Plastics Unwrapped
Edition 96
“You aren’t somebody, unless you have a podcast now!” That is what an old friend had to say as we met for our first lunch of 2024. He should know! He WAS bureau chief of one of the world’s most recognised news organisations for many, many moons!
I use this platform to shine a light on amazing women around the world and am loathe to toot my own horn. But it looks like as a new year begins, I’m somebody now!
And I promise, the humble brag in your inbox is a project I’m proud of and one that can have impact on the world around us!
I’m excited to share I am re-launching a podcast called “Plastics Unwrapped” on January 16th (Tuesday) from its third season onwards as host, editor, creator (you name it!) with my partner in crime — journalist and producer extraordinaire, Lisa Desai.
Plastic as a material has become the poster child of all that is wrong with how we deal with our global waste, the socio-economic inequalities that it exacerbates and its impact on climate change. With the Global Plastics Treaty under negotiation, it has never been more important to have a frank and honest dialogue about our search to find solutions for the lifecycle of a material that we love to hate but cannot seem to live without.
Rebuilding trust is one of the core values I operate on. And that is what I’m hoping this podcast will attempt to do, as we have frank and honest conversations in the new seasons of Plastics Unwrapped. I’m a firm believer that as we race to save our planet, we have to talk honestly with each other, leave our silos and biased thinking behind and bring everyone along on the path to our goals. That is what ‘Plastics Unwrapped’ is going to try to do.
My team and I are moving the show into an editorially independent realm. A space where people like you and I can get smarter about our plastic waste problem and how we can speed up its journey to circularity.
Our goal? To create a space where every difficult question is on the table. Nothing is off-limits! It’s where challenges will be talked about candidly. Where varied views of civil society, journalists, scientists, incumbent industry and disruptors will come together for the ultimate goal of finding a solution to our plastic waste problem.
My team has also set itself the target of ensuring that our guest speaker roster reflects the world. Plastic isn’t a problem that belongs to one geography or one community after all.
So not only will we cover every continent’s perspective (Episodes 1-6 have already taken us to 5 continents), but we’ve also ensured the women leading the solutions to our plastic waste problems have an equal voice on the show. You’ll meet the women (and the men) pushing for change, driving innovation and science for a material that’s barely 100 years old but central to our climate problems and our climate saving goals.
Launching with Design
Episode one “Design thinking plastics” will re-launch the show in its season 3 and will kick off featuring Tony Chambers (the Anna Wintour of the design world is often described as the design world’s “ultimate arbiter of taste’). The former editor-in-chief of ‘Wallpaper’ magazine and I will talk about the history and future of designing plastics for circularity and sustainability. Tony’s key takeaway? Don’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
In episode two, you’ll get to know two amazing women, Rosalie McMillan and Daniella Souza Miranda who are implementing that design thinking into the very products they are producing. What’s driving them? What’s their biggest achievement? Where do they get stuck? What do they need changing? We’ll delve into the perspective of small and big businesses, and the role design thinking can play for changing business models for a better world.
You can catch up with the latest episodes every week (from January 16th) on your favourite streaming platforms — whether its Apple, Spotify or wherever you prefer!
Note: You will notice the podcast is supported by multinational and plastic producer Dow and why I highlighted the ‘editorial independence’ of the show earlier. The podcast was originally created and hosted by Dow’s Judith (Judy) Hicks, geared toward industry insiders discussing their challenges. The company has after all set some pretty high climate goals and targets.
But as an incumbent and frankly being too close to the topic - shifting gears to an impact oriented egalitarian discussion required the podcast to become independent. To make the decision to hand over control of the conversation takes bravery on the part of a company.
It is my hope that Plastics Unwrapped will prove that rebuilding trust and having common goals for our planet amongst all stakeholders, is possible.
News to note
Business
Gender tends to play no part when it comes to bad bosses. But Paula Vennells, former CEO of the Post Office has finally been pressured enough to hand back her royal honour of CBE, if not her Golden Parachute of £3 million in bonuses and pension.
The CBE stands for Commander of the British Empire. It is a royal honour which is part of the Order of the British Empire and higher than the OBE (Officer of the British Empire) and the MBE (Member of the British Empire)). But her token gesture may just be that. It turns out saying you’ll hand it back, isn’t the same as losing it. Read more at The Conversation
If you’re unfamiliar with the U.K. Post Office Horizon scandal, here’s a quick gist - Paula oversaw what has turned out to be the worst and largest miscarriage of justice in the U.K. where thousands of postals workers were over many years prosecuted, fined and jailed, with some even committing suicide over an IT glitch. The Post Office actively covered up problems in its accounting software called Horizon, developed by Fujitsu and pinned the blame for discrepancies on its sub-postmasters claiming they were committing embezzlement. It finally took a 4-part TV program released in the new year called ‘Mr Bates vs the Post Office’ to push the U.K. government to acknowledge the enormity of the miscarriage of justice. Watch Mr Bates vs the Post Office at ITV & Read more at the BBC
Those still obsessed with the massive Chinese consumer market might end up missing out if they don’t pay attention to the world’s largest democracy next door. India is set to become the third largest economy in the world by 2027 (it is currently the world's fifth largest economy) according to the International Monetary Fund. Per a new Goldman Sachs report, the country’s affluent class will be a whopping 100 million by 2027. The bank’s report also highlights that the indigenous companies selling premium goods will outperform broad-based rivals. Read more at Mint
Based on that Goldman report, here are a few of India’s bosses to keep your eye on:
The founder and CEO of Nykka (valued at $14 billion), Falguni Nayar
Chief Executive Office of the Watches and Wearables Division of Titan Company Limited, Suparna Mitra
Founder of Luxury Ayurveda brand, Forest Essentials (my go to!!), Mira Kulkarni
It wasn’t a fun holiday season for Isabel dos Santos, the billionaire daughter of Angola’s former president who has been under the corruption lens for years. Africa’s first female billionaire lost a case in the UK High Court and has had £580m of her assets frozen. She is being sued by the Angolan telecom company she founded Unitel, over loans made to a separate Dutch company, Unitel International Holdings (UIH), in 2012 and 2013, when she was a Unitel director, to fund UIH’s acquisition of shares in telecoms companies. The loans were not repaid and Unitel claims approximately £300m is outstanding. Read more at Sky News
Politics
As 2024 begins, and keeping up with the traditions of 2023 - we’ve lost two more global women leaders in the world of politics:
Élisabeth Borne was France’s Prime Minister for just two short years (France’s second female head of government) and in the past few days was replaced by 34-year-old Gabriel Attal. He becomes France’s youngest and first openly gay prime minister. Read more at Politico
The 62-year-old former Prime Minister’s position has been tenuous ever since an immigration bill pushed by French President Emmanuel Macron was voted down in France’s parliament last month. It was finally passed with many controversial changes imposed by the centre-right opposition. Read more at The New York Times
Taiwan’s first female President Tsai Ing-wen stepped down after 8 years and two terms. In a resounding approval of her policies, Taiwan’s voters chose William Lai Ching-te of President Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party (dpp) as her successor. The results aren’t going down well in Beijing. Chinese officials had tried to intimidate Taiwan’s voters by calling this election a choice between “war and peace, prosperity and decline”, and denouncing the dpp as separatists. Read more at The Economist
Civil Society
Marie-Paule Djegue Okri, an agronomist and agro-ecology consultant from Côte d'Ivoire and co-founder of the Ivorian League for Women's Rights has been awarded the prestigious French Simone de Beauvoir Prize for her work in gender equality. The prize, which has been awarded since 2008, was created to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of feminist philosopher Simone de Beauvoir. Marie-Paul’s work includes education for young girls in rural areas, supporting victims of rape and developing agricultural training for unemployed mothers with limited literacy skills. She intends to run in legislative elections in 2026, so watch for this powerhouse to make waves in the political sphere in the future. Read more at Radio France Internationale
The Foyle Foundation was set up to implement the will of the late Christina Foyle, owner of U.K. bookstore chain Foyles (now owned by Waterstones). She died in 1999 leaving most of her estate to charity. The Foundation is now set to make £23 million worth of grants over the next two years as it plans to complete its grant giving programme and close in 2025. Since it became operational in 2001 the Foyle Foundation has disbursed a total £147m in grants. Read more at Civil Society
Science
Korean women are living longer, and the men are catching up. Korean women on average are living to the ripe old age of 90.7 while men’s life spans have increased to 86.3, according to the Korea Insurance Development Institute (KIDI). That’s an increase of 2.8 and 2.2 years for the two genders, respectively, compared to data from 2019. KIDI attributes the closing gap to “medical technology and higher living standards, which raised the mortality rates.” Read more at Korea JoongAng Daily
According to a report from the Brazilian Academy of Sciences (ABC) one in two women (47% of respondents) in Brazilian academia have dealt with sexual harassment, compared to one in 10 men. The 47-page report from a 2022 survey of 4,000 scientists (who got their PhD between 2006-2021) also highlights funding, international mobility and inclusion issues for early career academics and researchers in the country. Read more at Nature (If you are proficient in Portuguese you can access the full report at Profile of the Early and Mid-Career Brazilian Scientist)
Society
British Army medical officer Captain Preet Chandi has set a new women’s Antarctic Speed World Record. Preet is now the fastest woman to complete a solo unsupported South Pole ski expedition covering the 700 miles of ice in 31 days, 13 hours and 19 minutes. She broke two prior Guinness World Records for polar exploration last year. Read more at UK Army