World Business Report

The Trump administration in the United States is leading to a significant shift in policy and financial investment in companies involved in the global energy transition. We are discussing how this potentially will have an impact on energy and how industry might respond.South Africa is grappling with severe water shortages, particularly in Johannesburg, due to inadequate resource management and infrastructure failure. The crisis poses an existential threat to the economy.And former Liverpool CEO Peter Moore discusses his career in sportswear, gaming, and running a global football club.

How will Donald Trump's vision for the US economy affect its closest trading partners?We hear about what's been discussed at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and discuss what the US's protectionist policies mean for the Republic of Ireland's new government.While a $7bn deal has been reached to compensate those devastated by the US opioid epidemic, we find out whether those that cause it will ever really pay the price?And the Nepalese government has decided to increase the cost of climbing permits during the peak season from $11 thousand to $15 thousand. But how much should you be charged to climb the world's highest mountain? The latest business and finance news from around the world, on the BBC.

The US President Donald Trump will speak remotely at the World Economic Forum happening in Davos, Switzerland, delivering his first major speech to global business and political leaders, but questions over what he will, and will not be doing during his second term in office have been dominating conversations between delegates.The European Union obtained more of its electricity from solar power than from coal for the first time over the last year.And the Nepalese government has decided to increase the cost of climbing permits during the peak season from $11 thousand to $15 thousand.

The big event of 2021 that will shape economies all over the world for decades to come was the COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow in November. The meeting saw a deluge of promises, but what was actually achieved? Martin Webber speaks to Tim Gould, chief energy economist at the International Energy Agency and economist Irwin Stelzer, from the Hudson Institute in the United States.It was another boom year for the pharmaceutical industry as it crafted the vaccines that have saved so many lives. Of the 8 billion coronavirus vaccinations worldwide, one billion have been delivered by the US logistics company, UPS. We hear from Wes Wealer, President of UPS healthcare.And small business owners have had a bleak time for much of the past year. But many of those that have survived now feel optimistic. We hear from the owner of the Aroma speciality coffee shop in Bologna in Italy, Cristina Caroli, about her year.

Covid-19 is set to prompt radical long term changes to how we live and work, so what lessons can be learnt when we eventually emerge from the pandemic? Could the changes in the way we work herald higher productivity and happier people in the future?We hear the stories of the people who managed to thrive during a very difficult year, including the milkman who saw a boom in deliveries and the dancer who found work in South Korea when the London stage went dark.Martin Webber is joined by Professor Devi Sridhar who holds the Chair of Global Public Health at the University of Edinburgh; economist Roger Bootle, of Capital Economics; Robert Reich, former Labour Secretary under President Clinton; Tomas Philipson, who was Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors under Mr Trump; and actor Thomas Inge who is currentl starring in the musical Cats in South Korea.