EBRD

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Channel • 2 Shows

Earth Sciences

Earth Sciences

Updated Biweekly
Business

Business

Updated 11/26/2025

11/27/2025

Listening to Nature in a Digitally Unequal World

In a world racing to monitor forests, wildlife and climate impacts with cutting-edge technology, millions of people still lack the basic digital tools and connectivity needed to benefit from or contribute to these efforts. This episode explores how digital exclusion affects communities, environmental data and the ability of countries to respond to climate change. Host Rachael Barza speaks to Reina Otsuka, Global Lead, Digital for Nature and Climate for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) about the “digital fault lines” shaping today’s climate and nature agenda, and what it will take to close them. The episode also examines the new and creative tools emerging across the EBRD regions, including Palmear, a startup using acoustic technology to monitor tree health. While such tools offer powerful new ways to “listen” to nature, the episode explains how they can only create impact if digital infrastructure and inclusion keep pace. This episode is supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the United States of America via the EBRD’s Star Venture programme.

11/27/2025

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27 min
JAN 22

Can AI Outsmart the Weather?

From sudden downpours to extreme storms, the weather is changing fast. In this episode of Nature Unheard, hosts Rachael Barza and Emma Bentley look at how artificial intelligence is reshaping weather forecasting and ask why faster, smarter predictions matter for climate resilience, cities and nature. This episode features insights from Carlo Buontempo of the Copernicus Climate Change Service, as well as looking at EBRD projects in Mongolia and showcasing the work of EBRD client Rainbow AI. The EBRD’s projects in Mongolia were supported by EBRD donors: Austria, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), and Japan (through the EBRD’s Green Cities programme). And our client Rainbow AI has also received support from the European Union.

Jan 22

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29 min
FEB 5

Cities, Pigeons and Making Peace with Nature

Are cities doomed to be grey and overheated, or can nature help them thrive? In the final episode of this season of Nature Unheard, Rachael Barza and Emma Bentley explore how nature-based solutions are transforming urban life. From persistent pigeons at London tube stations to flood-prone rivers in Moldova, and from mangrove forests in the Philippines to goose festivals in Hungary, this episode shows how working with nature can cool our streets, protect our homes and reconnect us with the wild, even in the middle of the city. Featuring Ingrid Coetzee of ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, and a special soundbite from the EBRD’s work on the River Bîc in Chișinău, supported by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as part of our Green Cities programme.

Feb 5

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32 min
11/26/2025

Brave old world- the launch of EBRD Transition Report 2025-26

Is demographic change a bigger global challenge than climate change? And is population ageing, in fact, one of humanity’s greatest successes? In this episode, listen back to the launch of the EBRD’s Transition Report 2025-26: Brave Old World. Moderated by Richard Porter, EBRD Managing Director of Communications, the discussion brings together a distinguished panel: Professor Sarah Harper CBE – Clore Professor of Gerontology, University of Oxford; Director, Oxford Institute of Population Ageing Eghosa Omoigui – Founder and Managing General Partner, EchoVC Partners Dr Nicholas Eberstadt – Henry Wendt Chair in Political Economy, American Enterprise Institute Beata Javorcik – EBRD Chief Economist Brave Old World explores how demographic shifts are reshaping economies—from rapidly ageing societies to countries with youthful, fast-growing populations. The report examines declining fertility rates, the economic consequences of ageing, and the policy tools that can help countries adapt. These include extending productive working lives, accelerating automation, and enabling labour mobility. The discussion also delves into how artificial intelligence, migration policy, and evolving societal values interact with demographic change across the EBRD regions and beyond.

11/26/2025

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1h 32m
11/13/2025

Clean Seas: Can Coral Reefs Make a Comeback?

Coral reefs are among the most vibrant ecosystems on Earth, but they’re also some of the most vulnerable. As the planet warms, the race is on to protect and restore these underwater worlds. This new episode takes listeners beneath the waves to see how science, policy and local action are helping to heal the ocean. Joining the hosts is Dr. David Obura, one of the world’s leading marine ecologists, Chair of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) and founding director of Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean (CORDIO) East Africa. This episode is supported by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the Blue Mediterranean Partnership (France, Germany, Spain and Sweden).

11/13/2025

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31 min
01/18/2018

How to escape the middle-income trap

In the new episode of our ‘Pocket Economics’ podcast, we discuss the ‘middle-income trap’, namely the state of affairs whereby a developing economy becomes stuck at a certain level of income and cannot join the ranks of advanced, high income economies. Is the ‘middle-income trap’ a myth or in fact a reality afflicting many countries? Listen to Alexander Plekhanov in conversation with Jonathan Charles.

01/18/2018

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16 min
01/10/2017

Life satisfaction and the pursuit of happiness

What makes us happy and how should we measure life satisfaction? EBRD Chief Economist Sergei Guriev explains the findings of our Life in Transition Survey, the largest of its kind ever carried out in the EBRD regions.

01/10/2017

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15 min
06/21/2022

Fearonomics: the cost of discrimination

Rate, review and subscribe to our podcast At a time when we’re living through the highest inflation in decades, a cost of living crisis and dramatically falling rates of growth, the new Fearonomics episode looks at the cost of discrimination to the global economy. Despite the recent advancement in the equality of rights and inclusion, 45 per cent of American workers have experienced discrimination in the past year, according to Gallup. The World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2022 report states that around 2.4 billion women of working age lack equal economic opportunities and 178 countries maintain legal barriers that prevent their full economic participation. In early 2022,the LGBTQ+ advocacy group HRC Foundation published a study showing that LGBTQ+ workers in the US earn about 90 cents for every dollar earned by a typical heterosexual worker. Join Jonathan Charles, the EBRD’s Managing Director of Communications, Sergei Guriev, former EBRD Chief Economist and currently Professor of Economics at Science Po, and Beata Javorcik, the EBRD’s Chief Economist who is also Professor of Economics at Oxford University, to discuss how to protect the world economy’s most vulnerable groups. Listen to the latest episode of Fearonomics on iTunes, SoundCloud or wherever you get your podcasts. Review our podcast on iTunes or tweet us @EBRD #Fearonomics You can rate, review and subscribe to Fearonomics on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud.

06/21/2022

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44 min
11/22/2023

EBRD Transition Report 2023-24 live launch

Listen to the live launch of the EBRD Transition Report launch. The global shift to net zero will require major structural changes in economies, as well as extensive change in daily lives. The scale of the transition is unprecedented: from the rush to source critical raw materials to the reconfiguration of global supply chains; from the rise of green skills in the workforce to the development of environmentally sustainable housing markets. The EBRD Transition Report 2023-24: Transitions big and small, published today, offers revealing insights into the way macro-level trends leading to carbon neutrality impact the types of job sought, household management and, ultimately, the perceived level of happiness in the regions where the Bank operates. EBRD Chief Economist Beata Javorcik said: “The change and upheaval that stems from these trends will affect people’s lives for the foreseeable future. Policymakers will need to establish a deep understanding of those effects in order to plan future stages of the green transition, as individual attitudes will both shape and be shaped by that transition process. […] “The success of the green transition will depend on winning their hearts and minds as we continue our journey towards a cleaner future. If there is one thing we have learned from 30 years of transition in the EBRD regions, it is that reforms will not last unless they have broad-based support.” The discussion features Charlotta Källbäck, Head of Internal Audit, Volvo Cars Sandra Bates, specialist on mining and clean energy with Executive and non-Executive Director experience Mark Keese, Head of the Skills and Employment Division, OECD Professor Beata Javorcik, Chief Economist, EBRD Moderated by Jonathan Charles

11/22/2023

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1h 25m
11/09/2017

The Great Soviet Experiment

What lessons can be drawn from the 1917 Russian Revolution and the seven decades of Soviet rule that followed it? Listen to a very special episode of Pocket Economics with the EBRD’s very own Sergei Guriev.

11/09/2017

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1h 5m

Listen to top experts tackle today’s biggest challenges — from the global economy to climate change.

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EBRD

Top Shows

Listening to Nature in a Digitally Unequal World

Can AI Outsmart the Weather?

Cities, Pigeons and Making Peace with Nature

Brave old world- the launch of EBRD Transition Report 2025-26

Clean Seas: Can Coral Reefs Make a Comeback?

How to escape the middle-income trap

Life satisfaction and the pursuit of happiness

Fearonomics: the cost of discrimination

EBRD Transition Report 2023-24 live launch

The Great Soviet Experiment

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