Sustainability Podcasts and Audiobooks

As a matter of introduction, you should know that:

1. I have always enjoyed reading about sustainability and climate change, but because of a busy working life and the challenges of a growing and young family means that, at the end of the day, I have very little brainpower left for anything that stretches beyond watching some shows on Netflix.

2. A good part of my life is dedicated to walking around the kitchen table rocking my six months old daughter to sleep, loading the washing machine and tumble dryer with baby clothes, cooking, etc.

   

   A cozy music-themed bookstore features a glowing neon sign on a brick wall that reads "you are what you listen to," surrounded by shelves filled with albums and books.

The combination of the two factors above means that last year I discovered that podcasts and audiobooks are a great resource for me and perfectly fit my daily routine.

I found that not all books are suitable to be listen to, especially when there are many graphs and reference to tables and images. So here are the five podcasts and audiobooks about sustainability and climate change that I have enjoyed the most in the past six months, in no particular order:

• WHAT PLANET ARE WE ON? - 17 Episodes of 30-40 minutes each. The ethos of this podcast is to “Offering solutions and practical tips as well as hearing from experts, campaigners and well-known names. Liz Bonnin and the team explore the impacts of climate change.” What I have really enjoyed about this podcast is the honest tone of the conversation, and the variety of backgrounds from the participants.

• HOW TO LEAD A SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS. A PODCAST WITH ALANNAH WESTON - 7 episodes of 25 minutes each. As part of Project Earth, Alannah Weston, Chairman of Selfridges Group, speaks with inspiring thought leaders at the forefront of sustainability and business to find out how we can make transformational change. If there was a mandatory training programme for anyone working on sustainability, this podcast series would be on it.

• THERE IS NO PLANET B - listening time 7 hours and 45 minutes. Written by Professor Mike Barners-Lee, this is one of the best-known books on climate change – it was re-edited last year and the way that it structured makes it perfect to be listen to.

• OUTRAGE + OPTIMISM - 3 seasons, 99 episodes released weekly, each episode is 1 hour long. This is like the podcast encyclopaedia on climate change and sustainability. It is hosted by former UN Chief Christina Figueres and the team that brought to life the Paris Agreement. Name any influential person in fighting climate change and there is a very good change that it has been participating in one of the episodes of this podcast.

• HOW TO AVOID A CLIMATE DISASTER - listening time 7 hours and 11 minutes. This is the latest book from Bill Gates. I have just finished it and I am actually planning to get the printing version too because there so many good stats and facts that I am sure I will go back to it for reference several times.