182. COP15: Nothing Without Nature!

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Welcome to another episode of Outrage + Optimism, where we examine issues at the forefront of the climate crisis, interview change-makers, and transform our anger into productive dialogue on building a sustainable future.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this jam-packed episode, co-hosts Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Paul Dickinson catch up on news from the</span> <a href= "https://earthshotprize.org/boston-2022/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Earthshot Prize</span></a> <span style= "font-weight: 400;">awards ceremony in Boston, the United Nations Biodiversity Conference</span> <a href= "https://www.canada.ca/en/services/environment/wildlife-plants-species/biodiversity/cop15.html"> <span style="font-weight: 400;">(COP 15) in Montréal</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, insights from</span> <a href= "https://www.conservation.org/experts-list/m-sanjayan-phd"><span style="font-weight: 400;"> Conservation International’s Dr. M. Sanjayan</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">, and music from</span> <a href= "https://boyishmusic.com/"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Boyish</span></a><span style= "font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Christiana opens by recounting her time at the award ceremony for the Earthshot Prize一the world’s most prestigious environmental award. Highlights include the “green carpet” with such A-listers as Prince William, Billie Eilish, Annie Lennox, and David Beckham, among others, £5 million in prizes, and the extraordinary winners themselves. Christiana was actually brought to tears. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The team also previews the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15, which started Dec. 7. Conference dynamics are bound to be interesting since it’s being chaired by the Chinese delegation (a holdover from the cancellation of the in-person conference in 2020) but</span> <em><span style= "font-weight: 400;">hosted</span></em> <spa