The Democratic Republic of Congo produces over 70% of the words Cobalt, a key material in many modern bateries and clean energy technologies.

It is a mining powerhouse, central to the global energy system, and yet the economy remains one of the poorest in the world.

So what do these mines look like on the ground? Why have Chinese firms been buying up more of the country's mines? and what does all of this have to do with the EV in your driveway?

In our final episode before Christmas we are joined by Dr Ben Radley, Associate Professor at the University of Bath and author of Disrupted Development in the Congo: The Fragile Foundations of the African Mining Consensus (Oxford University Press).

Alongside our host, former UK government advisor and Cambridge Fellow Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, Ben talks to us about all of this and more, to understand the critical role of DRC in the energy system, and whether a fairer mining deal is possible.

Are businesses leaders or laggards in the energy transition?

Despite attempts by some to paint clean energy and net zero as anti-business and anti-growth, business leaders themselves are broadly supportive of the shift and see it as a place of economic opportunity.

This week our host Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett sits down with Rachel Solomon Williams, CEO of the Aldersgate Group, who work directly with leading businesses such as IKEA,Tesco and Aviva to affect positive change on the ground.

They discuss the unique position of companies to deploy changes quickly and the potential to save costs alongside emissions, as well as the real short-term challenges of competing with those that have lower environmental standards and the limits of businesses given the profit motive.

The politics of net zero is changing. The term itself falling out of favour.

According to the media, the consensus is fraying at the edges, with Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch banging the anti-net zero drum at every chance they get.

And yet, beneath the surface there is still a relative amount of agreement. Labour, the Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru, and the insurgent Greens all agree that climate and clean energy are core to the UK's future.

So what's changed? With our guest Harry Shackleton (Inflect) we look at how fractitious modern politics is bleeding into the net zero debate, the weak leadership of Starmer, and what lessons can be learned from the likes of Zohran Mamdani in the US on delivering a message effectively.

The show is hosted by Sulaiman Ilyas-Jarrett, former senior government advisor and Policy Fellow at the Cambridge Centre for Science and Policy.