GoodGeist
A podcast on sustainability, hosted by Damla Özlüer and Steve Connor, brought to you by the DNS Network. Looking at sustainability issues, communications, and featuring global guests from a wide variety of sectors such as business, NGOs and government.
GoodGeist
Accelerating Climate Action, with Simon Stiell and Mert Fırat
What drives someone to dedicate their life to tackling the climate crisis? For Simon Stiell, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Climate Change , it's deeply personal. His tiny Caribbean island home was devastated by Hurricane Beryl just one year ago—a stark reminder of climate change's human toll that fuels his work on the global stage. In this episode we talk to Stiell alongside Mert Fırat the UNDP Goodwill Ambassador of UNDP Turkey.
This powerful conversation takes us from Stiell's hurricane-ravaged community to Turkey's promising renewable energy landscape. While acknowledging we're at a climate tipping point with accelerating impacts worldwide, Stiell highlights some remarkable progress that offers hope: renewable energy costs dropping below fossil fuels, technological advances, and encouraging leadership from various nations. The green transition offers substantial economic rewards—potentially saving $3 billion annually by reducing fossil fuel dependency while creating jobs, enhancing energy security, and improving export competitiveness.
We get the powerful reminder from Stiell that "Climate change does not respect borders... It is marching forward and humankind is directly impacted by it, and it's humankind to actually address it."
Listen to this great conversation on GoodGeist with someone at the very leading edge of climate action.
Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.
Follow GoodGeist for more episodes on sustainability, communications and how creativity can help make the world a better place.
Good Geist, a podcast series on sustainability hosted by Damla Özler and Steve Connor, brought to you by the DNS Network.
Speaker 2:Hello, hello everyone, you are listening to Good Guys, the message on sustainability which is brought to you by the DNS Network, the global network of agencies dedicated to making the world a better place. This is Damla from Mira Agency, istanbul, and.
Speaker 3:This is Steve from Creative Concern in Manchester. This podcast series explores global sustainability issues, how they're communicated and what creativity can do to make positive change happen.
Speaker 2:So in this episode we will host Mr Simon Steele, the Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. Mr Steele has just finished a visit to Turkey, where we have recorded this episode, and for this episode we have a guest host, mert Frat, the actor and Goodwill Ambassador of UNDP Turkey.
Speaker 3:I'm not sure about this sort of glamorous guest host, damla. I think it might be slight, I feel upstaged, but just carrying on. It's such an exciting moment to have this guest. Mr Steele served as a senior minister in the government of Grenada from 2013 until June 2022, holding the portfolio of Minister for Climate Resilience and the Environment for five years. He previously served as Minister for Education and Human Resource Development, minister of State with a responsibility for human resources and the environment, and as a Parliamentary Secretary within the Ministry of Agriculture, lands, forestry and Fisheries. He also served as a member of Grenada's Upper House of Parliament, the Senate, where he served as leader of government business. Now, our guest host, Mert, on the other hand, is a renowned and award-winning actor who, besides his acting and producing career, is a sustainable development champion, climate advocate, goodwill ambassador to UNDP Turkey and founder of Needs Map, and part of many influential NGOs in Turkey. So, simon Mert, thank you so much for taking the time to be part of this podcast.
Speaker 2:Mert, as our guest host, would you like to start?
Speaker 4:Simon, thank you for being with us. You're leading global climate policy, but before we get into that, we would love to hear what personally drives you and what gets you up in the lived experience.
Speaker 5:Home for me is a tiny island in the Caribbean, an island called Karaku, just 13 square miles, a population of 6,000, 7,000 people.
Speaker 5:Little island that I call home is. This month it's exactly one year since the passing of hurricane Beryl, which devastated the island, 95 percent of properties and destroyed, damaged my parents I had to spend a little bit of the summer with. My parents are still struggling to get their roof back on. And you know, just seeing the, not just in my own home but in this job, in this role, going from community to community all over the world, seeing communities stressed, broken by the impacts of climate change, and when you see that real human impact, how this is impacting people's lives, it's a source of energy, it's a source of drive that this UNFCCC process one that seems very abstract from the real world, but this is the only space where close to 200 countries come together with the single aim of solving this climate crisis. So my own human, personal experiences kind of drive me in this very formal, very cold process, but a process that is having a positive impact on addressing this crisis.
Speaker 3:Simon, you are in Turkey at the moment and our hot topic is Turkey, but let's start with the global context and then narrow it down to Turkey. Where do we stand right now in the world's climate journey we're at?
Speaker 5:a tipping point where we're seeing accelerated climate impacts, continent by continent, region by region, country by country, community by community. There is no space on this planet that it hasn't been impacted, isn't being impacted, and those impacts are accelerating. But we also have to focus on actions that are being taken not enough, not fast enough, but progress is being made. We're seeing technologies becoming available. We're seeing the costs of renewable energy below the cost of fossil fuels. We're seeing some countries showing real leadership in terms of the action they're taking. The challenge for us is how do we scale that up and how do we speed that up so we can go further in terms of that climate action, and how we can go much faster.
Speaker 4:Turkey is especially vulnerable to climate impact, being in the Mediterranean region. But focusing on this fear doesn't create a momentum. Let's talk about opportunity, and what can the green transformation offer Turkey?
Speaker 5:So we talk about the challenges, we talk about the crisis, but within that are massive opportunities. The energy transition as one component of climate action not only addresses bringing down carbon emissions as we transition away from fossil fuels, but it also provides economic opportunities the creation of green jobs, creation of new industries, the bringing down of cost of energy, the positive impact that has on the cost of living, healthier lives, less polluted cities the benefits are clear. Again, it comes back to us accelerating our action and taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented.
Speaker 2:Clean energy is one of Turkey's strong sweats. Solar capacity has tripled since 2019. Wind energy is expanding and bioenergy is growing. So where do you see Turkey's strong points and where can we do more and accelerate the action?
Speaker 5:Well, it starts with those numbers. I mean 80% of new power additions here in Turkey were through renewables. So the country is on the right and the right path. The challenge is how to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels. Your fuel import bill is significant. We're in a meeting with the Minister of Finance just yesterday and he quoted some statistics. Over the last 20 years the fuel import bill for the country is over a trillion dollars.
Speaker 5:Transitioning away from the insecurity of those fuel sources to renewables will not only increase your energy security but it will also bring save, and some recent studies that have been done the faster you accelerate towards renewables, you lower your dependency on fossil fuels. The savings of up to $3 billion per year. So the financial savings are significant. That then translates into again lowering the cost of energy, how that increases your economic competitiveness and bringing down the cost of manufacturing. You have major markets, export markets, the EU as one. Bringing down the cost of energy, bringing down your carbon footprint, again opens new markets for you and increases your competitiveness. So the business case to move forward in this direction is a compelling one and Turkey is well positioned to take full advantage of that.
Speaker 3:Climate policy often comes with technical terms. One example is nationally determined contributions, or NDCs. What do these actually mean for everyday people?
Speaker 5:An NDC is basically a climate plan. It's a country's commitment to the actions it's going to take to reduce emissions. But in doing so, whether it is the jobs that are created through that action, whether it is better health, whether it's reducing the cost of living, these are issues that are meaningful to households, to ordinary people. So at the heart of an NDC, a climate plan, is actually people. It speaks about resilience building. It speaks about increasing improving livelihoods. It speaks of communities, households. So it's really people at the heart of that. The people and the economy.
Speaker 2:And for Turkey. How do you think we should approach our next NDC?
Speaker 5:With ambition, with intent, not only in terms of setting ambitious targets. Target setting is one thing, but that's just a number on a piece of paper. What matters is actually taking the necessary actions to actually implement them, and that is the distinguishing feature of this third generation of action plan. What will distinguish it from previous generations is focus on getting the job done, delivering on those commitments that are there on paper. And if we do that, if Turkey does that, if every country within the Paris Agreement was to do that, we then stand a good chance of tackling this crisis.
Speaker 4:We know you often connect your work to real stories all the time, as an example. Are there any that you have stayed with you and shaped the way you lead?
Speaker 5:Well, I'll come back to my own personal experiences. This time last year I returned home in the aftermath of hurricane baron and going from, first of all, I could not recognize the island. I mean it completely flattened. But walking through communities with people who have been part of my life, the resilience that they showed, the determination that they were going to build back, that, despite what has happened, this catastrophe, that they were determined to build back their lives. I returned at Christmas and you can start seeing that recovery in play.
Speaker 5:And as I go home next month again, progress slow. It's painful to watch, but, I said, the resoluteness of communities, and that is something that I see everywhere I go, it doesn't matter which country, which continent this determination that there is hope, as desperate as those times are, but that determination to keep pushing forward. And what you need is to actually build on what already exists within those communities. And how does that then translate up in terms of government policy, government action and bringing in, whether it's the private sector, whether it's civil society, whether it's other actors, to provide this whole of government, whole of society, whole of economy and approach to tackling this? It's in in everybody's interest to move forward.
Speaker 3:When we comb through your speeches during the past three years, we see three common pillars the urgency, the inevitability and the collaborative action. In your own words, we cannot afford to rest in this climate journey of humanity. What is at the heart of this journey?
Speaker 5:It is through collective effort, through the collaboration of all. That is the only thing that we have at the heart of it. Yes, there is finance, yes, there is technology, yes, there are processes, but it is ensuring that we create an environment where everyone is able to, to addressing this, and that is through international cooperation at the heart, and that at a time where we know, geopolitically, things are challenging, but what we cannot forget, with all the other crises that the world is facing right now, climate change is not going anywhere. It does not respect borders. It does not respect. There are no constraints to it. It is marching forward and humankind is directly impacted by it, and it's humankind to actually address it.
Speaker 4:Across the world. We'll talk about making the climate transition fair and inclusive. What does a just transition really mean?
Speaker 5:Well, at the heart of a just transition is that people-centric approach. All countries are not starting at the same point in terms of the transition. We all need to end up at the same place in terms of the transition. We all need to end up at the same place in terms of reducing emissions. But it looks at the societal impacts, whether it is those that are working involved in heavily carbonized industries and sectors, in terms of what decarbonization means, transitioning away from those areas mean. That has to take into account their livelihoods, their circumstances. So as we create new opportunities, new jobs, new economic sectors, new areas of growth, it's ensuring that no one is actually left behind and there are support structures in place that ensure that their well-being is also factored in. As we move to a new economy, to a new way of how we live our lives, with energy at the center, but put in ensuring that people with energy at the center, but Putin ensuring the people.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about those structures that are in motion. So how can institutions like the UNFCCC help countries achieve that? How can we achieve that fair and just transition? Where do you see the biggest gaps in global client efforts?
Speaker 5:Well, first of all, the biggest gap is what people say and what people do, so it's ensuring that that is aligned, that promises, commitments, pledges actually result in real action. But within the UNFCCC, we do not have resources we are not a financial institution to be able to provide those resources for the action. Our key function is bringing the world together to ensure that there is a framework that speaks to what that transition should look like, what those actions should look like, what just looks like, what equity looks like, and one that provides a level playing field for all those that are involved, bearing in mind the circumstances of different countries differ, and ensuring that we move forward. Those at each end of the spectrum move forward, each making the maximum contribution that they can for us all to collectively arrive at that final point.
Speaker 3:Okay, our final question. Our network supporting this podcast is, ironically, called Do Not Smile, because we know that we need to make sustainability a subject that brings happiness into the world. So what object, place or person always makes you smile?
Speaker 5:My little island in the Caribbean that I call home, and that is a microcosm I see what happens in the wider world. All of that, all of that is reflected on this tiny little island that right now is struggling to get back on its feet. But again it comes back to that will, that determination, the hope of this community in terms of pushing forward, simon.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for this brilliant episode. It's been an incredible conversation, damla. I think it's probably time to wrap us up.
Speaker 2:So thanks to everyone who has listened to our Good Guys podcast, brought to you by the Do Not Smile Network of Agencies.
Speaker 3:And make sure you listen to future episodes where we'll be talking to more amazing people about how we can work together to create a more sustainable future. See you.
Speaker 1:Good Guys, a podcast series on sustainability Hosted by Damla Özler and Steve Connor, brought to you by the DNS Network.
