Founded in 1901, the International Labour Organisation works with governments of over 180 countries, to help promote internationally recognised labour rights. In all of its 105 year-history, Gilbert F. Houngbo is the first African to be in charge of the UN agency. In this programme, the ILO leader talks to Rahul Tandon about what he's doing to try to tackle some of the biggest global challenges the world currently faces - from unemployment, to migration, to artificial intelligence. And we hear a...
Mar 29, 2024•18 min
The Pentland Firth is the strait that lies between the far north of mainland Scotland and the Orkney Islands. It's a wild area with some of the fastest tides in the world, where the power of the sea is being harnessed by tidal turbines sitting on the sea bed. But this type of green energy is still very expensive to generate - so what is the future of tidal and wave power? We explore some of the ground breaking projects being developed in the region and speak to companies who are trying to reduce...
Mar 28, 2024•18 min
Padel is a fast-growing sport, attracting investment from celebrities and major brands. What is it about the game that makes it so attractive? We hear from professional players of the sport, and head to Sweden, where the Padel boom, and subsequent bust, might hold some lessons for other countries. (Image: Portuguese football player Cristiano Ronaldo plays Padel during an event in Singapore, 2023. Credit: Getty Images) Presented and produced by Daniel Rosney
Mar 27, 2024•18 min
Up to 40% of food in Africa and India is wasted because of a lack of what's called "the cold chain" - the infrastructure keeping food chilled and fresh, from farm to fork. Many small-scale farmers have no access to any kind of refrigeration, meaning they're losing income and wasting food that could otherwise be sold. Devina Gupta meets the entrepreneur who is building pay-as-you-go solar powered cold rooms in India, and hears from farmers, traders and experts on how we can keep food cold as the ...
Mar 26, 2024•18 min
The past few years have been marked by two economic trends that have affected pretty much everyone on the planet. The first is the cost of living crisis that followed the Covid pandemic and was made worse by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That saw prices in the shops soar - in many countries they rose by their fastest pace for four decades. The attempt to stamp out this inflation is the second of those big economic trends, as central banks aggressively increased the cost of borrowing. Millions of...
Mar 25, 2024•18 min
Lawyer Leigh Steinberg had no big dream to become a sports agent. He was a huge sports fan, but the job was not something he was aspiring to – more something that he stumbled across. Today, he's built up a career representing more than 300 professional athletes across a range of disciplines: from big money-making sports like football and basketball, to Olympic gymnastics; building sporting careers worth billions of dollars. His influence in sport is so influential that he's often credited as the...
Mar 22, 2024•18 min
An alcohol shop for diplomats has opened in Saudi Arabia. It’s a significant move in a country that has banned alcohol for over 70 years. Some believe in order to transform the tourism economy it is a sign of things to come. In the meantime, Riyadh has become known for making some of the best non-alcohol cocktails in the world. Is this a small policy change, or does it signal a wider relaxation of the rules? We hear from young Saudis about the generational divide in a country trying to change it...
Mar 20, 2024•18 min
The Chinese-owned online store has exploded in popularity in the past year, shipping to customers in 49 countries around the world. And its advertising has taken centre stage at one of the world’s most watched events: the Super Bowl. So why is Temu so cheap? And how can it afford to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising to take on its rivals? We hear from experts, politicians and shoppers in China, the US, and the UK about how the company operates, as it seeks to out-pace the comp...
Mar 19, 2024•18 min
The government of Uruguay has launched ambitious plans to make hydrogen and green fuels. The country generates far more of its electricity from renewables than most countries - Uruguay produces more than 90% of its electricity from sustainable resources, like wind. And that, the government says, puts it in a good position to start producing green hydrogen. Proponents of green hydrogen production in Uruguay say it will be good for the planet and the country's economy, but could it use too much wa...
Mar 18, 2024•18 min
Andy Yen is founder and CEO of tech company Proton, best known for its encrypted email service Proton Mail. He was born in Taiwan, studied in California, then moved to Switzerland to work at CERN as a particle physicist. He then set up Proton from Geneva. Dougal Shaw talks to the entrepreneur about growing up in the shadow of China, personal privacy in an age when we live our lives online, and his company’s “cat and mouse” games with Russia over VPN software, which allows people to access the in...
Mar 15, 2024•18 min
Spotify and Soundcloud started out as small, music tech startups in Stockholm, and now, several other companies that blend music production and innovation are choosing to set up shop in the Swedish capital. In this edition of Business Daily, we meet some of these new businesses, to see why Stockholm holds such appeal. And we try to find out whether music tech is a profitable sector with a long-term future. (Image: Emelie Olsson, the co- founder of Corite, a music tech startup. Credit: Maddy Sava...
Mar 14, 2024•18 min
Wary of the perceived threat from Russia, the countries that make up the Nato Western military alliance are upping their spending on the military. But not fast enough, according to former US president Donald Trump, who has made the issue part of his election campaign. So should governments in Europe be spending more on their collective defence? Do Europeans want them to, or would they rather that money go to things like education and healthcare instead? As Sweden joins the alliance, we look at w...
Mar 13, 2024•18 min
We trace the commodity’s journey from sugar cane farm, to mill, to candy shop, all in a quest to find out why the cost of sugar has gone up. The US is the world's fifth largest sugar producer, with sugarcane grown in the south and sugar beets in the north. Even though the cost of sugar is rising worldwide, Americans pay twice as much as the global average for sugar because of a government policy. Brought about to protect domestic producers, a protectionist policy taxing imports of sugar is actua...
Mar 12, 2024•18 min
There's been a wave of farmers' protests across Europe in recent weeks. France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Eastern European countries have all seen farmers airing their grievances by driving their tractors into towns and cities and blocking roads. There have also been similar demonstrations far beyond Europe, in India. Guy Hedgecoe has been looking at the protests and how some grievances are uniting farmers from different countries while others are dividing them. Because farming is so i...
Mar 11, 2024•18 min
Sir Ben Ainslie is the most decorated Olympic sailor of all time, winning medals at five consecutive Olympic Games. Since then, he's been sailing in the America’s Cup and more recently in the new SailGP league. Now, he's stepping back from some of his sailing responsibilities to concentrate on being a CEO. For this episode of Business Daily, Sam Fenwick talks to Sir Ben about what it takes to run a sailing team, how to monetise the sport, and where he sees its future. (Picture: Sir Ben Ainsley. ...
Mar 08, 2024•18 min
Last summer marked the first time in six decades that Hollywood’s actors and writers went on strike simultaneously. They hit pause on production over pay and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the film industry. The strikes brought the industry to boiling point, but wider issues were simmering for some time. They caused a multi-billion economic toll on those who work in film and television - from crew members to caterers. Businesses burned through savings and piled up debt. This edition ...
Mar 07, 2024•18 min
The important shipping route runs for 82 km through Central America, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. But a long period of dry weather means the water in the canal is very low, reducing the number of boats that can travel though. We travel to Panama to look at the impact this is having on shipping companies, manufacturers and consumers, and find out what the Panama Shipping Company is trying to do about it. Presenter: Michelle Fleury Producer: Nathalie Jimenez (Image: A ship going thr...
Mar 06, 2024•18 min
We travel to FITUR - International Tourism Trade Fair. Taking place in Madrid, this year's event was the biggest ever. As the sector is still recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we speak to representatives from countries around the world who are aiming to attract visitors. Plus we focus on responsible tourism, and look at how much emphasis is being placed on sustainability by the travel industry. Produced and presented by Ashish Sharma (Image: Tourists at a beach club in Seminya...
Mar 05, 2024•18 min
Up to 10% of areas for major crops and livestock could be rendered unsuitable by climate change by 2050, so what can farmers do to adapt to rising temperatures and extreme weather events? Stefania Gozzer meets a farmer in Spain to see how severe droughts ruined his cereal harvest, and she pays a visit to his neighbour, who has managed to grow tomatoes without watering his fields. Global warming poses huge challenges for agriculture around the world - and various ways of managing its effects are ...
Mar 04, 2024•18 min
In this special episode, Ed Butler brings you a podcast from our friends at Good Bad Billionaire. In the series, presenters Simon Jack and Zing Tseng find out how the richest people on the planet made their billions, and then they judge them. Are they good, bad, or just another billionaire? This episode focuses on Warren Buffett - how did he became the richest investor in history? Listen to every episode of Good Bad Billionaire wherever you get your BBC podcasts....
Mar 02, 2024•58 min
The world's major consulting firms make an estimated trillion dollars a year, directing governments and businesses on how best to govern. But the economist Mariana Mazzucato argues that outsourcing the brain power of governments to private firms is a dangerous trend. Ed Butler asks her why she thinks it isn't money well spent. (Picture: Mariana Mazzucato. Credit: Getty Images) Presented and produced by Ed Butler
Mar 01, 2024•18 min
The idea of settling for ‘good enough’ and being mediocre at work is not new… but the case for prioritising other things apart from work has grown rapidly since the pandemic – and hashtags like #lazygirljob have been getting millions of views on TikTok. We find out what mediocrity means for staff and employers, and speak to workers who are embracing this new attitude. We hear from Jaime Ducharme, Time Magazine journalist who wrote an article about mediocrity in the workplace, Gabrielle Judge who...
Feb 29, 2024•18 min
Work from home, or go into the office? For many businesses and workers it's an ongoing conversation at the moment. But could there be a third way - working 'near' home? New co-working spaces are providing a place for people to do their job close to where they live, but not at home which can be unsuitable and isolating. We also look at the WeWork model - the billion-dollar business filed for bankruptcy protection in the US last year - does that mean the concept isn't viable long term? Produced an...
Feb 28, 2024•18 min
We look at the implications as the Latin American country gradually reduces from 45 hours. In April 2023 politicians approved a law in congress saying that businesses need to move towards cutting their hours to help get a better work life balance for employees. This reduction is happening gradually, and the working week is getting shorter by at least one hour per year, over a maximum of five years. We speak to workers and businesses in Chile about the impact - good and bad - that this is having....
Feb 27, 2024•18 min
It's been 50 years since Sweden introduced state-funded parental leave, designed for couples to share. We hear how the pioneering policy has impacted families and businesses - and ask whether Sweden really deserves its reputation for gender equality. And we meet one of the first dads to take paid parental leave, back in the 1970s. Produced and presented by Maddy Savage (Image: A man holding a small child. Credit: Getty Images)
Feb 26, 2024•18 min
Today, the richest 10 per cent of the world’s population own more than three quarters of its wealth, while the bottom half have 2%. To halt the growing wealth gap, one economic philosopher, Ingrid Robeyns, has come up with a striking proposal - to impose legally enforced limits on people’s personal wealth. No one individual, Professor Robeyns suggests, should be allowed to have more than 10 million dollars. It's a provocative idea. And would it work in practice? (Picture: Ingrid Robeyns. Credit:...
Feb 23, 2024•18 min
The Russian invasion sparked the worst recession in the country’s recent history. Yet 2023 saw growth which is projected to continue. So how are businesses actually faring? The economy is heavily reliant on foreign aid and there is uncertainty whether that will continue, notably from the US. We hear from businesses and workers who give us a mixed picture of Ukraine's economic health: Chef Zhenya Mykhailenko the CEO of FVSM which runs a group of Ramen restaurants in Kyiv and a military kitchen in...
Feb 22, 2024•18 min
The Olympics in Tokyo, some jaw dropping films, and a hardwired desire to be in the great outdoors. These are just some of the reasons credited with boosting the popularity of climbing. Hundreds of indoor bouldering gyms have cropped up in the US since the 1990s, and the sport is spreading across the world. Although still concentrated in North America and Europe, more and more countries are joining the International Federation of Sport Climbing, and the millions of people taking part are attract...
Feb 21, 2024•18 min
The Philippines is experiencing an artificial coin shortage. It’s artificial because there are plenty of coins - it’s just that people are using them less so they fall out of circulation and end up collecting in jars at home. Hannah Mullane investigates why this is happening and what impact it’s having on consumer behaviour. And reporter Camille Elemia speaks to businesses and shoppers in Quezon city to find out how Filipino’s are changing the way they spend. (Picture: A jeepney driver, counting...
Feb 20, 2024•18 min
Three months ago, Houthi fighters from Yemen hijacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea and took the crew captive. It was the group’s first attack on commercial shipping in response to Israel’s military offensive in Gaza. Around 30 similar assaults have followed and the US and UK have retaliated with air strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen. The Houthi attacks have wreaked havoc with shipping in the Red Sea, forcing hundreds of ships to re-route and make the much longer journey around the bottom of...
Feb 19, 2024•18 min
