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: Kemedi@alluvialtrade.com

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Music from today's episode was provided by Grammy winning percussionist Lekan Babalola
http://www.lekanbabalola.com/

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.  
https://areosenergie.com/ae/eng/

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.

Brennan interviews Art Wollenweber of Mutiny Island Vodka of St Croix about the 1 year old company's role in their community. The company responded to the Covid crisis by adapting to produce the world's only commercial hand sanitizer made from breadfruit - and making it available to the whole of the US Virgin Islands.  (Apologies for the poor audio quality -- we thought our earpiece mics were picking it up, but they were not)

Rev. Dr. Robert Lee, III, of Fresh Ministries talks with Brennan about the history of his non-profit and their philosophy of engagement in Jacksonville and around the world. His team has led efforts to fight Aids in Africa, as well as holy land pilgrimages that actually facilitate cross cultural understanding. 

In Zimbabwe, deforestation occurs at a pace as high as 20% annually. Masimba and his charity Rebirth Trust employ ex-convicts in a country where as many as 90% of offenders can trace their crime as a response to deep poverty. He hires the reformed criminals to plant fruit trees, which will give them a tool to improve their lives, and counter some of the deforestation occuring in that country.  GET INVOLVED! Visit their homepage at: https://www.facebook.com/Rebirth-Correctional-Services-Trust-1673396766277844

Guest Gavin Serkin, CEO of New Markets Media & Intelligence chats with Brennan in a wide-ranging conversation that traverses the globe from Ghana, Nigeria, Côte D'Ivoire, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Sri Lanka and Ukraine to Vietnam. 

Gavin and Brennan discuss the characteristics that spell success in emerging economies, as well as the minefields that befall any best laid plans.

In a wide ranging discussion, Dr. Bianchini of Collaborative Aggregates explains what "Green Chemistry" is, and how additives can be used to reduce the ecological costs of road construction.

The BBC world service provides thoughts and analysis from across the world. In today's special edition, we look back 25 years, at the Coronavirus, which affected the entire planet in the year 2020, and changed the international power dynamic, providing a bookend on America's supreme influence.

Thinking Huts founder and CEO Maggie Grout joins The Blue Continent Podcast to discuss how her non-profit was able to conceive a plan for building 3D Printed Schools in the African Island Nation of Madagascar.  Grout, a Colorado native, discusses her time at Sussex University and the partnerships she made there with UK partners of the Madagascar-based non-profit SEED.
https://www.thinkinghuts.org/

Ray Offenheiser, former President and CEO of Oxfam America and director of the Pulte Institute for Global Development at Notre Dame speaks with Brennan about current areas of research, inequality, COVID-19 and economic development. Ray also hosts The Global Pathways Podcast.  https://pulte.nd.edu/research-policy/

Brennan speaks with Girish Shivakumar of the Mission Shunya podcast, who describes some of the progress in clean technology and sustainable advancements happening in India today. Mission Shunya is the name of his podcast, which has been focused on achieving net zero emissions.  You can find his podcast here: https://audioboom.com/channel/mission-shunya

English music producer Rupert Hine has passed a the age of 72. You've heard his music in every edition of the Blue Continent Podcast, using beats from his song "The Lone Ranger", by his band Quantum Jump. Hine made more of a name for himself through his work producing other artists, such as RUSH (Presto & Roll The Bones), Tina Turner, The Fixx and Howard Jones:

Here is his obituary in today's NY TImes:
https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2020%2F06%2F15%2Farts%2Fmusic%2Frupert-hine-synth-pop-music-producer-dies-at-72.html%3Fsmid%3Dfb-share%26fbclid%3DIwAR2ezxRXhHVlxkht-naJNwu8IbKs6CcZw1wht2cjdOPHG1V1DsAuNFGjoYw&h=AT2FsOt4SfuGQmBGCc9zwXypAvcA4P1ofDcuyeh4-wV_qzpI25FCuB70GJcnOOSf7W6bud-mojXYrWoNct-f9rlCEJ5Zb7Vfv8gjn1hyOsvoaXjkygguNIx4JZwxWdG-T0pfoys&__tn__=%2CmH-R&c[0]=AT0LCcL5cOc7yV4tdsBCC9BZDJy9DaoOPaU_6CR6IwB36TLdG4dHZ6wYlHW6J5RSHvbogSQ0ll3W4dQFeh87RXczvDYWjccTHw7u2KTR0HJJWiC22qb8CMhB71KlJM2DGqf8WZfiVbgomOelcTZamw

And here is music from Quantum Jump -- which I believe married Jazz Fusion and Progressive Rock as well as any act that ever existed:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2SuqRQ7_QQ&list=PLA3B455F8F9B60158