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Ten years after the Paris Climate Agreement

Ten years after the Paris Climate Agreement

By: RFI English
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This eight-part podcast series examining the Paris Agreement ten years on, featuring global climate leaders discussing progress, challenges, and the dramatic shift in power towards emerging economies. The series explores how multilateral cooperation has evolved despite geopolitical fractures, from industrial transformation and innovative financing to the changing rules of climate leadership. The podcast is based on 28 interviews carried out globally by independent journalist Sophie Larmoyer on behalf of IDDRI, the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations.The series is co-produced in English by RFI and IDDRI.

France Médias Monde Political Science Politics & Government
Episodes
  • Episode 8: after COP30, how can we continue to cooperate?

    Episode 8: after COP30, how can we continue to cooperate?
    Feb 23 2026
    This eight-part podcast series examines the Paris Agreement ten years on, featuring global climate leaders discussing progress, challenges, and the dramatic shift in power towards emerging economies. The series explores how multilateral cooperation has evolved despite geopolitical fractures, from industrial transformation and innovative financing to the changing rules of climate leadership. This episode focuses what happens in wake of COP 30 and how countries can cooperate on climate issues despite geopolitical turbulance. The podcast is based on 28 interviews carried out globally by journalist Sophie Larmoyer on behalf of IDDRI, the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. The final episode opens where the series began: with the question of whether global cooperation on climate is still possible. The answer, from every voice heard here, is yes. But not in the same way, and not with the same players. Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in January 2025 is the unavoidable backdrop. But rather than a death knell, contributors treat it as a reorganizing force. Episode Seven: civil society, a driving force for change? Ana Toni, director of COP30, put it plainly: "One federal government has decided to leave the Paris Agreement. But we have 197 other countries that stayed and are committed to climate change. Carbon molecules don't have passports." For Sonja Klinsky of the University of Arizona, the withdrawal may even create unexpected opportunities. "Sometimes maybe it's even useful having the United States out of the room for a while," she argued, "because maybe we'll start to pay attention to the diversity of countries." Her warning against premature conclusions was equally direct: "We need to be very careful that we don't start declaring the death of multilateralism because of one country being really difficult." The coalition that showed up in Belém COP30 itself demonstrated the point. Trump had no coalition. The real coalition was the one that gathered in Belém. Episode Six: finance, the heart of the matter The episode moves through the economic conditions of the transition, with Maria Mendiluce of We Mean Business making the case for mandated green procurement as the fastest route to scale. The hardest work, as Antoine Oger of the Institute for European Environmental Policy noted, lies ahead: the heavy industries, steel, aluminium, energy-intensive manufacturing, that have no affordable alternative to gas and whose decarbonization will define whether the transition is real or merely partial. On trade, the picture is shifting. With three-quarters of global commerce still conducted under common rules despite American tariffs, Daniel Buira of Tempus Analytica sketched what a genuinely useful green trade deal might look like: Europe securing green iron from Mexico, South Africa, and Brazil, saving its steel industry while fulfilling climate obligations through the supply chain rather than solely through domestic production. Episode Five: how to face climate challenges in a fragmented world Brazil emerges from the episode as a credible host and bridge builder. Laurence Tubiana of the European Climate Foundation identified what set it apart: "Brazil is a deeply multilateral country, which has the ability to speak to everyone." An incredibly dynamic civil society, a government that has demonstrably reduced Amazon deforestation since Lula's return, and a business community that increasingly sees decarbonization as a development model rather than a constraint: these combined to give COP30 a different character from its predecessor in Azerbaijan. Episode Four: climate crises - the urgency to adapt Out of Belém came a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels, with Colombia mobilising a coalition of more than 80 countries and hosting a follow-up conference in April 2026. The Tropical Forests Forever fund, proposed by Brazil and detailed here by Emilio Lebre La Rovere of the University of Rio, represents one of the episode's most concrete ideas. It would reward countries across Amazonia, Indonesia, and the Congo basin not through emissions calculations but on the basis of area successfully protected from deforestation, with 20% of resources ring-fenced for the indigenous communities who are the forests' most effective guardians. Episode Three: energy, the key to success Leadership is moving south On leadership, the episode is unambiguous: it is shifting. Sébastien Treyer, director of IDDRI, offered the clearest account of what 2025 revealed. "It's better to have common rules and the broadest possible multilateral cooperation than to do nothing," he said, summarising the consensus of countries that chose to stay. But he did not flinch from the implication. "Perhaps we'll find ourselves in an evolution of multilateralism where a certain number of things will be defined more by China, India, South Africa, and Brazil than by Europe. We will have to accept that there will be ...
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    37 mins
  • Episode Seven: civil society, a driving force for change?

    Episode Seven: civil society, a driving force for change?
    Feb 9 2026
    This eight-part podcast series examines the Paris Agreement ten years on, featuring global climate leaders discussing progress, challenges, and the dramatic shift in power towards emerging economies. The series explores how multilateral cooperation has evolved despite geopolitical fractures, from industrial transformation and innovative financing to the changing rules of climate leadership. This episode focuses on the role of civil society as a force for change. The podcast is based on 28 interviews carried out globally by journalist Sophie Larmoyer on behalf of IDDRI, the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. Ten years after the Paris Agreement, the narrative of widespread public rejection of climate action appears to be more media construction than reality. Despite claims of a powerful anti-environmental backlash, particularly in Europe following the 2024 parliamentary elections, opinion polls reveal a starkly different picture. Episode One: behind the scenes of a historic agreement In France, recent polling shows 84 percent hold positive views of renewable energy, with 81% even supporting renewable infrastructure near their homes. The infamous Duplomb law, which sought to ease environmental constraints on agriculture, prompted a record-breaking petition with over two million signatures demanding its repeal. The disconnect between perceived opposition and actual public sentiment reflects what analysts describe as political instrumentalisation. Sébastien Treyer, director of IDDRI, notes that far-right parties are "using the ecological transition as a dividing line to try to attract voters" rather than responding to genuine grassroots resistance. Episode Two: the decarbonisation quest Laurent Fabius, who presided over COP21, identifies two neglected aspects: "the education and training aspect and the social justice aspect." He warns that without people believing change is possible for them, "the answer is no." The concept of just transition, long overlooked, has emerged as essential to maintaining public support. The European Green Deal's ambitious environmental targets failed to adequately address social impacts. Antoine Oger of the Institute for European Environmental Policy calls this "potentially one of the strongest" criticisms of the policy. The challenge of balancing decarbonisation with social protection plays out differently across contexts. Sonja Klinsky, who teaches at the University of Arizona, observes that Americans struggling economically see climate action as financial loss, making cheap petrol promises "more important on a daily level than potential long-term risk." In South Africa, 90,000 coal miners face unemployment as the country phases out fossil fuels. Sébastien Treyer describes how "the poorest members of the Black community" remain trapped in mining sector dependence, making decarbonisation "a co-benefit of a policy that should above all be a social policy." Episode Three: energy, the key to success India has identified 28 new value chains, from renewable energy to bamboo cultivation. Arunabha Ghosh of the CEEW research institute explains that just transition means "a people-centric approach towards better economic empowerment" that could create a million jobs by 2030. Even Germany's €40 billion transformation fund for coal-mining regions has sparked controversy. Civil society groups argue these relatively well-paid miners have received disproportionate support compared to workers in precarious employment facing equally difficult transitions. Youth movements have injected new urgency into climate politics. The Fridays for Future movement, born from Greta Thunberg's school strikes, now claims 14 million participants across 7,500 cities worldwide. Luisa Neubauer, who led major demonstrations in Germany, recalls the Paris Agreement arriving "almost like a big hug" promising safety for young people. Her disillusionment came upon discovering new coal power plants planned after Paris was signed, prompting the youth climate movement. Episode Four: climate crises - the urgency to adapt These movements face increasing criminalisation in countries like Britain. Rob Hopkins describes "an astonishing attack on civil liberties" as protests against fossil fuel expansion become increasingly difficult under recent governments aligned with oil and gas industries. Indigenous peoples, custodians of approximately 80 percent of the planet's biodiversity, have gained modest recognition since 2015. Their sustainable land management practices show significantly lower deforestation rates than Western private ownership models, offering lessons for climate adaptation strategies. Trade unions have emerged as crucial actors, particularly in coal-dependent nations. Poland's strategic manoeuvring on just transition demonstrates how organised labour can shape transition pathways, with international union confederations developing sophisticated doctrines on fair climate action....
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    37 mins
  • Episode Six: finance, the heart of the matter

    Episode Six: finance, the heart of the matter
    Feb 1 2026
    This eight-part podcast series examines the Paris Agreement ten years on, featuring global climate leaders discussing progress, challenges, and the dramatic shift in power towards emerging economies. The series explores how multilateral cooperation has evolved despite geopolitical fractures, from industrial transformation and innovative financing to the changing rules of climate leadership. This episode focuses on finance and explains why money remains the central issue in the fight against climate change. The podcast is based on 28 interviews carried out globally by journalist Sophie Larmoyer on behalf of IDDRI, the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations. Rich countries pledged $100 billion annually in 2009 to help developing nations tackle climate change. By COP29 in 2024, that target rose to $300 billion. Yet experts now say we need $1.3 trillion per year. Episode Five: How to face climate challenges in a fragmented world? The gap is stark. As UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned in summer 2025: "Africa is home to 60% of the world's best solar resources, but it received just 2% of global clean energy investment last year." For many developing countries, ambitious climate plans remain theoretical without funding. Sudanese activist Nisreen Elsaim puts it simply: "There's always money to develop this piece of paper, but there is never money to actually implement it." Private capital: essential but uneven Private investment must drive the transition, yet it flows unevenly. Renewable energy projects in Africa face risk premiums four times higher than identical projects in Europe. Without public guarantees to "de-risk" these investments, developing countries pay the price. Episode Four: climate crises - the urgency to adapt India shows how markets can shift. When the country launched its solar programme in the 2010s, private finance was scarce. Today, it attracts around $50 billion annually in clean energy investment, mostly from private sources. Loss and damage: a breakthrough unfulfilled After 30 years of advocacy, COP28 in Dubai established a Loss and Damage Fund in 2023, addressing the irreversible impacts of climate change. Over the past two decades, the 55 most vulnerable countries have suffered about $580 billion in climate damages. Episode Three: energy, the key to success Yet two years after its creation, the fund hasn't reached $1 billion. Contributions remain voluntary. Reforming the old order The World Bank and International Monetary Fund, created in 1944, now face calls for fundamental reform. Their governance structures remain locked in by northern countries and are seen as inadequate for today's climate emergency. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley has led the charge with her "Bridgetown Agenda", demanding wholesale reform. The scale of action required isn't hundreds of billions, she argues, but thousands of billions annually. Episode Two: the decarbonisation quest Meanwhile, new players have emerged. The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the BRICS New Development Bank, both based in China, represent alternative governance models that are already functioning. New tools for new challenges Innovative mechanisms are emerging. "Just Energy Transition Partnerships" provide tailored funding for countries like South Africa and Vietnam to shift away from fossil fuels whilst supporting affected workers. Episode One: behind the scenes of a historic agreement There's growing momentum for new taxes targeting major polluters. A working group led by Laurence Tubiana is exploring levies on aviation, shipping, fossil fuel production and cryptocurrency mining. She calculates that a tax on first and business class airline tickets plus a modest $1 levy per barrel of oil "amounts to at least $500 billion per year." As Brazilian climate official Ana Toni notes: "Who is polluting should be paying." The tools exist. The question is whether political will can match the scale of the crisis. Listen to this episode to find out.
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    35 mins
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