Future Tense

There’s a serious campaign underway to have 30 per cent of the Earth designated as a giant conservation area. The target date is 2030.

But that’s just the start. The scientists and environmentalists involved in the plan want to eventually lock down half the planet. It’s about protecting habitats and biodiversity.

Cost and logistics are primary considerations. But they aren’t the only ones. Other issues at stake include increasing poverty and indigenous rights.

The ongoing negative effects of climate change are putting stress on the global  insurance market.

The Himalayas are sometime called the earth’s “third pole”. They’re a vital source of water for a large chunk of the world’s population.

But the local, national and international systems put in place to protect and manage human development in this vital ecosystem are failing.

In this episode, Matt Smith travels to the Himalayas for Future Tense to gauge the size of the problem and possible solutions for safeguarding its future.

MIT research scientist, Andrew McAfee, argues we need to rethink our assumptions about capitalism and the environment.  

Economic growth, he says, has been gradually decoupling from resource consumption. So, if capitalism survives this current crisis, we may need to adapt our understanding of the way it all works. 

We also hear from Annmaree O’Keeffe, from the Lowy Institute’s Pacific Islands Program, about the value of Australia’s international public broadcasting effort now that the Pacific is once again an Australian geopolitical focus.

There’s arguably never been a more important time for public broadcasting. Amid the rise of disinformation, low public trust and diminishing newsrooms, independent journalism has a vital role to play in informing democracy and providing a check on power.

But right across the world, public broadcasting is under attack as budgets are being stripped back.

In this episode, we question why?