Business Daily

Dense tropical rainforest in central Africa's Congo Basin is humid and rainy for much of the year. Underfoot lies one of the world’s biggest carbon sinks – muddy soil built up from layers of partly decomposed plant matter. Remote and uncultivated, the peatlands have survived for thousands of years, stretching over an area the size of England. Incredibly, the area contains 30 billion tonnes of carbon trapped underground, but this rare carbon store is now under threat as local authorities turn their attention to oil.

Presenter: Vivienne Nunis

(Image: Aerial view of the peatland forest at Lokolama/Penzele around Mbandaka, Équateur province, DRC. Credit: Daniel Beltrá/Greenpeace Africa)

For the last couple of months India has been experiencing an absolutely blistering heatwave. The capital Delhi has seen temperatures hit record highs and it's estimated the heat is costing the Indian economy more than a hundred billion dollars a year.

Rahul Tandon explores what can be done for the millions of people in India who have to work outside. The BBC's Nikhil Inamdar reports from Aurangabad, a city in Maharashtra state, where some crops are being harvested overnight to avoid the heat.

We also speak to experts and business leaders about how the country is coping with planned power outages and what the future might hold for the Indian economy if temperatures continue to rise.

Presenter: Rahul Tandon

Image: Indian workers in Delhi; Credit: EPA Harish Tyagi

As part of the Business Daily Meets strand we speak to Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning, senior economists at the Bank of England. They have written a book to help people of all ages get a better understanding of the economy.

Image: Rupal Patel and Jack Meaning; Credit: Penguin Random House

As part of the Business Daily series Million by 30 we speak to Amarachi Nwosu, a filmmaker who wanted to look at race in Japan from a different angle. She spoke to black people in Toyko about their experiences in the country and uncovers a world of custom, curiosity and respect. Sam Fenwick hears more about what the film means to her, and what she hopes her next ‘million’ will be.

Picture: Amarachi Nwosu; Credit: Serah Alabi

Presenter: Sam Fenwick

With more and more of our financial lives moving online, we ask whether some people are getting left behind.

Claire Williamson investigates whether some older people, who struggle with rapidly changing technology or fear losing their money through scams, are being forgotten about, as banks close branches and move online?

Claire hears from people attending a digital skills training session organised by Age UK in East London and Carlos San Juan from Valencia in Spain tells her why he started a campaign for a more humane treatment of older people by Spanish banks.

Producer / presenter; Claire Williamson

Former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd tells Rahul Tandon about running a two trillion dollar economy, and how he responded to the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

Hear how his interest in China began, and why he thinks engagement with the economic superpower is the only way forward. He also gives us his opinion on new Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and the recent return of the Labor Party to power.

Presenter: Rahul Tandon

The global online ad racket; Ed Butler investigates how criminals are ripping off advertising firms to the tune of billions every year.

Andrew Lissimore the CEO of a Canadian company that sells high-end headphones tells us what happened when he hired an ad-tech firm to organise targeted advertising for his website.

Ad fraud expert, Augustine Fou explains that the problems with digital advertising really began about a decade ago, when advertisers stopped selling their ads directly to publishing websites and used ad exchanges instead. We also hear from a former hacker who now advises companies on how to keep hackers and fraudsters at bay.

Presenter / producer: Ed Butler

In 2002, Lesley Curwen arrived in Siberia to see the inner workings of Gazprom. Hear how she found a business that felt more like an empire of its own, with 300 thousand workers and the largest gas reserves on the planet.

Back then Gazprom was eager to be taken seriously abroad, and to sell more of its gas to Europe. Which it did. This year, war in Ukraine changed everything when Gazprom’s political master Vladimir Putin turned off the gas taps to Poland, Bulgaria and Finland.

Presenter: Lesley Curwen

(Photo: Lesley Curwen in Siberia in 2002; Credit: Lesley Curwen/BBC)

In latest episode of our series Million by 30 – Sam Fenwick is joined by Sharon Tsueng.

Sharon is a former high school chess teacher, a marketing specialist, she was also a digital nomad and now invests in property. Sharon made a million dollars before her 30th birthday building passive income streams and then saving and investing that cash.

Sharon tells Sam how she did it, what drives her and why a sensible attitude to money right from the start helped her build her nest egg and achieve financial freedom.

Presenter: Sam Fenwick

Image: Sharon Tseung; Credit: Sharon Tseung

During the coronavirus pandemic governments around the world pumped billions into their economies. Propping up businesses and trying to make sure people stayed in work.

Sam Fenwick looks into what actually happened to all that money and whether it really did help keep businesses afloat during repeated lockdowns and restrictions.

Nick Hood is an business insolvency expert with a company called Opus Restructuring – he helped us interrogate data held by all the major world economies on insolvencies.

Sam also speaks to a business owner who was forced to close and declare bankruptcy during the pandemic despite financial help and another who was able to restructure and expand thanks to a government scheme.

Presenter / Producer: Sam Fenwick