Radio Davos

The climate summit COP26 was seen as a qualified success. As COP27, due to be held in Egypt by the end of the year, draws closer, and in the light of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, COP26 President Alok Sharma spoke with the head of the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Nature and Climate, Gim Huay Neo, to discuss the significance of public-private collaboration in delivering more radical climate action. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is having big, and potentially long-lasting impacts on the global supplies of food and energy. Saad Rahim, Chief Economist at Trafigura, talks about the oil and gas markets, and David Laborde Debucquet of the International Food Policy Research Institute assesses the impact on food supplies and prices, and what policymakers need to do. We also hear from David Beasley, head of the United Nations World Food Programme, on how the crisis has immediate repercussions for hungry people all over the world. Thumbnail photo by by Darla Hueske on Unsplash

As war rages in Ukraine, leaders from global humanitarian agencies join a World Economic Forum Agenda Dialogue to say what they need from governments and business to tackle the crisis, and explain what the knock-on impacts will be around the world. Moderated by: Børge Brende, President, World Economic Forum, Adrian Monck, Managing Director, World Economic Forum Panelists: David Beasley, Executive Director, United Nations World Food Programme (WFP); Kelly Clements, United Nations Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR); Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF); Inger Ashing, Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children International Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How is Ukraine managing to keep electricity and heating supplies during the war? Government and industry chiefs address a World Economic Forum online event to explain the challenges and ask for help. As well as the supply of energy, they discussed the threat to Ukraine’s many nuclear power plants and called for ever tougher sanctions on Russian energy exports.   Plus: UNICEF spokesperson James Elder, just back from Lviv, updates us on the humanitarian situation and ‘the biggest refugee crisis we’ve seen since World War Two’.

The former US vice president has been pushing for climate action for decades. In this interview he says we are at a ‘political tipping point’ after which polluters will no longer hold sway, but admits that greenhouse gas emissions are still growing faster than any action to cut them back to zero.   This is an edited version of an interview first published on the World Economic Forum’s Meet the Leader podcast. Interview by Linda Lacina.

Oscar-winning filmmaker Adam McKay tells us how angst about climate change compelled him to make Don’t Look Up, an epic comedy disaster movie about humanity’s failure to tackle an existential threat. Featuring clips from the film with Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry.

As the world emerges from COVID, economies are revving back to life - but so is something that many parts of the world have not seen much of for decades - inflation.  So what is inflation and why has it suddenly reared up around the world? UBS Chief Economist Paul Donovan, author of The Truth About Inflation, speaks to Radio Davos.

Do we need a global treaty to tackle plastics pollution, similar to the one on climate change. Campaigners and a growing number of governments and businesses say we do. Ahead of a United Nations Environment Assembly which could launch talks on a plastics pact, the World Economic Forum heard from a range of experts on why we need a treaty and what it might contain. Speakers: Kristin Hughes, Director, Global Plastic Action Partnership, World Economic Forum; Espen Barth Eide, Minister of climate and environment of Norway and President of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA); Marco Lambertini, Director-General, WWF International; Rebecca Marmot, Chief Sustainability Officer, Unilever; Luis Vayas Valdivieso,  Vice-Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador; Sheila Aggarwal-Khan, Director, Economy Division, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Inés Yábar, Communications Coordinator, Co-Founder, Life Out Of Plastic - L.O.O.P.; Gim Huay Neo, Managing Director, Centre for Nature and Climate, World Economic Forum. 

COVID-19 paralysed healthcare services around the world and meant many routine procedures were cancelled or delayed. That has taken a heavy toll on cancer patients. How big is the problem, what needs to be done to solve it, and what lessons can we draw from the pandemic to help the fight against cancer? Guests: David Fredrickson - Executive Vice-President, Oncology Business Unit, AstraZeneca; Dr Jagannath Palepu, Chairman, Dept. of Surgical Oncology, Lilavati Hospital & Research Centre, Mumbai

While COVID prevented the annual Davos meeting in the Alps for a second year, leaders from governments, business, academia and civil society met online at the Davos Agenda to discuss the world’s biggest issues. The episode has some of the highlights.