Australia heads to the polls this weekend - with climate firmly on the ballot. Is the country ready to lose its reputation as the battleground of the climate wars? And are we about to see a lasting shift in a nation that has for years been torn between its sunlight and its coal?

As a pivotal election looms, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson examine what’s at stake for one of the world’s highest per-capita emitters. After months of polling ahead, the opposition Coalition now faces a late surge from the governing Labor Party, with the Greens, Teals and independents all likely to play a crucial role. The result could reinforce, roll-back or reshape domestic climate policy, and determine whether Australia emerges as a global climate leader at a time when others are stepping away from the stage.

To understand what’s going on, the team calls up friend of the show Dean Bialek, Founder and Managing Director of The Pacific Project. Together, they explore the opportunities for Australia in the energy transition, the narratives and dynamics driving this election, and the country’s potential role as a regional leader as it hopes to host 2026’s COP31 with other Pacific nations.

So, does Australia have a role to play in reigniting regional and global climate momentum? And how will this election shape the climate fight - both within and beyond its borders.

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🌿 Philip Levin’s opinion piece in the New York Times, ‘Trump Tried to Derail Our Work. We Banded Together and Moved Forward.’

🦅 The Economist’s US cover this week, reported by Yahoo

🔬 Hungry Beast’s ‘I’m A Climate Scientist’ video

⚡ ABC News Australia’s graphic, illustrating the shift in Australia’s energy mix

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Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Dino Sofos

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Are we witnessing the beginning of the end for fossil fuels?

This Earth Day, Outrage + Optimism explores a seismic shift in global energy: the possibility that major oil and gas companies are entering a self-managed decline. Have fossil fuel companies been overvalued for decades? And are they now quietly winding themselves down?

For years, analysts and campaigners have questioned why these companies are valued as if they'll pump oil forever. With rising climate risks, tightening regulation, and growing investor scrutiny, the foundations of their business model have looked increasingly shaky.

Now, something remarkable is happening. From Exxon to Shell, oil majors are cutting back on capital investment, failing to replace their reserves, and instead handing profits back to shareholders. Could this be the beginning of an industry in managed decline?

In this Earth Day special, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac, and Paul Dickinson sit down with Mark Campanale, founder of Carbon Tracker and the originator of the ‘stranded assets’ concept that helped launch the global divestment movement.

Is this truly the start of fossil fuel’s final chapter? Or is it a strategic pivot - away from fuels and toward petrochemicals, plastics, and a long tail of influence?

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🏛️ Adam Serwer’s article, ‘The Constitutional Crisis is Here’ in The Atlantic

🖍️ Reporting on the White House deportation cartoon

🚨 Ezra Klein’s video on illegal deportation, ‘The Emergency is Here’

🏳️ Harry Benham’s Substack piece, ‘Leaving the battlefield: oil companies are quitting renewables, yes, but also quitting energy’

🌍 Carbon Tracker’s Paris Maligned

Follow us on social media for behind the scenes moments and to watch our videos:

Instagram @outrageoptimism

LinkedIn @outrageoptimism

Or get in touch with us via this form.

Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Dino Sofos

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the wake of this morning’s sad announcement about the death of Pope Francis, Christiana Figueres reflects on his important legacy as a champion for environmental and justice causes, and shares some of the late Pope’s own words, reflecting on the landmark Paris Agreement.

Learn more

🌍 Pope Francis’s words in Profiles of Paris

📜 Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’: On Care for Our Common Home

Follow us on social media for behind the scenes moments and to watch our videos:

Instagram @outrageoptimism

LinkedIn @outrageoptimism

Or get in touch with us via this form.

Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Video Producer: Caitlin Hanrahan

Exec Producer: Dino Sofos

Commissioning Editor: Sarah Thomas

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.