The Blue Continent Podcast

In late 2020, Switzerland voted on a relatively new kind of legislation, a bill would have enforced human rights on multinational corporations based in Switzerland, which has more corporate headquarters per capita than any other nation on earth. It would have made corporations liable for offences carried out by their foreign subsidiaries and subcontractors. The vote failed to reach the necessary thresholds, but was notable in the question it posed, and how close it came to coming into effect. Today we speak with andreas missbach of "Public Eye", one of the most vocal interest groups lobbying for the passage of this legislation.

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Music for this episode was provided by swiss jazz musicians Mathias Ruegg, Charly Antolini, and Nik Bartsch - if you're interested in their music, please check them out!

Alluvial is an innovative and highly scalable private sector response to the challenge of food security. Higher population growth puts Africa at particular risk of a food and humanitarian crisis with global dimensions in terms of basic food supply and unprecedented migration.

https://www.alluvialtrade.com/

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Our guest is Alluvial co-founder Dimieari Von Kemedi

Kemedi has been responsible for project planning and management of Alluvial’s rice project and has taken a lead role inestablishing Alluvial’s export processes. He has worked in community development, nature conservation and conflict management. Kemedi has served a number of senior level expert and consulting positions, including with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the UN Panel of Experts on Liberia, Statoil and the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Kemedi holds a degree in law from the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt and was Environmental Politics Visiting Fellow at the University of California Berkeley.

Email: [email protected]

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Music from today's episode was provided by Grammy winning percussionist Lekan Babalola

Guest: Barbados Chef & sustainable food advocate John Hunte.  John has been engaged in building a sustainable food system for his island of Barbados, and several years ago presented this idea in a TedX talk from Bridgetown - how to conceptualise his entire island as a single farm environment, and make nutritious food available to everyone. 

https://www.slowfoodbarbados.org/

Brennan and designer Roya Aghighi discuss the future of fashion and her pioneering work in the field of biogarmentry. Learn more here:

https://www.royaaghighi.com/biogarmentry.html

Estonia's e-Residency managing director Ott Vatter guests with Brennan to discuss the opportunities available to live and work in Estonia via their new Digital Nomad visa program -- a first-of-its kind innovation.

Yihan Wang is the business development advisor for US Virgin Islands' Research And Technology Park. Here they attract innovative tech companies with a vision of developing sciences which make sense here, and utilizing them to spur unique types of growth for the islands.

https://www.uvirtpark.net/

RMI's Director of Projects Chris Burgess discusses how the Rocky Mountain Institute is helping Caribbean nations make near and long term investments to improve their sustainable energy infrastructure, and how the combination of renewable resources and high traditional energy costs creates an environment where progress can be self-funded.

https://rmi.org/

Shaila discusses how she discovered the need for waste reduction through her work in supply chain management. She describes how her company changes the paradigm and creates value and meaningful employment through the development of artful and sturdy items from discarded items.  You can see their work here: https://www.rimagined.com/

Brennan speaks with Albert Engbers of the Swiss-Serbian solar company Aeros Energie. The company utilizes a new application of the technology to utilize hyper-efficient thermal output. He says it's perfect for application in desalination plants or on islands.  

As a guest on The Blue Continent Podcast, Guest Kari Eliassen of The Norwegian Refugee Council explains the suffering caused by the world's most under-reported conflict in Cameroon, and what the Norwegian Refugee Council is doing to provide support for affected people.