The Wire with Caeden

What does the future hold for the world’s children? Twenty-fifty is now twenty-six years away, and a recent report made by UNICEF makes predictions based off of three megatrends they have developed.

By the twenty-fifties, the global child population is expected to stabilise at 2.3 billion, the most substantial areas of growth being in South Asia and most of the African continent. These areas already struggle to meet children’s basic needs, which are also now affected by a rapidly changing climate and a lack of adequate digital infrastructure.

Half of the world’s children today - 1 billion - live in countries where there is a greater risk of climate and environmental hazards. Adding on to this is the gradual increase of urbanisation, the development of compact city living. Without adequate infrastructure to support this influx, these factors will jeopardise the future development of children.

The future is ours to shape, and to continue down a ‘business as usual’ is the easiest path, but will create a worse reality. To understand these ideas in full, Sasha spoke to UNICEF Aotearoa Director of Communications, Tania Sawicki Mead about the recent report and its implications for the future of global childhood.

On the 25th of November, the University of Auckland’s new recreation and wellness centre officially opened for students and staff members.

The recreation centre boasts a 26,000 square metre facility equipped with amenities such as an 8-lane swimming pool, two sports halls and a large gym.

However, around the time of the centre’s opening, a protest was held outside the building by students, lecturers, university staff and members of the Tertiary education union in opposition to the rec centres opening and the expenditure that went into it.

According to the protestors in attendance, the $320 million expenditure that went into the rec centre’s development could not be justified, while staff were still fighting for fair pay agreements with university management and while numerous courses are facing cuts.

Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Java Grant - A Representative of the student led-advocacy group - We Are the University, and Sean Sturn - an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Education and Member of the Tertiary Education Union, to discuss why the protest outside the new rec centre was held, and the concerns that staff and students had with UoA management.

The 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, commonly known as COP29, concluded in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku last week. 

This year’s climate change conference was particularly controversial, with the host - Azerbaijan, being a major oil producer, with almost 2,000 lobbyists from the oil and gas industry attending and with many small island nation states in attendance objecting to the conference’s $300 billion financial agreement to help them address the impacts of extreme weather events. 

Wednesday Wire Host, Oto, spoke to Bronwyn Hayward a Professor of Political Science and International Relations at the University of Canterbury, to discuss the outcomes of the COP29 conference and the New Quantified Goal in Climate Finance that came from it.

This week on the Tuesday Wire...

For Dear Science, our expert Doctor Cushla McGoverin chatted with us about amphibian fossils in Wyoming and squirting cucumbers.

In our weekly catchup with the National Party, Wire host Castor spoke to MP Tom Rutherford about last week’s gang patch ban and Aotearoa’s emissions targets in light of COP29. 

They also spoke to Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Information and Technology in Monash University in Melbourne, Jathan Sadowski about Artificial Intelligence and work.

Producer Athena spoke to Associate Professor at the University of Auckland’s Bioengineering Institute, Alys Clark, about research into the link between the placenta and the heart using virtual models.

They also spoke to Joyce Cook Chair in Aging Well and Professor at the University of Auckland, Ngaire Kerse, about the loneliness epidemic among older people.