Saving the Amazon rainforest is not just about raising alarms but also about finding ways to make harvesting its trees more profitable than tearing them down.
The Amazon rainforest has been called “the lungs of the planet” as it plays an outsized role in absorbing the Earth’s carbon dioxide output. But industrial interests have led to rapid deforestation in parts of the Amazon, which is not only disrupting ecosystems but also indigenous communities. To get a better sense of the human impact of deforestation, host John Sutter speaks with the climate activist Nina Gualinga. Gualinga is from the Kichwa community of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon.
Later in the program, what if the forest itself could become more profitable than logged timber and meat? The journalist Paula Moura brings us a story from the Brazilian Amazon on how local communities, NGOs, and scientists are combining conservation and technology in search of ways to make sure that trees are more valuable if they’re kept alive.
About Heat of the Moment: The climate change crisis can feel so formidable, so daunting, that instead of mobilizing people to action, it engenders paralysis. What could we mortals possibly do to prevent the calamity? A fair bit, it turns out. On Heat of the Moment, a 10-part podcast by FP Studios, in partnership with the Climate Investment Funds, we focus on ordinary people across the globe who have found ways to fight back. Hosted by CNN contributor John D. Sutter, Heat of the Moment tells the stories of the people on the front lines of the fight against climate change. See All Episodes
More Heat of the Moment episodes:
Building a Life-Giving Economy
A conversation with climate writer and podcaster Katherine Wilkinson.
Why Saving Forests Involves Rethinking Jobs
And how to bolster better paying jobs in the global south while confronting the climate crisis.
Seeking Justice in Cancer Alley
Heat of the Moment heads south to the U.S. Gulf Coast, an area with a long history of fossil fuel extraction and the health problems that come with it.
Other Foreign Policy podcasts:

I Spy
Spies don’t talk—it’s the cardinal rule of the business. But here at Foreign Policy, we get them to open up. On I Spy, we hear from the operations people: the spies who steal secrets, who kill adversaries, who turn agents into double agents. Each episode features one spy telling the story of one operation. Want swag? Check out I Spy's merch by clicking here.

Don’t Touch Your Face
On the last day of 2019, China reported an unusual outbreak in Wuhan, a port city with a population of 11 million. Within two months, the disease would spread to almost every continent on the globe and kill thousands of people. From Foreign Policy, a podcast about the extent of the COVID-19 contagion, the threat it poses, and what countries are doing to contain it. Join FP’s James Palmer and Amy Mackinnon as they track the spread of the virus and explore what it means for people’s everyday lives. Have a coronavirus question for them to explore? Email it to donttouchyourface@foreignpolicy.com.
The Climate Investment Funds is a nonpartisan champion of climate action. Political views and opinions expressed in this series do not necessarily represent those of the Climate Investment Funds or its partners.
To learn more about creating a podcast with FP Studios, contact Andrew Sollinger at andrew.sollinger@foreignpolicy.com.