Eco-Business Podcast

Do people in Asia know or care where their banks invest their money? And even if they do, can they do anything to push their banks towards sustainable investments? To discuss this, Eco-Business spoke to Mayur Singh, a Singapore-based entrepreneur who co-founded tech firm Mattrvest last year. His company helps young people invest in things that align with their values. Singh is also involved in a c...

Is plastic waste a battle the Philippines could win? The Covid-19 pandemic has seen a surge in the use of single-use plastics as the material is relied upon to protect people and goods. From face shields and syringes to plastic packaging for takeaway food, how can the Philippines manage its plastic waste streams, increase its recycling rate, and stop an impending plastic pandemic? In this podcast,...

Child labour in palm oil by Eco-Business

In this podcast, we discuss an alliance between an environmental group and an agribusiness company that aims to reduce encroachment by coffee farmers in one of Sumatra’s last stands of lowland forest.

On this podcast, Eco-Business talks to experts on how more smallholders can adopt sustainable practices. Tune in as we talk about: Smallholders—are they really responsible for the haze? What is the biggest challenge of moving smallholders towards sustainable practices? Is certification out of reach for smallholders? How has RSPO’s new standard for smallholders affected the market? What a sustainab...

Why are Asia's cities heating up? by Eco-Business

An often overlooked part of the palm oil story is people. What is the industry doing to protect the rights of workers on plantations? On this podcast, Eco-Business spoke to industry experts from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil and workers' rights group Verité.

New rules from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RPSO) ban deforestation and growing on peat. But what are the challenges of putting the new rules into practice, and how will they be effectively enforced to protect forests and the people who depend on them? Tune in as we discuss: The impact of the new standards The challenges of making them work How can the rules be effectively enforced? Wha...

Technologies that keep us cool are among the biggest guzzlers of energy in Southeast Asia. As the region gets richer and more populous, cooling systems are set to account for 40 per cent of Southeast Asia’s electricity demand by 2040. At Singapore International Energy Week last year, Fatih Birol, president of the International Energy Agency, called cooling the global energy market’s “biggest blind...

The forecast for the marine sector is stormy, as more stringent international regulations on fuel are due to take effect in 2020, and the International Maritime Organisation has challenged the industry to halve its carbon footprint by 2050. Yet, shipping is responsible for 90% of goods transported around the world and provides an exciting way to travel. At the same time, countries are beginning to...

In the second episode of the series Tomorrow’s cities: Engineering the energy transition, we explore how to create zero carbon cities.

Tomorrow's cities: How can cold chain secure the future of food? by Eco-Business

Saving Indonesia's forests by Eco-Business

Palm oil is blamed for many environmental and social ills, from deforestation to child labour. How true are these assertions? Eco-Business speaks to Anita Neville, Vice President of Corporate Communications and Sustainability Relations at Golden Agri-Resources, and Cynthia Morel, Senior Sustainability Strategist for Forum for the Future Asia Pacific to address 5 myths about palm oil.

6. Disrupting the future by Eco-Business

The Fourth Industrial Revolution sets a brisk pace for businesses and policymakers alike to adapt their models and practices in order to keep up with changing trends. Doing so will require equipping the population with new skills, fostering innovation, and of course, finance to get cutting-edge ideas from the drawing board to users. How can societies foster and support innovation, and more importa...

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has made some rather exciting promises to society: New business opportunities, sustainable societies, and transformed lives. But it will take new hardware, software, and financing to make this transition possible. To find out how the future will be implemented, we spoke to Alpesh Patel, director of the Digital Capability Centre at McKinsey Singapore,

3. The Future Of Energy by Eco-Business

With cities set to grow become more populous and densely packed, what is the key to making them liveable and sustainable? How do elements like the built environment, transport, and urban planning interact to create a financially and resource efficient yet liveable environment?

Deeply encoded in the idea of a high-tech, smart, automated and ultra-efficient future is anxiety about jobs, skills, and the future of work. As robots and computers take over a broad range of tasks that create livelihoods for millions around the world, what will the future look like for current and future workers, employers, as well as policymakers? What skills do workers today need to learn to s...