How do you see your relationship with energy? What costs are we willing to pay to ensure everyone has access to this life force?

For years we have been talking about renewable energy and a just transition to address the climate crisis. But what does it take to get there, what considerations haven’t we yet made? AS COP29 negotiations are going on we thought a conversation about possibilities for our energy sector would be important. On this episode, our guest, Geasean Johnson, former Research, Policy Development, and Advocacy Co-lead joins us for a talk that takes us across the different contexts of the macro and micro scales of energy and life, the social and political imperatives behind energy production, distribution, and consumption. The structures that control power, control the potentials for decarbonization, decentralization, and democratization of our energy sector. This is Power Play.

Water is life, so its scarcity is life-altering. What makes the Caribbean so susceptible to water scarcity? How does it impact our communities? How do water-filled countries in a region surrounded by water struggle to maintain the source of our being; our relationship with water. In this episode, we talk to Environmental Chemist Rashidah Khan, and Activist Jamila Falak about the various aspects of water security. From the technical to the social and community impacts to the creative, spiritual, and Indigenous relationships, we capture the fullness of the importance of understanding why having water everywhere and nowhere all at once is so scary.

Temperature check? Too hot for corals…Episode two of temperature check dives into the ocean where warming waters are killing our corals. After a mass extinction event, coral restoration efforts in Jamaica came to a screeching halt despite the work of environmental experts trying their best to find and preserve survivors. Felix Charnley joins us from Ocho Rios Jamaica where he works to preserve marine ecosystems and Danielle Nembhard joins us from Australia where she is conducting PhD research on Indigenous inclusion in conservation efforts within the Great Barrier Reef (which is the size of Italy). Dive in with us for this vital episode of temperature check where you will learn that ‘when corals die, we know why’.

We’re back! Season 3 of the Environment Speaking podcast, Temperature Check, focuses on our new climate reality. In this episode, we are joined by returning guest Dr. Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, and climate justice activist Luciano Doest from Suriname to discuss life in a new climate. We discuss a wider regional perspective on the climate impacts we are already facing, what is yet to come, and the changes we will have to make to cope and adapt this life in a new climate.

Transparency and turbidity are two sides of the same coin. They are important to understand if we are to see the true impact of our environmental decisions. Whether we are looking at government processes or at the impact on deep-sea ecosystems, transparency matters. Today, the Clarion Clipperton Zone - some of the clearest waters in the world is now under threat from deep-sea mining.

In this, our Season 2 finale of Environmentally Speaking, we explore the concept of government transparency and the importance of understanding ocean turbidity. Join us as we discuss these critical issues with the CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust, Dr. Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, and Paige Samuels - politics and history researcher and host of Checkmate, the political podcast.

There’s a lot more to deep-sea mining than just the pure facts. It’s more than just minerals and the effects can be far beyond any financial or biophysical loss or gains. In this week’s episode, we talk with Danielle Nembhard and Esther Figueroa about the livelihood and the more-than-human impacts of deep-sea mining. By critically exploring different notions on how society is organized around consumerism and our relationships with the environment, we dissected issues on worldview, cultures, political economy, and knowledge systems. This is a mind-bending conversation you don’t want to miss!

In this week's episode, we dove deep into the barriers to environmental journalism. With our guest from the GlobalYaadie Podcast, Dainalyn Swaby, we explored obstacles to covering climate change and environmental issues in mainstream media, dissecting the industry that we rely on for our news and information, in the hopes of holding them to a higher standard of accountability.

This is particularly critical within the context of Deep Sea Mining- an issue that many, still, are unaware of. One that has come into the spotlight after what feels like a long period of operation in the shadows. What is the media's role in these conversations? Is there a duty to inform or a commitment to the bottom line? How far does environmental journalism go?

"On this episode of Diving Deep, we spoke with EcoVybz Podcast creator and the Caribbean representative for the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Khadija Stewart about the risks we face as small island developing states supporting big global north corporations to undertake deep-sea mining. In addition to the potential widespread environmental impacts including, biodiversity loss, carbon-sink disruption, and loss of fisheries, Khadija shared a report from The Metals Company which suggests that the economic benefits may not be that great. Many sources agree, saying that these contracts, like many before, are predatory on small and volatile economies like ours in the Caribbean. So the question is, should we be cautious? What does a precautionary approach look like for us? Is deep-sea mining really worth it?"