Talk of the Town
TALK OF THE TOWN with MIKE and ARTHUR AGUIRRE LIVE Sat 11am-Noon
With Brandon Wu, Director of Policy and Campaigns at ActionAid USA
Brandon just returned from the COP30 Conference
Call in with your questions and comments at 619-790-KNSJ (5675)
Brandon Wu is dedicated to overseeing ActionAid USA’s research, advocacy, coalition building and campaigning work on issues such as politics & economics, land rights, biofuels and more. He personally leads ActionAid USA’s work on climate justice, approaching the problem of climate change from the perspective of sustainable development and rights of impacted people. His work in this capacity has focused on climate finance for developing countries, fairness and equity in the global climate regime, and energy democracy in the Global South.
Brandon has served on the Board of Directors of Climate Action Network-International, a network of over 900 NGOs in 100 countries, and recently completed a two-year term as the first elected developed country civil society representative on the governing Board of the Green Climate Fund, a multilateral institution dedicated to funding adaptation and mitigation projects.
Brandon’s voice is frequently heard in major media outlets, including the Associated Press, Reuters, Washington Post, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, PBS NewsHour, and Telesur. He has previously worked for Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG (now Environment America).
Brandon holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs, where he played a lead role in an effort to unionize 4,500 graduate employees. He also holds a B.A. in sociology from Yale University.
A major focus of Brandon’s work has been how to quantify fairness in the global climate regime, and he was a founder (in 2015) of the Civil Society Equity Review project that produces annual reports on this question here: https://www.equityreview.org/
Most recently, at COP30 Brandon had an op-ed published that spoke to one of the major issues that came up in the second week of the conference – the idea of a “roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels” and why certain countries were – justifiably – not entirely enthusiastic about it. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/11/21/just-transition-finance-and-equity-thats-how-we-get-cop30-to-act-on-fossil-fuels/
______About ActionAid
ActionAid is an international network building a just, equitable, and sustainable world in solidarity with communities on the frontlines of poverty and injustice.
We know this can only be done by shifting power – towards communities and away from elites – and aid as traditionally practiced does not accomplish this. That’s why we take action in partnership with people on the frontlines of poverty and injustice. Together, we tackle the symptoms of unequal power – poverty, hunger, gender-based violence, climate change, conflict, and disaster – and challenge the ideologies, legal systems, and social norms that lie underneath.
ActionAid embraces feminist leadership as necessary to moving our mission forward. We define feminist leadership as the positive and inclusive use of power to build an organization capable of changing the world. Feminist leadership informs and guides our core values, theory of change, and objectives.
ActionAid USA is the U.S. branch of ActionAid International, which works in more than 70 countries to achieve social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication. We influence U.S. policy and international institutions like the United Nations and elevate marginalized voices in the halls of power.
Our Vision
A just, equitable and sustainable world in which every person enjoys the right to a life of dignity, and freedom from poverty and all forms of oppression.
Our Mission
To achieve social justice, gender equality, and poverty eradication by working with people living in poverty and exclusion, their communities, people’s organizations, activists, social movements and supporters.