The Agenda Podcast

Send a text The Earthshot Prize is the global award initiative launched in 2020 by Britain's Prince William, with the aim of inspiring and funding innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing environmental challenges. Each year, a prize of £1 million is awarded to five winners. On this week’s Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to two of the award’s winners from 2022, Charlot Magayi, Founder of M...

Send a text At the recent Two Sessions gathering in Beijing, Foreign Minister Qin Gang announced that China had "pressed the acceleration button" and "sounded the clarion call" for diplomacy.    And the world – and especially Europe - certainly seems to have answered that call. In the past weeks Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commi...

Send a text The start of 2023 has had worrying echoes of 2008 for the global banking sector. The collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the US and the Credit Suisse takeover in Europe saw banking stocks plunge around the world.   So in this edition of The Agenda, we consider whether the world is sleepwalking into another financial crisis – or have the lessons of 2008 been learned and implemented?  Jul...

Send a text China’s Ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang, has just been on his first visit to Belfast. He was in Northern Ireland  to talk about cooperation, communication and especially how China and the UK can work together on a cleaner, greener form of energy - hydrogen. On this special edition of The Agenda from Queen's University, Juliet Mann speaks to Professor Cheng Yibing, Strategic Sc...

Send a text AUKUS is the trilateral security pact between Australia, the UK and the United States, focusing on military capability and technology including cyber, AI, hypersonic and electromagnetic warfare. It will eventually provide Australia with a fleet of up to eight nuclear powered submarines and could cost Australia up to $368bn between now and the mid-2050s. But far from being a simple defe...

Send a text Stability, development and prosperity.   That was the message from President Xi Jinping as China's first Two Sessions since the country opened up post-pandemic came to an end. The emphasis throughout the political meetings was very much on common prosperity, peaceful development and especially modernization.  So in this special show, The Agenda examines China’s future – from the f...

Send a text Of the world’s 100 largest cities, more than a quarter are in China. In 1980, about 20% of the population lived in a city, by 2020 that had risen to more than 60%.  Rapid urbanization has seen improved transport links and housing giving millions of people access to better healthcare, education and jobs. Poverty rates have fallen sharply, while at the same time the economy has boomed. ...

Send a text As the annual Two Sessions gatherings get underway in Beijing,  this week we consider the real extent of China’s global reach as we speak to the Presidents of two  developing nations to get their take on future cooperation.    Costa Rica’s Rodrigo Chaves Robles and East Timor’s Jose-Ramos Horta speak to Juliet Mann about the state of relations with Beijing, and why those relationships...

Send a text As the world works to hit increasingly tough climate targets by the end of the decade, the need for sustainability in all business practices has never been greater One of the company’s leading the way in one of the world’s most polluting sectors – agriculture – is fertilizer giant Yara International . On this episode of The Agenda,  the company’s CEO, Svein Tore Holsether joins Juliet...

Send a text Over the next four weeks, 2 billion people are expected to tune in as Europe's top footballers battle it out to be crowned the champions of Europe. Euro 2020 is finally under way, after COVID-19 forced a 12-month delay and a major reorganization. On this edition of The Agenda Podcast , Stephen Cole looks at the financial health of international football. Steven Zhang, Chairman of...

Send a text As governments around the world set increasingly tough environmental targets, it's becoming clear that investment from business is also going to increase. A new report from the UN Environment Programme, the World Economic Forum and the Economics of Land Degradation say that by 2030, investment in nature-based solutions are going to have to treble from the current level of $133 bil...

Send a text The COVID-19 pandemic has, of course, had an extraordinary effect on all our lives. But for women, according to a new report, it's had a particularly devastating impact. The World Economic Forum's (WEF) annual Global Gender Gap Report shows the coronavirus has pushed back gender parity by an entire generation. In this episode of the Agenda podcast, Stephen Cole will look at w...

Send a text The world's largest biodiversity summit was due to take place in Kunming, China on March 16 but has been postponed once again due to the global pandemic.  In a year which has been dominated by COVID-19, Stephen Cole looks at the future of the world's flora and fauna and the fundamental connections between all life on Earth.  The pandemic has provided an opportunity to pause f...

Send a text Oil fueled the 20th century—its cars, its wars, its economy and its geopolitics. As the US returns to the Paris Climate accord and after President Biden pledged to halve carbon emissions  by the end of 2030, the world is speeding up the shift to a new, greener order. But what does that really mean? Will we finally say goodbye to fossil fuels? This week, The Agenda Podcast with Stephen...

Send a text Before the pandemic, tourism was growing faster than the world's economy and traveling had never been easier. Then COVID-19 brought globetrotting to a halt and left the trillion-dollar industry in tatters.  But with rapid vaccination bringing optimism, can the sector now get back on the move? How different will the travel experience be? And which parts of the world are open for bu...

Send a text Is the world ready for electric cars on a large scale? The Agenda Podcast finds out whether Europe – and remote parts of the world – are prepared for such an accelerated change to the way we travel. First on the podcast is Bjorn Annwall, head of Volvo's Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region and newly-appointed Chief Financial Officer. He tells us how the Swedish car manufac...

Send a text Since January 1, the UK has been trading under new systems agreed in the post-Brexit trade deal. So what problems have the first 100 days exposed for the UK and Europe?  Agenda is joined by the CEO of Eurochambres, Ben Butters, and the head of international affairs for small businesses, James Sibley. They discuss the impact of Brexit on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across...

Send a text Questions over efficacy, blood-clot fears, threats to block exports, and its sluggish supply – the distribution of vaccines has been causing a major division across Europe, particularly between the EU and the UK.  This week on the Agenda Podcast we look at how the two blocs have approached the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines and how today's disputes could affect the vaccine proc...

Send a text For more than a year now, millions of people have been forced out of their offices by the pandemic to work from home. But is that a situation that's here to stay or a temporary blip – an "aberration," as Goldman Sachs boss David Solomon has put it? The Agenda Podcast with Stephen Cole considers the future of work, and asks what are the real benefits and potential pitfall...

Send a text As a relatively new invention, cryptocurrencies have up to now largely escaped regulation. But if they're ever to really cross over into the mainstream that will have to change. So what rules are actually needed? How might they be enforced? And how exactly might that shape the future of digital currencies? Today on the Agenda Podcast, we look at what could be the future of money....

Send a text Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Google – it's become nearly impossible to live in the modern world without the services of these five companies. In this episode of The Agenda Podcast , Stephen Cole looks at what sets Big Tech apart from other digital platforms and why it's now facing unprecedented levels of scrutiny and calls for regulation. First he speaks to Stephen...

Send a text With global interest rates at record lows, and pandemic volatility everywhere you look, The Agenda podcast with Stephen Cole looks at the safer and more risky options for investors.  [00:39] Moira O'Neill, head of personal finance at Interactive Investor, who explains why ethical investment is a trend that's here to stay, and which sectors we should be watching for a decent r...

Send a text In the past, addicts were considered weak-willed but now the medical profession is starting to treat addiction as a disease. Also, as times change, the kinds of things we become addicted to change too, as does the number of people who fall victim to addiction. In this episode of the Agenda podcast we look at why people become addicts and the approaches different countries and cultures...

Send a text One in 18 people around the world now owns their own business, and experts predict that far from proving a hindrance, the current COVID-19 pandemic will actually be a help to millions more who may be using lockdown to perfect their potentially billion-dollar business ideas. On this episode of The Agenda podcast, Stephen Cole talks to Dan Vahdat, Founder and CEO of Huma – an A.I. busine...

Send a text Are vaccines interchangeable? Who should get priority? If your parents received the vaccine can you visit them?  In this episode of The Agenda podcast, Stephen Cole puts some of the most prominent queries and concerns from listeners to Jerome Kim, director general of the International Vaccine Institute.   Stephen also talks to Jane Williams, doctor of Public Health Ethics at the Univer...