The world is on fire. We have to radically and rapidly transform every aspect of society to stay within 1.5 degrees of global warming. How is this possible? And how do we do this in a way that is fair? Ecological economists integrating ecological and critical social perspectives have long been working on ideas to bring about just sustainability transformations. This podcast aims at communicating these ideas in order to open them to critical discussion, from global problems to people’s everyday lives.
Managing the future of critical minerals in the UK
Ecological economics pays a lot of attention to the fundamental flow of materials and impacts that underpin economic activities. So-called critical minerals sit at the centre of some of the biggest questions facing modern societies: the energy transition, industrial strategy, national security, and environmental sustainability. For decades, countries like the UK largely offshored the environmental and social costs of extraction while benefiting from the technologies and prosperity those supply chains enabled. But as geopolitical tensions rise and demand for batteries, renewables, AI infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing accelerates, the UK is once again confronting the material foundations of its economy — and with that comes difficult questions about mining, reindustrialisation, environmental tradeoffs, and what a just transition actually means for communities that have already lived through industrial decline. We’re joined by geographer Jamie Hinch and ecologist Dr Sarah Raymond from the University of Oxford to explore not just the economics or geopolitics of these materials, but the deeper human stories, political tensions, and competing visions of the future that surround them. Hosted by Sophus zu Ermgassen. Edited by Aidan Knox. Episode picture by Matthew de Livera.
22 Jun 2026
Eradicating poverty beyond growth - Olivier De Schutter
Mainstream economic thought believes that economic growth can end poverty as prosperity through more growth trickles down to those in need. The tide lifts all boats as they say. However, current experiences do not seem to underpin this principle, and it is time that our societies reevaluate this stance and look for solutions that can truly eradicate poverty. In April 2026, a report was presented by Olivier De Schutter in his role as UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights aimed at providing a roadmap that sets out alternative development pathways that can end poverty and inequalities on a liveable planet. In today’s episode we explore with him what this roadmap entails. Hosted by Alexandra Köves. Edited by Aidan Knox.
12 May 2026
Reimagining Nature Finance
Global biodiversity is in decline and transformative change is required to address biodiversity loss. Yet the predominant approaches that are prevailing in policy and industry focus on the so-called biodiversity funding gap, and aim to deliver biodiversity conservation primarily through attracting more private investment- often associated with creating new revenue streams for funding nature conservation and restoration, such as the expansion of biodiversity or carbon credit markets. Today’s guest Justin Adams is Reimagining Nature Finance Fellow at the Circular Bioeconomy Alliance and cofounder of Ostara and has formerly held very senior positions in some of the biggest players in nature finance, such as environmental NGOs like the Nature Conservancy and sustainability-focused asset managers such as Just Climate, aiming to attract more investment into nature conservation and restoration. But after decades of doing this, Justin ended up coming to the conclusion that these approaches just weren't a systemic solution to the problem. So: what’s next? How can we reimagine nature finance? Hosted by Sophus zu Ermgassen. Edited by Aidan Knox. Cover photo Drazen Nesic.
Inside a recent episode
An introduction to industrial ecology - Paul Behrens
Published 4 Jun 2025 · Transcript excerpt
[…] And then the wastes of that are then excreted from society. So it's all like a big super organism in a sense. We're extracting all these materials all the way through to the end of use. But I think where socio -economic metabolism and industrial ecology is particularly interested there is the important part of this is not simply that if you want to make things better for the environment youth that make things more efficient, you look at everything. So you look at the materials that are coming, what they're actually being used for, but also what are the services and the needs that they're sort of supplying to people at the very end. […]
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