
Water, Wildlife, and Climate’s Hidden Trade-Offs
From Outrage + Optimism by Persephonica and Global Optimism
March 12, 2026 · 39 min · Season 12 · Episode 40
About this episode
The episode explores the complex trade-offs in climate solutions and the language used to discuss the climate crisis.
The climate crisis is not one problem. It is a crisis of water, food, energy, language, justice and power - all colliding at once. So how do we respond when climate solutions create new trade-offs of their own? And are we even using the right words to describe what is happening? In this episode, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson take on some of the knottiest questions in climate. From water stress and biodiversity loss, to geoengineering, public understanding, and the language of urgency itself. What gets overlooked? What gets simplified? And how do we navigate increasing complexity in the middle of a worsening crisis? We don’t have all the answers. But as our choices grow harder, these are some of the questions that demand our attention. Learn More: 💧 Dive into Why Water Matters from the UNFCCC 🦅 Explore how solar and wind energy producers can mitigate impacts on biodiversity 🎧 Listen back to last year’s episode unpacking some of climate’s most common acronyms ☁️ … or return to our most recent episode on geoengineering with Politico’s Karl Mathiesen 🎤 Leave us your voice notes and questions for upcoming episodes on SpeakPipe Join the conversation…
People in this episode
Guests: Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, Paul Dickinson
Topics covered
- climate crisis
- water stress
- biodiversity loss
- geoengineering
- public understanding
- language of urgency
- climate solutions
Keywords
- climate crisis
- water
- biodiversity
- geoengineering
- public understanding
- trade-offs
- language of urgency
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: UNFCCC, Global Optimism, Acast Creator Network, Persephonica
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