Shownotes

Against the mounting backdrop of rising global temperatures, record-breaking extreme weather, and the UK's wettest winter on record in 2024, governments and major corporations are increasingly retreating from climate commitments. The EU reported concerning rise in greenhouse gas emissions in 2024, the UK has postponed key net zero targets, Germany has scaled back renewable investments, (let’s not talk about the US) and fossil fuel giants such as Shell, BP, and TotalEnergies have revised or deferred climate pledges and clean energy projects, citing economic pressures and regulatory uncertainty. As we witness the global momentum on climate action wane — particularly in the West, where initiatives have been de-prioritised and progress has slowed — the urgency for innovation and collaboration has never been greater.

In the latest episode of The Elephant in the Room podcast, I explore the evolving landscape of climate justice with Ashok Sinha, a prominent climate and social justice activist and current CEO of Ashden - a climate solutions charity. Ashok co-founded the UK Make Poverty History campaign; was a key figure in the Jubilee Debt Campaign; a Director at Stop Climate Chaos (now the Climate Coalition) – playing a pivotal role in securing UK’s Climate Change Act 2008; he was also the CEO of the London Cycling Campaign.

Ashok brings critical insights from his extensive experience at the forefront of landmark campaigns and policy change, offering a pragmatic perspective on the challenges and opportunities ahead for climate action worldwide. We also spoke about

👉🏾 The urgent need for collective action, and the importance of partnerships and coalitions in driving impact

👉🏾 The role of the private sector in accelerating and deepening change and the need for regulatory frameworks that encourage investment and innovation

👉🏾 The significance of storytelling in climate advocacy and how personal narratives can galvanise support for sustainable practices and policies

👉🏾 Climate misinformation/disinformation

👉🏾 AI as a risk or an enabler for the sector; Climate fatigue; Skills shortage in the sector

We also spoke about Just Transition - advocating for equitable opportunities for marginalised communities affected by climate policies and changes. Ashok ended the conversation with an unwavering belief in humanity’s capacity to overcome adversity and foster positive change through collective effort and resilience.

#Collaboration #Inspiration #ClimateAction #Sustainability #SocialJustice #ClimateInnovation #JustTransition #ClimateLeadership #ClimateSolutions #Ashden

#ClimateJustice #ZeroCarbon

Episode Transcript:

Sudha Singh: Good morning, Ashok. Thank you for being a guest on the Elephant in the Room podcast today.

Ashok Sinha: My pleasure entirely Sudha. Thank you so much for inviting me.

Sudha Singh: Let's start with a quick introduction. Who is Ashok Sinha? How would you describe yourself as a climate activist, evangelist or campaigner?

You do have a great track record for leading some great campaigns including Make Poverty History, Climate Coalition, London Cycling Campaign. Wow.

Ashok Sinha: Well, that's kind of you to say.

I have done a lot of different things, so I, find it quite hard to categorize myself and it's not something I normally try to do actually. I'm not sure how sensible or useful it is.

It all started with me because I loved science and I studied physics and did a Ph.D. in, energy systems modelling and then climate change research and then went into policy and advocacy. So it's a range of activities but focused around energy, climate and broad, more broadly sustainability.

I'll use that term it's a highly interpretable term but at the same time in, in my own personal life, I've always been very concerned about what contribution I can make to you could call it social justice for want of a better word. It started when I was in sixth form and I, I, I volunteered in our local hospital. I just wanted to make a contribution and so I've always volunteered, served on board like Amnesty UK and, and so on. Currently on the board of Friends of the Earth Charitable Trust.

When I get up in the morning, I just want to do something useful, I want to make a contribution and so, chairing the London Sustainable Development Commission as well, broadening out the whole issue around, environmental sustainability connected with, improving people's well-being and increasing the level of equity and happiness and quality of life for people. So I guess, what would I say? I guess science led worker for advocate for sustainability.

Sudha Singh: We tried to put everything into one word. It's really difficult considering your vast experience and like you said, I think stressing on the science based is very, very.

Ashok Sinha

Critical in today's, that's really important to me.

Ashok Sinha: It comes to the social justice side of the, of the, the work that we all do. Evidence, data.

Sudha Singh: So, moving from there, tell me about your current role in Ashden and what its priorities are.

Ashok Sinha: Well, it's a, it's a very great privilege to, to lead Ashden. Ashden was founded 25 years ago this year by a woman called Sarah Butler Sloss and she's one of the group of philanthropists that come together within an umbrella organisation called the Sainsbury's Family Charitable Trust. So there's a variety of organizations there, most of them are philanthropic. Ashden itself started as a grant giver but then it split into two organizations. The grant making was retained in an organization called Aurora Trust. And we, we have to raise our own money to go out and do work in the world.

But it started as an awards ceremony, an annual awards program. And at that point 25 years ago it was based on shining a spotlight and it still is. The awards shining a spotlight on unseen innovators who are tackling the climate emergency. Then it was innovators in the global south, the global majority working on clean cooking and solar in particular.

But over the 25 years the awards and Ashden itself have broadened out to look at clean energy and renewables, nature-based solutions and the ways in which they can be promoted. It could be financial mechanisms; it could be ways of organizing for profit and not for profit. We look at those sorts of organizations and we give them awards and we give them support.

Yes, but we also have programmatic work now and the biggest program is our schools program called ‘Let's Go Zero’, which is across the whole of the UK but in England in particular. We have advisors across the England working directly with schools to help them decarbonize by 2030, and other programs in the UK working with community energy organizations, supporting local and community groups who are finding their way, towards creating new nature-based solutions to help adapt their local communities to the level of climate change that is coming through the system.

Sub Saharan Africa, a big program on clean energy access, a new program that we have working to help indigenous peoples and local community groups raise livelihoods as a means of protecting tropical forests. So it's a range of activity that has been spawned from the initial annual award. But the theme essentially is reducing carbon, adapting to the climate change.

It's already locked in but doing it in a way that delivers for communities, for local people, for local areas especially taking an area-based approach to put it all together. And the final point, I would say is we know that we're not going to change the world by ourselves. We're not going to try. We wouldn't have that level of hubris. So it's incredibly important. Ultimately, we're storytellers fundamentally to tell those stories to people who have the hands on the levers of power, whether it's finance, whether it's policy, whether it's regulation, politicians to say, look, this stuff works.

Ashok Sinha: You can liberate this innovation, you can bring the different components of systemic change together and you can scale and accelerate those solutions. You know, there's great people doing stuff, great stuff out there, but to hit our targets, you've got to support them, and this is how you need to support them.

Ashok Sinha: And we work very collaboratively with others. So lots of organizations who are good at political engagement, good at community engagement.

And so we don't, we don't, we don't try to do everything, but our contribution is, is the great stories.

Sudha Singh: And are there any campaigns that you're particularly proud of?

I tell you what, there's a couple of things that I am really proud of. So going back to 2005, I was, I was appointed as the direc...

142: Social Justice, sustainability and innovative pathways for climate action: A conversation with Ashok Sinha