CLIMATE COSTS: December 2025 podcast playlist

Climate change is often spoken about in sweeping global terms — rising temperatures, melting glaciers, unprecedented storms. But what does it actually cost us? How is it affecting our wallets already today? From the aftermath of a hurricane to the political tightrope of carbon taxes, to “”the single most impactful thing that the average American can do for climate change””, this month we’re looking at how people today are trying to measure and manage the price of a warming planet.

For an issue so often dominated by scientific reports and political debates, these stories offer a look that’s a little closer to home: the hidden calculations behind rebuilding after disasters, an extra few cents at the pump, and the investment funds that fund our dreams and retirement. So here are a few stories beneath the headlines and beyond the charts, including some that challenge conventional wisdom about what climate action truly requires, and who will ultimately foot that bill.

This playlist was curated by Sam, the leader of our Cologne/Bonn chapter.

Podcast Playlist on CLIMATE COSTS

Get the full playlist on your podcast player of choice using these platforms:

 
Living Planet: “Part 1: How much does a hurricane cost?” (April 2025, 42 min)
A straightforward look at the real financial toll of major storms, from destroyed infrastructure to the hidden long-term economic drag.
Zero: The Climate Race: “How Canada figured out a carbon tax and gave the money back” (July 2023, 33 min)
A breakdown of how Canada pulled off a politically fraught carbon-pricing system and why refunding the revenue actually worked.
How We Survive: “ESG, Reincarnated” (April 2025, 24 min)
An unvarnished look at how ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) is being rebranded after backlash—and whether any of the new promises hold up.
Bonus podcast episodes:

• Scene on Radio: “S5 E8: Last Orders” (November 2021, 33 min)
  A sharp examination of the political and cultural forces steering climate inaction, told through the lens of systems that are designed to resist change.
• 99% Invisible: “Not Built for This #6: Maximum Temperature” (September 2024, 41 min)
  A clear-eyed explanation of how heat limits push buildings, infrastructure, and human bodies past what they were engineered to withstand.
• The Newsworthy: “Special Edition: Home Insurance Crisis – LA Fires, Rising Rates & What to Know” (January 2025, 20 min)
  A quick, practical walkthrough of why home insurance is spiraling in fire-prone regions and what homeowners are realistically up against.
• Living Planet: “Part 5: What the economy gets wrong about nature” (May 2025, 37 min)
  A critique of economic models that pretend nature’s value is optional—and the consequences of mispricing the living world.

Conversation Starter Questions:

1. “What surprised you most about the real cost of climate change — financial or otherwise — in these stories?
2. Did any of these episodes challenge assumptions you previously held about climate policy?
3. From your perspective, who should be responsible for paying the costs of climate change — governments, corporations, individuals, or some combination?
4. After hearing how Canada approached carbon pricing, how do you think political will is built (or lost) around climate policies?
5. Taken together, do these episodes paint climate change as primarily an economic issue, a political one, or a deeply human one?
6. What “costs” of climate change — immediate or long-term — feel most urgent in your own community?”