The Agenda Podcast

This week The Agenda comes from Geneva at the World Economic Forum’s Growth Summit 2023.

 At the Summit, WEF released it’s latest Chief Economists’ report – which showed an equal split between those expecting a global recession, and those who think the world economy will recover through the rest of the year. WEF also released its latest jobs report – which warns of major disruptions in the labor market for the rest of this decade.

 To discuss those reports, and much more besides, in this episode Juliet Mann speaks to Saadia Zahidi, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum 

2023 has so far been something of a bumpy ride for the global economy. Inflation remains stubbornly high, banks have collapsed and debt is spiralling upwards for some of the world's largest economies.

There has been some better news - with China growing and opening up for business post-pandemic - and fears of a global recession seeming to melt away. So where exactly do things stand now? And what can we expect for the rest of the year?

On this edition of The Agenda, Juliet Mann speaks to Jean-Claude Trichet – former President of the European Central Bank and Governor of the Bank of France to find out.

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 Mukuru Clean Stoves and Pierre Paslier, Co-founder of the sustainable packaging startup, Notpla to hear their extraordinary stories. 

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 Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have all been in Beijing to meet President Xi Jinping.

To find out what China’s re-opening post-pandemic really means for the rest of the world on this edition of The Agenda Juliet Mann speaks to Justin Vaïsse, Director General of the Paris Peace Forum, who was part of President Macron’s delegation, three time Spanish Ambassador to China, Eugenio Bregolat and – ahead of his own trip to Beijing -  Mohcine Jazouli, Morocco’s Investment Minister.

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?

 Juliet Mann speaks to Professor David Blanchflower, Economics Professor at Dartmouth College and former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, and Joe Oliver, former Finance Minister of Canada.

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 Scientist at the Xianhu Lab in Foshan, And Professor David Rooney, Director of the Sustainable Energy Research Programme at Queen's about 

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 defense alliance, many, including China, Indonesia and Malaysia are far from happy with the deal, claiming it’s an attempt to exploit a loophole in global nuclear non-proliferation treaties and could destabilize the entire region. 

In this episode, Juliet Mann speaks to George Yeo, former Foreign Minister of Singapore, and Professor Peter Kuznick, Director of the Nuclear Studies Institute at American University in Washington DC to see what AUKUS really reveals about existing geopolitical fault lines.

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 focus on high quality growth to enhancing its global diplomatic and peace-making efforts – and considers what impact this will have on the rest of the world as we move further into the 21st Century. 

Juliet Mann is joined by Danilo Türk, Former President of Slovenia and now Chair of the Club de Madrid and a panel of top global experts who share their insight into the future of a truly Modern China.

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. 

So, what lessons can be learned from that? And how can the benefits of urbanization be balanced with inevitable environmental consequences?

In this episode, Juliet Mann speaks to Chris Hamnett, Professor of Geography at Kings College London, Dr Yan Song, the Director of North Carolina University’s Program on Chinese Cities and world-renowned urbanization expert, Alain Bertaud. 

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 are so vital to their nations.  We also hear their take on the future of global cooperation, and what needs to happen to ensure the vital transition to a greener future runs smoothly.