2020 will go down as one of the most extraordinary years on record. The COVID-19 pandemic, as unexpected as it was all-encompassing, changed all our lives, perhaps forever. On this special podcast, we'll hear the views of some of the world's top experts on what we can expect from 2021 and how the world will be dealing with the fallout from 2021.
Economy
First on the podcast we speak to former head of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O'Neill. He tells us why he expects a significant bounce back in the economy [00:46]. We also talk to Li Wei, director of China Economy at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business. He explains why he thinks China will reach its target of 8 percent GDP growth in its COVID-19 recovery [02:57].
WHO
The World Health Organization has rarely, if ever, dominated the headlines as much as it did in 2020, in charge of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To examine how the WHO will deal with the pandemic in 2021 we speak to spokesperson Margaret Harris. She explains what the WHO has learned from the COVID-19 outbreak and how they will apply those lessons in the future [05:41].
The Environment
In October, COP 26, the UN's delayed climate change conference will take place in Glasgow. And in May, delegates will gather in Kunming in China for COP 15, the Convention on Biological Diversity. We speak to Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the person in charge of COP 15. Mrema tells us why businesses have a vested interest in focusing on biodiversity and supporting local indegenous communities [08:49].
We also speak to Manuel Pulgar-Vidal [10:09] former Peruvian environment minister and now climate and energy global practice leader at the Worldwide Fund for Nature, as well as Tasneem Essop [13:25] executive director of Climate Action Network.
Travel
There were few industries that were hit harder in 2020 than aviation as passenger demand fell by more than half. Hundreds of billions of dollars of revenue were lost and tens of thousands of jobs disappeared across the industry. To find out more we speak to Alexandre de Juniac CEO of the International Air Transport Association [16:57] as well as Simon Calder [19:16], the senior travel editor of the Independent newspaper.
Sports
2020 was a bad year for sports as the Olympic Games and football’s European Championships were both postponed. To discuss how the sporting calendar will respond to the challenge of COVID-19 we speak to double Olympic gold medalist and president of world athletics, Lord Sebastian Coe. [21:39].
Astrology
Finally we talk to astrologer Susan Miller [26:02] who gives us her own little insight into what 2021 has in store for us.