In this sixth interview of the “17 Rooms” podcast, Amar Bhattacharya and John Podesta discuss a “breakthrough” agenda on climate finance, which is necessary to deliver on greater climate ambition and ensure synergy with the sustainable development agenda.

There are three levels at which things need to get unstuck. The first is ambition. And, 2021 was a very important year in terms of a recognition that the world needs to come together around the 1.5-degree goal, that 2 degrees is simply not good enough. And in order to reach 1.5 degrees, again as John was saying, the science is clear, we have to reach net zero emissions by 2050 collectively. Third, we can’t wait for 2050. The urgency means that we have to actually act on emissions now.

Listen to the full conversation on climate finance with Amar Bhattacharya, John Podesta, Zia Khan, and John McArthur at Brookings.