Paying extra to offset your carbon emissions may sound like a good idea. But does planting trees or paying to save a rainforest actually reduce your carbon footprint? Travel writer Manchán Magan and climate scientist Thales West explain why they're sceptical. We also hear from one of America's leading airlines, United, which is increasing the number of flights powered by waste products and old cooking fat. United's head of global environmental affairs Lauren Riley tells us more.

Photo: A plane casts a shadow over a forest (Credit: Getty)

On this edition of Business Weekly, we look at the battle between the makers of one of the world’s biggest computer games, Fortnite, and the world’s biggest tech company, Apple. The court case could have implications for how app stores and payment models are run in the future. We also take a look at the jewellery sector and hear two different tales of sustainability - from those selling diamonds made in a laboratory and those digging them out of the ground. Plus, we head to campuses in the United States, where universities cash in on the popularity of college sports, while the players themselves - the students – rarely see a penny for their efforts. That is quickly changing, but perhaps too rapidly for some observers. Business Weekly is presented by Sasha Twining and produced by Matthew Davies.

Scientists, artists and some of the world’s biggest companies are carving up the visual spectrum, and claiming certain colours as their own, so who does have a right to use the colours of the rainbow? We explore the ongoing rift over the worlds “blackest black” Vantablack, which was created by engineering firm Surrey Nanosystems, and can only be used by the artist Anish Kapoor. Contemporary British artist Stuart Semple argues that creativity should not be limited by commercial agreements, while Surrey Nanosystems executive Ben Jensen explains that the material is not suitable for general use. Author Kassia St Clair explores the meaning and history of colour, and we hear how interpretations of colour have changed from Julie Irish, an assistant professor specialising in colour, at the College of Design in Iowa.

Note: Surrey NanoSystems has clarified their material Vantablack isn’t toxic, as described by one speaker in this programme, but can be an irritant.

This programme is a repeat from January 2021.

(Picture of a colour splash via Getty Images).

What next for China's giant tech companies? Ed Butler speaks to China watcher Richard McGregor at the Lowy Institute in Sydney about why China's leaders have clipped the wings of Jack Ma, the country's most famous business leader and founder of the tech giant Alibaba. Chinese tech sector analyst Rui Ma argues that closer regulation of China's giant tech companies will be good for competition, while Rebecca Fannin, author of Tech Titans of China, worries about the impact on innovation. Eswar Prasad, economics and trade policy professor at Cornell University in the US, outlines the challenge China faces in balancing its desire for control over its tech entrepreneurs with its need for innovation and growth.

(Photo: Jack Ma pictured in Paris in 2019, Credit: Getty Images)

The car industry is preparing to go fully electric sooner than you might imagine - and not just because of the climate crisis.

Justin Rowlatt speaks to Bjorn Annwall, head of Volvo Cars in Europe, about why his company is one of a string of major carmakers to rush out plans in recent months to electrify their business. They intend to stop selling internal combustion engine cars as soon as 2030. What's driving it is the rapid improvement and collapsing cost of the batteries at their heart, according to Madeline Tyson of the clean energy technology research group RMI.

But how willing will people be to give up the glamour and roar of their engines for the silent speed of electric vehicles? Norway-based researcher Schalk Cloete fears that despite the technical advances, their limited range remains a deal-killer for many families. But EV fanatic and former Top Gear presenter Quentin Willson says give people a couple of days' test drive and they will soon be won over.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: Electric car logo; Credit: Lya Cattel/Getty Images)

Millions of Indians risk being knocked back into poverty by the current explosion in coronavirus infections.

Rahul Tandon hears from Radhika, who abruptly lost her job in Mumbai when India went into lockdown last year, and has since struggled with thoughts of suicide. Newspaper columnist Sandip Roy discusses how Covid threatens to strip many self-identifying middle class of their sense of comfort and security. Meanwhile, many women who run their own businesses face ruin, according Renu Shah, who runs Shakti - an organisation that helps women entrepreneurs.

We also hear opposing views on how big a setback the middle class faces from Covid from two leading Indian economists - Pravin Krishna of John Hopkins University, and Jayati Ghosh of Jawaharlal Nehru University.

(Picture: A Covid-19 patient in Gurudwara, India; Credit: Naveen Sharma/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

It could be the biggest shake-up of corporate taxation in history. But can President Biden's push for a minimum global rate succeed? He wants multinational companies to pay a rate of at least 21%. The proposal is likely to face opposition from smaller economies. Tech consultant Pamela Newenham explains how Ireland's low tax regime has helped to transform the country's capital. Others say the proposal doesn't go far enough. We hear why from Nobel prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz. We also hear from the man leading the charge for reform at the OECD, Pascal Saint-Amans, and Danny McCoy, head of Ireland's biggest business group.

Picture: Stock photo of a yellow warning sign on a fence (Credit: Getty)

A “once in a generation investment” is what Joe Biden offered the American people this week. He presented his American Jobs plan and American Families Plan to Congress to mark his first 100 days in office. Can he deliver? Also, will business travel resume once the pandemic has ended? Airlines and hotels are dependent on business travel - but now that so many people have adapted to virtual meetings, will frequent fliers ever want to get back to the departure lounges? And why do cities change their names? And what are the costs involved? The South African city of Port Elizabeth has rejected the colonial overtones of its former moniker - and is now called Gqeberha. The Chief Executive of Bollinger Champagne tells us why he’s bought up a vineyard in the United States and how the brand first became associated with James Bond. Business Weekly is presented by Lucy Burton and produced by Matthew Davies.

More men have considered cosmetic treatments during the pandemic. Has spending more time at home staring at ourselves in video conferencing made us more worried about our appearance, and have the pressures of ageism in the workplace also had an impact. Ed Butler speaks to psychologist Helena Lewis Smith, and Past President of the American Association of Plastic Surgeons Dr Alan Matarasso about just what’s motivating men to make more changes. Plus, he tries a treatment for himself.

(PHOTO: Ed Butler checking out his frown lines at a cosmetic clinic in London, Credit: BBC)

The US president announces a massive spending plan for the US economy, with trillions of dollars earmarked for jobs and infrastructure. But is it too ambitious for Republicans to support? Ed Butler speaks to Ryan Heath, senior editor at Politico, and Gordon Hanson, professor of urban policy at Harvard Kennedy School. Hundreds of billions of dollars are also planned for the US's creaking healthcare system. Carer Sharon Tosten and democrat Debbie Dingell explain why it's needed.

(Photo: US President Joe Biden outlines his spending plans to Congress, Credit: Getty Images)

What’s in a name? It’s something that Shakespeare’s Juliet pondered. But what’s in the name of a city? And what are the economic and social costs for a city which opts to change it’s name? Lots have done so down the years – New Amsterdam became New York City and Istanbul became Contantinople. Last year, the residents of Asbestos in Canada choose a new name for their city. And back in February, the South African city of Port Elizabeth became Gqeberha. Matthew Davies speaks to Christian Martin an activist who pushed for that name change, as well as local mayor, Nqaba Bhanga, who strongly resisted it. Business owner, David Stopforth, tells Business Daily that he’s been left counting the cost of the name change to his small print firm. Meanwhile, Andy Marchant from Tom Tom says changing place names is not an altogether easy process for the satellite navigation companies. And Tirthankar Roy, professor of economic history at the London School of Economics, ponders whether part of the essence of a city’s past is lost when it changes its name.

Why fly when you can videoconference? After a year of Covid lockdowns, that's the question many business executives are asking themselves.

Manuela Saragosa speaks to one frequent flyer, Juliette Kayyem, who says that after a year of being grounded, she now thinks more about time with her kids, not to mention the carbon footprint of all her air miles. And she's not the only one - business travel consultant Scott Gillespie says corporate travel managers across the planet are now using the opportunity to reassess the financial and climate cost of their entire corporate travel policy.

So should the airlines and travel agencies be afraid? After all, business clients pay the fattest profit margins. We ask Jeffrey Goh, chief executive of the world's biggest airline grouping, the Star Alliance, plus Evan Konwiser of American Express' global business travel agency.

Producer: Laurence Knight

(Picture: A woman with a suitcase at the Madrid airport; Credit: Alejandro Martinez Velez/Europa Press via Getty Images)