tom Raftery • Season 1 • Episode 269

0:00 | 33:52

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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 Rob Atkin, co-founder and CEO of Pirta, a climate tech company developing passive cooling coatings and additives. We dig into a part of decarbonisation and the energy transition that gets far too little attention: how we keep buildings, warehouses, data centres, and infrastructure cool in a warming world without driving up electricity demand, emissions, and cost.

You’ll hear why Rob says “sustainability doesn’t sell itself”, and why that blunt truth matters for every founder, policymaker, and business leader chasing net zero. We dig into how Pirta is trying to turn passive cooling from clever materials science into something customers will actually buy, deploy, and scale. And you might be surprised to learn that air conditioning already accounts for about 15% of global electricity demand, with that figure set to triple by 2050.

We also get into the hidden role of titanium dioxide, why reducing it matters for emissions reduction, and where passive cooling could have the biggest impact first, from affordable housing to warehouses to AI-era data centres.

One of the sharpest insights in this conversation is that some climate solutions win not because they sound noble, but because, as Rob puts it, “a paint’s not gonna break down.” Grimly practical. Exactly the point.

🎙️ Listen now to hear how Rob Atkin and Pirta are pushing climate tech towards real-world adoption.

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