Radio Davos

Speaking live from the International Space Station, Matthias Maurer gives a fascinating glimpse of what it’s like to spend months in orbit - what kind of research he’s carrying out - and how the experience has made him care more than ever about protecting our environment.

Dr Anthony Fauci and other experts tell us why Omicron might - but only might - mean we are in the end-game in the fight against COVID. Alongside him at the Davos Agenda session ‘COVID-19 - What’s Next?’ are Professor Annelies Wilder-Smith, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Richard Hatchett, CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness and Innovations (CEPI); and Stéphane Bancel, CEO, Moderna. The discussion is moderated by Francine Lacqua, Editor-at-Large and Presenter at Bloomberg Television

Climate change is the number one risk we face as a species, according to the World Economic Forum’s annual Global Risks Report. We look at what a ‘disorderly transition’ to net-zero might look like, and also examine the new risks posed by rapidly changing technology. Guests:  Peter Giger, Group Chief Risk Officer at Zurich Insurance Group; Carolina Klint, Risk Management Leader, Continental Europe, Marsh Read more: www.weforum.org/reports/global-risks-report-2022

Stuart Russell, Professor of Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley is one of the world’s most respected experts on artificial intelligence. He explains what AI is, when we might expect machines to overtake humans in every activity, and why that means we need to rethink how we design and use algorithms, and ask the deepest questions about how we are as humans. Co-hosted by Kay Firth-Butterfield, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at the World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

For the second year running, the pandemic was the biggest news story around the world, but 2021 was also the year of the vaccine rollout, the return of big sporting events including the Olympics, and an invasion of the US Capitol. CNN anchor Eleni Giokos joins us to look back on the year and listen in to some of the most memorable moments.

Was the Glasgow summit just the same old ‘blah, blah, blah’ or will it help us avoid climate catastrophe? Journalist Justin Worland covered COP26 for TIME and tells us his view on what was - and what was not - achieved.

What are the breakthrough technologies that will transform our world in the next few years? Scientific American and the World Economic Forum present their annual top-ten emerging tech report. The two people who led the work -Mariette DiChristina, Dean of the College of Communication at Boston University, and Bernie Meyerson, Chief Innovation Officer Emeritus at IBM - talk to Radio Davos host Robin Pomeroy and Sophie Bushwick, Technology Editor at Scientific American. Read more here: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/11/these-are-the-top-10-emerging-technologies-of-2021

The main greenhouse gas causing climate change is carbon dioxide - a colourless, odourless gas that is otherwise harmless to our health. But emissions of CO2 are often accompanied by other, toxic gases. So can we tackle air pollution - which kills 7 million people a year around the world - at the same time as we fight climate change? We hear from three cities - Buenos Aires, London and Singapore, that are doing just that by managing road transport to cut emissions.

The destruction of the natural world is the ‘other’ global environmental crisis, but it is entwined with climate change. Global warming is the number-one cause of that destruction, and the loss of forests and other ‘carbon sinks’ is increasing the pace of climate change. At COP26, world leaders agreed to  halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by the end of the decade, pledging  $19 billion in public and private funds. Among the countries to sign up were  Brazil, Indonesia and Democratic Republic of Congo, which collectively account for 85% of the world’s forests. In this episode we speak to Tabi Joda, a forester in Cameroon who is helping plant the Great Green Wall - reforesting a strip right across the southern edge of the Sahara desert. We hear from Natura, a major cosmetics company on how businesses can make money from forests without destroying them, and Elizabeth Mrema, the head of the UN’s biodiversity convention - the person driving global efforts to protect nature - on a new plan to get companies to report on their impact on the natural world.

US climate envoy John Kerry and World Economic Forum President Brende Borge launched an initiative at COP26 to bring big companies and customers together to build demand for green products that require major investment and innovation. This episode has some highlights from the event which can be seen in full here: https://www.weforum.org/events/forum-cop26-live-2021/sessions/first-movers-coalition-launch