logo
episode-header-image
Dec 2023
27m 27s

Stories from the New Silk Road: Iceland

Bbc World Service
About this episode

In 2013 Iceland made history by becoming the first European country to sign a free trade agreement with China. It was aimed at increasing exports from Iceland to China as well as opening up Iceland to cheaper Chinese consumer goods. Geothermal energy has meant that Iceland is effectively carbon neutral. Its expertise in this area has led to collaboration with China and its geothermal model is changing China's energy mix. One man behind this collaboration is Atli Jonsson, CEO of Arctic Green Energy. Anna Holligan asks him how will geothermal help shape the future needs of China's energy consumption and open further opportunities for collaboration?

Up next
Today
Adeju Thompson: Taking fashion label Lagos Space Programme to the world
Adeju Thompson, the founder and creative director behind the Nigerian fashion label Lagos Space Programme, attempts to establish the label on the global fashion scene. Lagos Space Programme blends Yoruba heritage (notably Adire dyeing) with queer and futurist aesthetics, taking i ... Show More
26m 29s
Yesterday
Bonus: Lives Less Ordinary presents, Hold Fast!
The incredible true story of how The Avontuur was locked down at sea for 188 days during the Covid-19 pandemic, with 15 people on board. The journey begins for ship’s cook Giulia Baccosi when she accepts a last-minute job aboard the sailing cargo ship The Avontuur. She tells the ... Show More
24m 55s
Aug 23
Mud wrestling and tent pegging: Africa’s unusual sports
We take a look at some of the more unusual sports practiced on the African continent. Kelvin Kimathi recently travelled to Uganda where a muddy version of entertainment wrestling is becoming increasingly popular. Marcia Veiga discovered Capoeira Angola whilst finding a way to con ... Show More
26m 21s
Recommended Episodes
Sep 2022
Women at the Polar opposite
Climate change is having a devastating impact on the North and the South Pole – melting glaciers and endangering the local wildlife. Kim Chakanetsa meets two women who are monitoring these changes closely. Hilde Fålun Strøm is an explorer and citizen scientist based in Longyearby ... Show More
27m 47s
Dec 2023
Volcanic eruption lights up Iceland
This week, the Reykjanes volcano in Iceland has erupted, following weeks of seismic activity. Edward Wayne Marshall, from the University of Iceland, brings us the latest science about the volcano. Also this week, the UK's 40-year-old JET fusion facility has been switched off. Rol ... Show More
31m 28s
Nov 2023
Volcanic rumblings in Iceland
Increased tremors have been felt in Iceland, and concerns about an impending eruption have led to the evacuation of the town of Grindavik. Geophysicist Dr Freysteinn Sigmundsson reveals more about the events and whether this area of Iceland may be entering a new period of volcani ... Show More
29m 38s
Nov 2023
Why does it matter that Greenland is melting?
Greenland is an island covered in a sheet of ice that is over 3km thick in places, containing 7.4 metres of average global sea level rise. Due to climate change, it’s melting at an astonishing rate. We meet some of the people being forced to rapidly adapt their traditional ways o ... Show More
27m 27s
Sep 2016
Using Other People’s Water
Bridget Kendal is joined by Professor in Water Management Arjen Hoekstra to discuss the idea that we urgently need to change industrial and agricultural practices to reduce our water footprint and avert a global crisis. Esther de Jong specialises in water usage in the developing ... Show More
39m 49s
Feb 2023
World Questions: Iceland
Iceland is known for its rugged wilderness, booming tourist industry and a high standard of living. But this small nation in the North Atlantic is not immune from the challenges facing the rest of the world. Rising inflation is making it harder for young people to afford a home o ... Show More
49m 46s
Dec 2021
Antarctic Treaty: Protecting the icy continent
It’s widely regarded as the most successful treaty in the world, and it was the first arms control agreement established during the Cold War. The Antarctic Treaty, which came into force in 1961, protects what is one of the most unspoilt places on earth, from mining, from military ... Show More
38m 59s
Nov 2022
Stories from the New Silk Road: Ecuador
The Cordillera del Condor mountain range in the east of Ecuador is where the mountains meets the jungles and the Andes meets the Amazon. In this region a Chinese run copper mine, Mirador, has grabbed the headlines over recent years, leading to controversy, resistance and talk of ... Show More
27m 19s
Oct 2023
Is peace in the Arctic melting?
Climate change and the war in Ukraine is transforming the geopolitics of the Arctic. Melting ice opens up the possibility of new trade routes making the region more valuable. Tensions in the area are rising as Russia turns to China for cooperation. China in return wants to positi ... Show More
23m 48s
Jan 2019
The Top of the World
The North Pole lies at the very top of our world. Covered in a thick layer of sea ice, this uninhabitable frozen point in the Arctic Sea has fascinated us for centuries as both a physical location on a map and as a far away place in our imagination. Warmer than the South Pole, th ... Show More
39m 13s