Will a sense of urgency prevail at COP28? The climate talks in the United Arab Emirates will once again bring to the fore the challenges of financing the world's move to sustainable development. The vice president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Sir Danny Alexander, joins us from Dubai to give us his take.

Also in the programme:

The Panama Canal is perhaps one of the world's most famous shortcuts. Every year, over $270 billion worth of goods transit through the waterway. But that figure could be much lower this year. A drought is forcing authorities to reduce the number of daily ship crossings in order to conserve water, leading to a massive container ship traffic jam. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer explains.

Finally, we report on how Japan is celebrating a century of whisky-making prowess by scaling up supply to meet increasingly thirsty global demand.