Think Change

2023 has been another year marked by major crises. This final episode reflects on where we are now, and the major global themes shaping 2024. The world is at a pivotal moment as we try to cope with multiple, interconnected crises. The number of people fleeing war, persecution and violence is at an estimated 114 million, against a backdrop of rising geo-political tensions, carbon emissions, food an...

An increase in modern slavery in the last five years has been met with a decrease in the political will needed to address it. But what can consumers do to make more ethical choices this holiday season and beyond? In this episode we navigate the intricate web of human trafficking, exploitation and forced labour within global supply chains. We put the spotlight on the retail industry, exposing its r...

The rights and treatment of refugees is never far from the media headlines. Hostile narratives and politicised rhetoric dominate the news at a time when globally, solidarity for refugees continues to decline. But with devastating conflict and climate hazards forcing more and more people from their homes, is the international community failing on its shared commitment to refugees? It’s been five ye...

The Global Food Security Summit is about to get under way, where political leaders and experts will come together to discuss how to make urgent progress on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2: to achieve zero hunger and end all forms of malnutrition by 2030. Around 345 million people experience acute food insecurity according to the World Food Programme – an increase of 200 million compared to pr...

The world today is grappling with a multitude of conflicts, each of which different levels of global attention. In this episode, we shine a spotlight on a deeply under-reported humanitarian crisis in Nagorno-Karabakh (also known as Artsakh), situated in the South Caucasus. Historically predominantly inhabited by Armenians, Nagorno-Karabakh falls within the internationally recognised borders of Aze...

We are now two weeks into the latest escalation of the long and bloody conflict between Israel and Hamas. A humanitarian catastrophe is unfolding in Gaza, prompting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to call for an immediate ceasefire to stop the indiscriminate bombing of civilians and civilian objects. But on the same day, a UN Security Council Resolution calling for a ‘humanitarian pause’ was...

The question of how multilateral development banks (MDBs) must transform themselves to address today’s most pressing global challenges will again be under the spotlight at next week’s World Bank/IMF Annual Meetings in Marrakech. Business as usual will no longer do. In this episode – produced in collaboration with the  Center for Global Development – we ask what the countries these banks were set u...

The High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly is about to get under way. This is a significant year because it marks a halfway point in the delivery of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs or ‘Global Goals’), which were adopted in a 2015 UN resolution known as Agenda 2030. These goals were designed to provide a "shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now a...

Following the Israeli government’s recent attacks in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and against its own Supreme Court, our new Think Change podcast explores the growing threat to human rights for all those affected. According UN experts, the recent Israeli air strikes and ground operations in the occupied West Bank focussing on the Jenin refugee camp, which left many dead and displaced 4000...

On the cusp of the Women Deliver Conference in Kigali, Rwanda this episode explores the growing anti-rights agenda relating to women and sexual minorities. Women’s rights and freedoms are being compromised and are under threat in many parts of the world. Well-funded, ultra conservative forces are pushing a narrative which directly targets the liberties of women, girls and sexual minorities. How ca...

To mark Refugee Week, we highlighting the transformational impact that refugee leadership and expertise can bring to refugee responses. The importance of refugee leadership is now widely recognised. It is a key focus of the Global Compact on Refugees, which pledges to support refugee-led organisations (RLOs) and enable meaningful participation. But is this rhetoric materialising into practical act...

Next week, world head to Paris for the Summit for a New Global Financing Pact. In the words of French President Emmanuel Macron, the Summit will ‘provide a forum to take stock on all the means and ways of increasing financial solidarity within the South.' It builds on the so-called Bridgetown Initiative launched at COP by Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, but goes beyond Bridgetown’s c...

African countries have had close economic relationships with China for many years. China is a major trade and investment partner, technology and infrastructure collaborator and development finance player in Africa. This has challenged traditional Western donors who had colonial relationships with many African countries as well as the US, until now the unquestionable dominant security and military...

The current terrible violence in Sudan comes almost twenty years to the day of when the genocide in Darfur started. Darfur was headline news at the time, but forgotten by the international community since. Only the recent escalation of violence between powerful armed groups in Khartoum has put Sudan back in the spotlight. This episode continues the conversation from an ODI event this week on the f...

On the face of it, the global outlook for democracy looks pretty bleak. Democratic norms are eroding all over the world. According to International IDEA, ‘half of the world’s democracies are in retreat’. In Tunisia we have seen President Saied dismiss parliament and re-write the constitution. In Hungary, President Orbán has packed the courts and attacked the press. And in the US, Trump refuses to...

In just over a week’s time, the Spring Meetings of the World Bank and IMF will see the first formal session for a Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable.  The problem of debt, and debt sustainability, has become one of the most urgent issues facing many low and middle-income countries around the world. The IMF estimates currently 36 low-income countries are at high risk of, or are currently in, debt dis...

The rhetoric around immigration in Europe has become increasingly politicised and polarised. National governments are taking a more hostile approach in both the narrative used, and the implementation of regressive policies that are costly and ineffective. In the spirit of ‘deterrence’ we are seeing pushbacks of migrants arriving by sea in southern Europe and at numerous land borders with severe co...

This International Women's Day, we ask how and why men should care more about feminist visions for a fairer society. Every year on 8 March, women organise together to collectively demand their rights – specifically to transform gendered inequalities in paid and unpaid labour.  But there is an aspect of this conversation that is not talked about enough. It is about men’s neglected role at home...

On 6 February, two major earthquakes struck Türkiye and Syria, bringing widespread destruction to both countries. Scientists had issued warnings, but the scale of damage caused was never anticipated and had not been prepared for. In this episode we hear a range of perspectives, including from those on the frontline of the response in both Türkiye and Syria, to build a picture of the different chal...

Protests have gripped the country over the past four months. It’s not the first instance of civil unrest since the Iranian Revolution 44 years ago, but is there something different about how today’s women-led movement, whose rallying cry of ‘zan, zendegi, azadi’ – ‘woman, life, freedom’ – has galvanised activism today? This episode dives into the current situation in Iran. We hear what the protest...

Until recently, conversations about ending poverty were very mainstream. The sustainable development goals spoke of ending extreme poverty, and reducing poverty in all its forms to very low levels by 2030. But poverty seems to have fallen out of common parlance when discussing the many crises we face today. More fundamentally, are traditional notions of ending poverty simply by increasing individu...

This final episode of 2022 reflects on the year that has just been and looks ahead to 2023. It has been a year of major and often cascading crises. Many have been covered on this podcast, from the war in Ukraine and its spill over effects, to other shocks like the US decision to overturn Roe v Wade . But there have been some positive steps towards solutions . We have discussed some of those too, i...

COP27 ended with the launch of a new ‘loss and damage’ fund, which will provide financial assistance to poor nations stricken by climate disaster. But this money is unlikely to reach fragile communities in areas affected by conflict. These communities are also the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and the least ready to adapt. So the more unstable a state, the less climate finance i...

With COP27 now under way in Sharm El Sheikh, this episode explores why loss and damage is a key focus for this year’s negotiations through the perspective of Small Island Developing States (SIDS).SIDS are most heavily impacted by the impacts of climate change, despite being the least responsible for them. Average annual losses from extreme weather events are projected in the trillions of dollars b...

The International Energy Agency last year found that there is no room for any new coal, oil or gas if the world is to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 – a crucial target to keep global heating to 1.5°C. But how do we balance this with the stark reality that fossil fuels today account for around 80% of the world’s energy consumption and that in many countries these energy needs are growing? Renew...