Cleaning Up: Leadership in an Age of Climate Change

What will be the long-term impact of the US’s great leap backward on clean energy? How will the emergency of China as an electrotech giant reshape geopolitics? And what will be the defining trends and technologies of 2026?In this end-of-year episode of Cleaning Up, Baroness Bryony Worthington is joined by Lord Adair Turner, Chair of the Energy Transitions Commission, for a wide-ranging, candid, and occasionally fiery conversation about where the energy transition truly stands.Looking back on a decade since the Paris Agreement and ahead to the road beyond 2025, Turner delivers a clear-eyed diagnosis: emissions and politics are heading in the wrong direction, but technologies — including solar PV, batteries, and the wider “electrotech stack” — are advancing faster than almost anyone expected.Together, Bryony and Adair unpack why electrification is emerging as the central lever for decarbonising transport, industry, and heat; how China’s clean-tech machine is reshaping global energy economics; and why abundant, ultra-cheap electricity could fundamentally change prosperity, geopolitics, and climate outcomes.They also grapple with the harder questions: affordability versus ambition, the limits of carbon pricing, the challenge of decarbonising steel, cement, aviation and shipping, and the disruptive impact of US politics on global climate cooperation. They debate whether COPs still matter, why “nearly clean” power may be smarter than chasing absolute purity, and what breakthroughs could surprise us next.Leadership Circle:Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.Discover more:Energy Transitions Commission: https://www.energy-transitions.org/Power Up: How Clean Energy Is Putting Fossil Fuel Demand in Doubt: https://www.energy-transitions.org/publications/power-up-fossil-fuel-demand-in-doubt/Lord Turner’s previous appearance on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/xxTngGxpeW0 Why Is It So Hard to Clean Up Global Shipping? | Ep229: Tristan Smith: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdUCidkeDto 

What happens when clean energy starts to outgrow fossil fuels at scale? Is it right to call China an electrostate? And how long will we be reliant on hydrocarbons?This week on Cleaning Up, host Michael Liebreich sits down with Lord Browne of Madingley — former CEO of BP and one of the earliest voices inside Big Oil to publicly call for emissions reductions from fossil fuels.  Recorded in front of a live audience in London, the discussion explores how geopolitics, energy security, AI, and rising global anxiety are reshaping the path to decarbonisation. Lord Browne reflects on launching BP’s original “Beyond Petroleum” strategy, his current work investing billions through BeyondNetZero, and why the future of climate action will be driven as much by adaptation, resilience, and people as by technology itself.From the rise of China as an electrification juggernaut and the US as an AI-powered energy giant, to the tipping point where clean energy demand could finally outpace fossil fuels, this episode offers rare insight from someone who has shaped — and challenged — the global energy system from the inside.Leadership Circle:Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.Discover more:BeyondNetZero: https://www.generalatlantic.com/climate/Lord Browne’s previous appearance on Cleaning Up: https://youtu.be/8VXQ2EGAcGMThe Pragmatic Climate Reset, Part 1: https://youtu.be/OHKGor2_BzQ

What happens when a nation’s energy security rests on volatile global gas markets? Why does the UK pay market prices for some of the world’s cheapest-to-produce gas? And is now the moment to rethink decades of “leave it to the market” dogma?This week on Cleaning Up, Baroness Bryony Worthington sits down with Seb Kennedy, energy journalist and founder of Energy Flux, to unpack the turbulent geopolitics of natural gas, the coming LNG glut, and why the UK–Norway relationship sits at the heart of Britain’s energy affordability crisis.Drawing on their recent joint op-ed, Bryony and Seb explore the UK’s dependence on Norwegian gas, the vast windfalls that have flowed into Norway’s sovereign wealth fund since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and whether a new bilateral deal could shield consumers from future price shocks. They examine the structural forces reshaping global gas markets, the rise of speculative trading, and whether electrification will become harder when gas gets cheap.Leadership Circle:Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP of Portugal, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.Discover more:Read Seb & Bryony’s Op-Ed on Energy Flux: https://www.energyflux.news/uk-norway-gas-trade-time-for-a-new-deal/Seb’s Energy Flux Podcast: https://www.energyflux.news/tag/podcast/Michael’s conversation with Carine Ihenecho Smith, Chief Governance and Compliance Officer at Norges Bank Investment Group: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H028Vwf7pNMThe UK’s updated plan for the North Sea gas transition: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/north-sea-future-plan-for-fair-managed-and-prosperous-transitionBritain eases opposition to new oil, gas permits, holds firm on taxes | Reuters: https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/uk-government-allows-some-new-oil-gas-fields-holds-firm-taxes-2025-11-26/

What does it take to build Europe’s largest and most sustainable data-centre campus, from an empty plot of land to a 1.2-gigawatt giant of AI? How do you future-proof a facility when chip technology is evolving at breakneck speed? And what happens when the site of former coal-fired power plant becomes a global hub for AI?In this special, on-location episode of Cleaning Up, Michael Liebreich visits Sines, Portugal, where Start Campus is transforming the site of a decommissioned coal plant into a next-generation data-centre campus that once finished will be Europe’s largest data centre. CEO Robert Dunn takes us inside the first operational building, currently 29MW but just 2.5% of what’s to come, to explore the engineering, economics, and vision behind a €10 billion physical infrastructure build that will eventually house an additional €40 billion in incoming IT hardware.From earthquake-proof structures to seawater cooling and uninterruptible power supply systems, Rob breaks down what it means to design for 99.99999% uptime in an AI-driven world. Michael and Rob also dive into the reality and hype surrounding AI: the surge in GPU-hungry AI training, the race to build at gigawatt scale, the challenges of financing these mega-projects, and the balancing act between speed, cost, sustainability, and long-term viability.Set against the backdrop of Microsoft’s freshly announced $10 billion investment in the Sines campus, this episode illuminates how the data-centre industry is reshaping global energy systems, local communities, and the future of compute.Leadership Circle:Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP of Portugal, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live. Discover more:Watch this episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/juAyLAUmU3wThe Start Campus website: https://www.startcampus.pt/Microsoft makes one of its largest investments in Europe at Start Campus in Portugal: https://www.startcampus.pt/microsoft-makes-one-of-its-largest-investments-in-europe-at-start-campus-in-portugalMichael’s Green Giant’s Whitepaper: https://pioneerpoint.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2021.11.17-Green-Giants-White-Paper-Final.pdfThe Year Energy Woke Up To AI | Audioblog 14: Generative AI, The Power and the Glory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwZ2iNh133A

What happens when the world’s most ambitious climate state runs head-on into a hostile federal government? Can California still lead the clean-energy transition while battling rising costs, wildfires and the Trump government’s sweeping tariffs? And what does a “pragmatic reset” on climate policy look like when the stakes have never been higher?This week on Cleaning Up Bryony Worthington sits down with Liane Randolph, former Chair of the California Air Resources Board (CARB) and longtime public servant, shaping California’s climate, energy, and air-quality strategy. Across roles spanning the Public Utilities Commission and state natural resources agencies, Randolph has been at the center of some of the most consequential policy decisions in the United States — from the rise of rooftop solar and utility-scale storage to the creation of zero-emission vehicle mandates and the state’s pioneering cap-and-invest system.Together, they unpack how California built the modern EV market, the origins of the famous “duck curve,” and why central planning turned out to be critical for keeping the lights on in a decarbonizing grid. Randolph also details the extraordinary federal pushback now facing the state: repealed Clean Air Act waivers, legal battles over truck and car standards, and tariff-driven supply-chain shocks that threaten progress.The episode explores:The past and future of California’s zero-emission vehicle strategy — from catalytic converters to the birth of TeslaWhy batteries exploded onto the grid, and how wildfire adaptation is reshaping costsThe mechanics and impacts of California’s whole-economy cap-and-invest programThe new affordability crisis — and whether a pragmatic climate “reset” is neededElectric aviation, high-speed rail, and the technologies California should bet on nextThe state’s 2045 net-zero planning — and which sectors will need breakthroughs like DAC and industrial CCSLeadership Circle:Cleaning Up is supported by the Leadership Circle, and its founding members: Actis, Alcazar Energy, Davidson Kempner, EcoPragma Capital, EDP of Portugal, Eurelectric, the Gilardini Foundation, KKR, National Grid, Octopus Energy, Quadrature Climate Foundation, SDCL and Wärtsilä. For more information on the Leadership Circle, please visit https://www.cleaningup.live.Discover more:CARB: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/First Cars, Now Planes: Is The Future of Flying Electric? Ep194: Anders Forslund: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hW3uTBbAGHAWhy Is It So Hard to Clean Up Global Shipping? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdUCidkeDto