Carbon Credit Markets Have a Human Rights Problem

Drilled global climate justice reporter Nina Lakhani interviews Elisa Morgera, the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change about Morgera’s latest report on the fundamental shortcomings of credit markets. Posed as a solution to the climate crisis, carbon credit markets have for years failed to deliver, while violating the human rights of the people most impacted by the climate crisis. Meanwhile, states have developed carbon tunnel-vision, fixating on schemes to reduce carbon emissions, while avoiding the root cause of the issue: fossil fuels. Lakhani and Morgera discuss all that and more.Reading list from today’s show: 1. Elisa Morgera's latest report on rethinking carbon markets. 2. Elisa's report on transforming food systems3. Diana Taremwa-Karakire's recent piece for Drilled on a Kenyan carbon credit project4. Nina Lakhani’s analysis on the Santa Marta climate conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels  5. More reporting on the failures of carbon markets  6. Amy Westervelt's book: https://geni.us/broughttoyoubySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today we're sharing an episode of OCCUPY!: An Unfinished Uprising. The story of Occupy Wall Street — how it exploded, how it collapsed, and why its lessons may matter more now than ever before — from the voices of activists who camped out in New York City for two months. If you like what you hear, find OCCUPY!: An Unfinished Uprising wherever you listen to podcasts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this week's episode Alleen Brown speaks with Aru Shiney-Ajay, executive director of The Sunrise Movement about being infiltrated by the feds, why fighting authoritarianism is a climate fight, and more. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re sharing a special episode from our friends at the Real Organic Podcast, the Anthem-award-winning “Best Sustainability, Environment & Climate Podcast” produced by the Real Organic Project. Recently named one of the "best climate podcasts" by Earth.org, the Real Organic Podcast uncovers the forces reshaping organic farming today. Hosted by Linley Dixon and Dave Chapman, each episode features deep conversations with farmers, scientists, chefs, and journalists fighting to keep the organic movement truly organic. Like today’s special episode, featuring Drilled’s own Amy Westervelt, for a conversation about the hidden systems and greenwashing campaigns that have shaped public discourse and debate for more than a century. From early corporate PR to modern think tanks and strategic legal influence, she shows how the information ecosystem itself has been bent in service of fossil fuel profits. For more episodes like this, make sure to follow Real Organic Podcast, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. And tell them we sent you.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Amy Westervelt, Nina Lakhani and Alleen Brown on the world on fire, how the media is covering the climate crisis, what's happening with the industry as a whole, and how it all relates to rising authoritarianism. The Spill is our new weekly show to bring you news, rants, and interviews in between narrative seasons. Reading list from today's show: Amy's book: geni.us/broughttoyouby The Guardian on fossil fuel companies' war profiteering: https://www.theguardian.com/business/ng-interactive/2026/aug/04/revealed-major-oil-firms-make-93bn-profits-amid-war-and-climate-crisis Nina's past reporting on extreme heat deaths: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/ng-interactive/2025/oct/09/extreme-heat-deaths-autopsy Drilled coverage of criminal conduct in Venezuela: https://drilled.media/news/hopenhaym Drilled reporting on the U.S.-Venezuela-Guyana triangle: https://drilled.media/news/guyana-venezuela Alleen's new series "The Propagandist": https://drilled.media/podcasts/drilled/16/s16-ep01 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Alleen could only put together a story like this because she's stayed on the beat for a decade, building relationships and hunting for documents. At the 10-year anniversary of the Standing Rock movement, she gives us a look at why it's important for democracy for journalists to go deeper than breaking news. Speaking of which...Buy Amy's book! https://geni.us/broughttoyoubyFor a look at the primary documents underpinning this series, head to https://drilled.media/.This mini-series was reported in partnership with High Country News, and a print feature accompanying it is available on their website: https://www.hcn.org/issues/58-8/inside-standing-rocks-propaganda-war/.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The pipeline has been built, the protest camps disbanded, but the fight isn't over. As pipeline opponents set up a new camp in Iowa, the Tiger Swan propagandists follow them, this time with the help of an undercover infiltrator. A WhatsApp chat reveals the private spies' machinations.For a look at the primary documents underpinning this episode, head to https://drilled.media/.This mini-series was reported in partnership with High Country News, and a print feature accompanying it is available on their website: https://www.hcn.org/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline began to grow in North Dakota, a new seemingly grassroots Facebook page emerged. In this episode we meet the hired gun behind it, Robert Rice, who was working for the pipeline company's private security company, Tiger Swan.For a look at the primary documents underpinning this episode, head to the Drilled site. This mini-series was reported in partnership with High Country News, and a print feature accompanying it is available on their website. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

10 years ago, rural North Dakota became the hub of one of the largest Indigenous-led protests in decades, and one of the largest climate protests ever in U.S. history: Standing Rock. What started as a protest against a pipeline turned into a political flashpoint thanks to social media. The pipeline company's private security contractors exploited the moment, using propaganda to fan the flames of long-simmering divisions in the community and amplify the voices of groups that were pro-pipeline or anti-protestor. A decade later, the community is still divided and the tactics used at Standing Rock have been used to sew division all over the country. Never-before-published documents give us a unique insight into the strategy deployed back then, and into how things got the way they are today. Drilled: The Propagandist begins on August 25. Pushkin+ subscribers can hear all three episodes early and ad-free. Find Pushkin+ on the Drilled show page on Apple Podcasts or at pushkin.fm/plus. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The climate crisis is escalating. We have to decarbonize our economy, but we’re moving too slowly. So, what’s the backup plan? This season of “How We Survive” is about engineering nature: large-scale interventions that could be our last hope. We’ll explore technology that could alter our weather patterns, transform our planet, and possibly save us all from the worst outcomes of the climate crisis. Or lead to catastrophic, unintended consequences. In this episode, Amy explores one of the wildest climate interventions to date: de-extinction. She takes a tour of Colossal Labs, the $10 billion Dallas startup betting it can reverse-engineer extinction itself, to see how they plan to turn pigeons into dodos and Asian elephants into woolly mammoths. But whether it’s bringing back the woolly mammoth from extinction or shooting sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, just because we can mess with nature, does that mean we should? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.