People & Profit

The world is entering the "Voldemort of years", according to political risk consultancy Eurasia Group. In its annual report released this week, "Top Risks for 2024," it says the US presidential election will pose the greatest political risk to the world in 2024, no matter who wins. The Eurasia Group ranked the violence in the Middle East as the second-greatest global risk this year, followed by Ukraine. Ian Bremmer is president and founder of Eurasia Group and GZERO Media. He discussed the top risks in greater detail with FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer.

2023 has been a tough year for the global diamond industry. After a boom during the pandemic, prices of the precious stone have dropped significantly amid oversupply, higher interest rates and increasing competition from lab-grown gems. And starting on New Year's Day, EU members will no longer be allowed to buy diamonds that come directly from Russia, unless the stones are intended for industrial purposes. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer asks industry analyst Paul Zimnisky how much impact these sanctions could have.

Also on the programme:

Geopolitical tensions and climate change are putting Italy's culinary staple at risk. Our correspondents report on how the country's pasta industry continues to face a crisis. 

And a grand Hindu temple in northern India is set to open soon. The multi-billion-euro project is slated to boost the local economy, but some are feeling left out of the boom. We take a closer look.

With Christmas just around the corner, we take a closer look at what's driving trends this holiday season. Corks will be popping, but maybe not as many as in the past few years. We discuss the state of France's champagne sector with Faustine Konrat, a small champagne producer in the region.  

Also in the programme:

How much money do they generate and how bad are they for the environment? We take a closer look at the Christmas tree industry. 

Plus, the trend of offering recycled Christmas presents continues to grow, with more and more people also willing to receive them.

Is the Spotify model a successful one? The streaming platform launched in 2008 is the leader in its field, on par with what radio and CDs used to represent in the sense that it's become the most convenient way for people to consume music and other audio content. We discuss this and the growing business of investing in music royalties with Marzio Schena, the CEO of Europe's biggest music investment platform, ANote. We finish by looking at the Taylor Swift phenomenon. The pop star, who has been named Time Magazine's Person of the Year, has built a billion-dollar empire and is credited with having boosted the US economy in 2023.

Will a sense of urgency prevail at COP28? The climate talks in the United Arab Emirates will once again bring to the fore the challenges of financing the world's move to sustainable development. The vice president of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), Sir Danny Alexander, joins us from Dubai to give us his take.

Also in the programme:

The Panama Canal is perhaps one of the world's most famous shortcuts. Every year, over $270 billion worth of goods transit through the waterway. But that figure could be much lower this year. A drought is forcing authorities to reduce the number of daily ship crossings in order to conserve water, leading to a massive container ship traffic jam. FRANCE 24's Yuka Royer explains.

Finally, we report on how Japan is celebrating a century of whisky-making prowess by scaling up supply to meet increasingly thirsty global demand. 

With Black Friday sales kicking off on November 24, we take a closer look at the retail sector, from the rise of live-streaming e-commerce to the environmental toll of consumerism and the "Green Friday" movements that are trying to change our consumption habits.

The global e-commerce market is expected to reach $6.3 trillion in 2023. By next year, 21 percent of total retail sales will be made digitally. These sales are increasingly taking place on social media platforms, reaching over $900 billion there this year. One US company is trying to capitalise on this trend. We speak to Armand Wilson of Whatnot, a "shopatainment" app founded in California in 2019 and worth $3.7 billion.

We also head to the birthplace of e-commerce livestreaming: China. Influencers there have become the face of retail and marketing, as our correspondents report.

All this consumption comes at a cost, especially for the planet. In 2022, the week of Black Friday led to 1.2 million tons of CO2 being released in Europe because of the increase in trucks transporting goods around the continent. That's 94 percent higher than an average week. 

In France, the "Green Friday" collective was created in 2017 to raise awareness about the dangers of consumerism and to present alternatives. We speak to Tancrede Girard, communications manager at REFER, a network of centres that aims to encourage the recycling and re-use of consumer goods and a member of the "Green Friday" collective.