People & Profit

In the middle of Dry January, many people are trying to keep the festive cheer alive, all while staying sober. No- and low-alcoholic beverages are increasingly popular and the industry's biggest players are scrambling to find ways to profit from the trend. But how long will the buzz last? In this edition of People & Profit, FRANCE 24's Charles Pellegrin talks to two entrepreneurs from the sector. Jonathan Dubois is the founder of Goxoa, a French zero-alcohol beer brand specifically marketed towards athletes and the winner of the gold medal for the best non-alcoholic beer at the European Beer Challenge. Also joining us is Paul Mathew, the founder of Everleaf Drinks, a British company that produces sustainably sourced non-alcoholic aperitifs. 

The re-election of Donald Trump as US president has generated a climate of uncertainty over US economic policy for 2025, with Trump and his team vowing to increase tariffs on most imported goods. How will Trump's return impact the global economy? From the United States to China by way of Europe, we take a comprehensive look at what global trade, growth and innovation are likely to look like and what all of that could mean for the climate. Our guest is Raphaël Gallardo, chief economist at Carmignac. 

The mining industry plays a key role in the world’s energy transition, providing the critical minerals and metals needed for new, green technology. It’s also facing pressure to reduce its own carbon footprint, and protect the communities affected by its mining activity around the world. Mike Henry, chief executive officer of BHP, says the world’s largest mining company is on the frontline of those changes, increasing output while focusing on sustainability. “It’s fundamental to the BHP strategy (…) The world needs a lot more of other metals and minerals as well. If we’re to do that in a way that doesn’t have negative consequences for other aspects of environmental stewardship, we have to be setting and upholding high standards.”

Global demand for copper – a key element in green technology – is set to soar 70 percent over the coming decades, but Henry says the mining industry can keep up. "I’m confident that there is enough copper units in the Earth's crust. The question is will there be enough investment brought to bear on developing new deposits quickly enough?"

Both the EU and US are seeking to break up China's dominance in the production of many critical metals and minerals, and secure independent sources of their own. Henry says "we are seeing a resurgence in industrial policy and trade protectionism globally, and there’s been a significant increase over the past three to five years in critical minerals supply chain security, driven in some instances by geostrategic competition."

Henry also defended a huge settlement linked to the 2015 collapse of the Mariana dam in Brazil, which leaked toxic waste into nearby communities in one of the country's worst-ever environmental disasters. "BHP made a very strong commitment, immediately post that dam disaster, that we would stand behind ensuring that there was resettlement of people, environmental remediation, and compensation paid out to people impacted by the dam disaster (…) Our position on the UK case is that there are mechanisms in place for compensation to be secured in Brazil and that’s the proper avenue."

Produced by F. Boucherak, M. Cousinet and A. Dowdeswell

Artificial intelligence could transform the future of sound. The market for generative AI in the music industry is taking off, with both huge opportunities and substantial risks for creative professions. A study by Goldmedia consulting and research group found that music creators could lose up to 27 percent of their revenue by 2028 as a direct result. Klaus Goldhammer, Managing Director of Goldmedia, says artists are calling for regulations to protect their jobs. 

“There is a huge demand from authors and composers for consent, for a licensing scheme, for fair remuneration”, Goldhammer said, adding that nearly a third of authors and composers “already use AI models for their musical and creative work. This shows that creative people are open to AI models (…) But at the same time, they are in fear of losing their livelihoods to AI models, and this is a profound problem”.  

Goldhammer says there’s no turning back the AI music wave. “I think we are in the midst of a very profound revolution, which is AI, and it’s not over yet. My idea of a big revolution to come is when an AI-generated artist will have an AI-generated song becoming the number one hit in the world!” 

Also, AI isn’t the only phenomenon transforming the music industry. In 2024, would-be concert goers were taken aback by soaring ticket prices for hot acts like Oasis, as the live music circuit embraced the dynamic pricing model. 

The world produces some 400 million tonnes of plastic waste every year. About half of all plastic is designed to be single use, that is, thrown away after being used just once. Hopes for a global treaty to tackle plastic production and waste faded at the start of December, when UN-backed talks failed to reach an agreement on curbing plastic pollution. A lot of global efforts to tackle plastic waste is focused on recycling – a solution our guest disagrees with. Rosalie Mann, founder and CEO of the No More Plastic Foundation tells us why.

The cocoa industry in Haiti is one of the few bright spots in an economy that's suffocating amid gang violence and political instability. Exports of fermented cocoa to Europe are having a significant impact for small Haitian producers, and helping to create jobs. Carys Garland reports from the Paris Chocolate Show. Also in the show: we speak to Tony's Chocolonely, a chocolate company that has pioneered efforts to expose exploitation and child labour in the cocoa industry.

Joke Aerts, Director of Credible Sourcing at Tony's Open Chain, says that 20 years into its mission to change the industry, the Dutch firm is being joined by competitors. "We pull competitors in and collaborate in our sourcing of cocoa (…) this better way of doing business has to become the norm."

Some 60 percent of the world’s cocoa is grown in Ghana and Ivory Coast, where child labour is rampant. Aerts says Tony’s Chocolonely "specifically chose to work where the issues that we're fighting are the most egregious. So there's about 1.56 million children in child labour in West Africa alone (…) that’s why we are focused on West Africa alone in our cocoa sourcing."

Most cocoa farmers haven't benefited from a spike in cocoa prices on global markets this year, but Aerts says that paying more for supplies is crucial to tackling the problem. "No matter what the cocoa prices are doing, Tony's Chocolonely and its mission allies (…) always commit to topping up to that living income reference price. We know that farmers need to earn more money per kilogram of cocoa in order to lift themselves out of poverty and send their children to school."

It's been just over a year since Argentina elected Javier Milei as president. The political outsider had brandished a chainsaw as a symbol of his plans to cut government spending. So is Milei's "shock therapy" working? FRANCE 24's Kate Moody speaks to Juan Ignacio Carranza of Aurora Macro Strategies in Buenos Aires. 

Ahead of the November 5 US presidential election, both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump have been courting union support. Some 14 million American voters are union members, and they could prove to be a deciding force in several battleground states. We take a closer look in this edition of People & Profit.

Bob Bruno, Professor of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, says there are "stark" differences between the candidates' labour proposals, which are reflected in the number of union endorsements that Harris has received.

"Those kinds of endorsements really do matter. Organised labour has lost a lot of its political clout, but even with reduced membership, it can still be a decider in national elections, particularly in many of the competitive states."

Bruno notes that in the post-pandemic era, power has shifted to workers, and led to more public support for union action. "Both the structural moment and the realisation among workers, an increased consciousness, that only through collective action could they maximise their power, has led to this moment where we see very high-profile and successful strikes, along with increased numbers of workers organising, increased numbers of workers filing complaints about management abuse, and workers winning more."

He adds that Joe Biden's presidency will be remembered for legislation that supports labour and protects workers' rights. "He justifiably has earned that moniker, as the most pro-union president in the modern era."  

As the International Monetary Fund and World Bank mark 80 years since their founding, how can they stay relevant and effective? During the annual fall meeting in Washington, World Bank Senior Managing Director Axel van Trotsenburg told FRANCE 24 that reforms are underway, but need to happen more quickly.

"I think an international organisation should always be subject to scrutiny, there should be critical questions, there should be criticism, and we should be held accountable. (...) It makes us better to respond," van Trotsenburg said.

He also underscored the importance of tackling climate change and biodiversity alongside the Bank's mandates of development, reconstruction, and reducing poverty.

"You cannot only talk about climate change or biodiversity, and then move to the topic of development. They are all intertwined, so you have to analyse them together, because they affect the economic prospects, social prospects, and particularly the communities."

Also in the show: the IMF hails the end of the global economy's inflationary spiral, but warns that geopolitical risks could derail its "stable but underwhelming" return to growth.

Just how sustainable is your happy hour? The beverage industry is among those facing pressure to mitigate its impact on the environment. In 2021, it accounted for 3.8 percent of global carbon emissions. We take a closer look in this edition of People & Profit.

Drinks sustainability consultant Anne Jones says both packaging and raw materials are key to reducing the industry's carbon footprint. "Every drink starts its life in a field, it's a very agricultural product. Although the journey from field to glass can be very complicated, we have to look at it holistically. We have to remember that there are two key influences that the drinks industry has on the environment. Packaging is obviously one of the most influential from a carbon footprint perspective, but we also have to think about biodiversity."

When it comes to water sustainability, she notes that "the drinks industry is probably at the forefront of the impact of climate change in this sense because it is so dependent on water".

Following the inaugural "Sustainability in Drinks" conference in London, Jones says there is growing momentum to tackle the industry's problems.

"People often say that sustainability can be expensive and actually I don't believe that is the case (…) Sustainability is about efficiency and prudent use of our resources. What's expensive, I think, is change. So what we're seeing is a drinks industry that is collaborating better than ever before to learn from each other and to understand how to drive change as an industry."