Best of Business Daily: AI in the job market, the city that banned meat ads, and lab-grown v mined diamonds

26:40So I think even if it's super symbolic, that's not an issue. I was at the court case in The Hague where this was being decided, that Fossil Vrij started. And my organization, Advocates for the Future, we supported them together with the municipality in The Hague in court. and the room was full of people from the advertising business. Because they were like, oh my God, in Dutch we say, we see the bui all hangen. Like we see the rain clouds coming in. I think they think, ah, if we're not allowed to make advertisements anymore for diesel cars or for deep fried chicken, what will be next? Will the next thing be fast fashion?

27:16And do you think it can achieve anything tangible in terms of changing people's behavior? Because comparisons have been made in the past with the battle against the tobacco industry. Do you think that's a fair comparison and do you think it can actually change behavior? Definitely, definitely. Because if I look now back at like old pictures, you have Johan Cruyff, right? The famous Dutch footballer. He would be in advertisements for tobacco. That used to be normal. He died of lung cancer. That you were allowed to smoke on the terrain, on restaurants. For me, that's like, whoa, why did people do that?

27:49You know, that feels so weird. So it really is like what we see in our public space is what we find normal in our society. and I don't think it's normal to see like murdered animals on billboards so I think it's very good that that's going to change. And when you say murdered animals you're talking about burgers and nuggets? Yeah yeah so you see that now in the Netherlands we have 19 municipalities who have done this you know it started with one and now it's 19 because a judge said this is totally okay it's not against freedom of speech you can just decide to say no we don't want some kinds of advertisements.

28:23So I think you really see that the ball is starting to roll and once one has done it why not everyone. I really think that in like 10-15 years time we're going to look back and we're going to think whoa did we ever have advertisements for flights for 15 euros? Insane! I think and I hope that big polluting companies will be extra scared and maybe we'll rethink the kind of products they are selling and also why they need advertisement. I think you can really see that change is possible?

28:59The Dutch capital isn't starting from scratch. A short train ride away, The Hague successfully defended a ban on fossil fuel ads last year. And in Harlem, a ban on meat advertising came into force in 2024. It was the first in the world. Globally, cities from Stockholm to Sheffield are moving to curb fossil fuel ads, while France has already introduced a nationwide ban. Campaigners hope Amsterdam, because it's a capital and includes meat, could set the pace. But that's exactly what the industries affected are concerned about. Are you literally standing outside or is that a very fancy background?

29:39Frank Radstacker is the CEO of ANVR, the association representing travel agencies and tour operators in the Netherlands. We're speaking remotely. He's on the other side of the Netherlands and I've got my laptop propped up on my cargo bike. Recording you from a lovely green spot outside. Welcome to The Hague. He argues that blocking adverts for trips that include flights is a disproportionate curb on companies' commercial freedom. We are actually talking about the freedom of speech. And even though it's the freedom of speech of companies, it is still a freedom of speech. and to ban that freedom of speech just with the possibility that a certain measure may lead to a certain goal, we think that is not the right way to go.

30:24So the reason why we are now starting a second lawsuit against the municipality of The Hague is because we want to be pretty sure and we want to have it very clear which types of advertisements are allowed and which aren't. So it's not allowed to advertise any type of travel that includes a flight, But is it allowed to advertise a destination that can only be reached by plane? If we can't advertise at all, that will definitely impact us a lot. So what will you do with the cash that was being used for billboards? Will it get reinvested or redirected into places where more people's eyes are anyway?

31:01Different media, for example, on their smartphones, on social media platforms, instead of bus stops and tram shelters? Well, absolutely. Travel companies have a certain budget for marketing and advertising. If it's not spent in the public sphere in The Hague or any other municipality, it will go to newspapers, TV and certainly online. It's not something that shouldn't be normalized. It's an industry that had lots of positive impact, negative impact as well. And we have to work on the negative impact. That's the obligation we as travel industry have. And I'd rather work together with the municipality than being on the opposite side of a lawsuit.

31:38But they give me no choice. That's why the lawsuit we're now starting is of great importance, not just for travel companies in the Netherlands, but for travel companies all around the world. And in all honesty, not just for travel companies, but for other industries that might be next on the list as well. Here at the tram stop in Amsterdam, you might no longer see a juicy burger or a 19 euro flight to Berlin on the shelter, but the same eye-catching offers can still pop up on your algorithm. If municipal bans leave digital platforms untouched, how much real-world impact can they actually have on our habits?

32:14This is, for an epidemiologist like me, a fantastic natural experiment to see what the effects are of such policies. Jurentje Makenbeck describes herself as a curious scientist. My research focuses on how our living environments affect behaviours and health outcomes. She's an associate professor at the Department of Epidemiology and Data Science at Amsterdam UMC. If we see advertisements for fast food everywhere, it normalises fast food consumption. So if we take away those types of cues in our public living environment, then that is also going to have an impact on those social norms. Is there any evidence that taking nuggets and burgers off billboards will change our eating habits and create a more plant-based society?

33:02I don't think there's any evidence at this moment, but there is plenty of evidence that marketing leads to increased consumption, but also change social norms. And the other way around, taking away advertisements leads to lower consumption of the targeted products. So one such measure, such as an advertisement restriction, is really not the silver bullet, but it is a really important element that we should not forget in a broader policy package. The lawsuit in The Hague is a very important precedent. The court has ruled that public health and sustainability, planetary health, is at the municipal level more important than the commercial freedom of expression.

33:50And this court ruling can be used by other municipalities to implement their restrictions or bans. There are cities that do not allow any advertisement under the premise that it is just pollution of our living environment to have advertisements everywhere. In 20 years time I think and hope that we will look back at these types of policies the same as we look back now on policies around for instance tobacco. Back in the days it was a very bold move to restrict tobacco advertisements and now we think why didn't we do this earlier And in the future, this is very likely to contribute to changes in consumption behavior as well.

34:33It's still easy to swing by a drive-thru, pick up a burger or book a cheap flight from one of Europe's busiest airports. And many people will continue to do so. Industry groups, meanwhile, argue these choices reflect consumer demand and support jobs and economic activity and warn against policies they see as overreach. but Amsterdam's streetscape has begun to shift offering a visible sign of changing priorities and Hannah Prince believes local businesses will gain as the big corporate billboards come down and maybe we'll rethink the kind of products they are selling and also why they need advertisements because like everything we love festivals, nice cheese, flower shop around the corner all the stuff that we love we don't hear from through ads It's usually through people that we know or we walk past the building.

35:28So I think local businesses will be able to thrive because of this. Well, that was activist and lawyer Hannah Prinz on why a ban on high carbon adverts could actually be a boost for Amsterdam's local businesses. Ever invest in something that seemed incredible at first, but didn't live up to the hype? Like those$5 roses at a gas station, or a second-hand piece of technology that breaks in the first 10 minutes. Marketers know that feeling. We optimize for the numbers that look great, impressions, reach, and reacts. But when they don't show revenue, well, that's a not-so-great conversation with the CFO.

36:08LinkedIn has a word for that. Bull spend. Now you can invest in what looks good to your CFO. LinkedIn ads generates the highest ROAS of all major ad networks. You'll reach the right buyers because you can target by company, industry, job title, and more. So cut the bull spend. Advertise on LinkedIn, the network that works for you. Spend$250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get a 250 credit for the next one. Just go to linkedin.com slash broadcast. That's linkedin.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply. Save now at Whole Foods Market. It's the Summer Splash event. With great everyday prices on 365 brand ground beef for the grill and ice cream for dessert, they have yellow sales signs on ready-to-cook beef or chicken kebabs too.

37:03Level up with savory marinades, spices, and rubs, and complete your cookout with a crowd-pleasing cherry pie and their balsamic chicken salad. Available at the prepared foods counter. Get Summer Splash savings now at Whole Foods Market. I'm going to keep reminding you, throughout the show, this program isn't live. Please don't text in. Save them all for tomorrow. Time for another one now from Ed Butler. And this time, he's talking about the diamond industry from Sierra Leone. As lab-grown diamonds from other countries get a boost in popularity, they're increasingly taking the place of mined gems.

37:40And that means that diamond mines across Sierra Leone are shutting down. Now, the country has a long history of war and deep-rooted corruption. And there are worries these closures could exacerbate political and economic instability. Let's get more with Ed.

38:00We're now walking into the flea market area of Goidoo City. This is where they sell everything from old shoes to cleaning products to clothing, soap and soft drinks. There's still plenty of people around, but they say the trade is down here substantially in the last few months.

38:32It is not really easy, but you try. you have to push you have to fend find means is it worse than it used to be here yeah yeah yeah yeah really it is not easy really but we're now stepping into Benza market this is the main fish market in the middle of the town it's a huge hallway with a big corrugated iron roof there There are hundreds of people in here. What's your name, madam? My name is Finda Konomani. And Finda, what are you selling here? Fish. This one, ery. This one, polok. So how much profit do you make? I mean, you take home at the end of the day. Most profit you take now is you can make.

39:2350. That's all? Just a couple of dollars? Yes. Wow. Wow. Is business less good than it used to be? Has it got worse? No fighting. First time, this one we sell 300. In local Creo, Finder tells me how hard trade has become recently due to the closure of the country's largest diamond mine, based here in Koidu town in the east of the country. Victoria Avopombo has seen the wider consequences. She's a women's rights activist, based in the town.

40:29of the closure of that mining company. More abuse, more robbery. More robbery, more abuse, even in the sites. A lot of things are happening. What are people doing to get by? Yeah, some of them are digging gold because the diamonds is now scarce. The crime rate is increasing every day. Breaking of houses, the child abuse, the domestic violence. Violence has increased to a higher level just because of this mining company. The mining economy is closed and the government is not saying anything and the workers are suffering. And there's no money.

41:10Some miners are switching to this, digging for diamonds in any free plot of land they can find. It has been a part-time endeavour across the region for decades. It's often unregulated, with diamonds found frequently smuggled out to avoid the payment of duties. I'm standing in an open valley. There are huge pits in front of me, pits filled with orange sandy water, men digging at the sand along the banks and others sifting, silting through the mud and the gravel, all aiming for one thing, to find the rich, precious stones that lie abundantly, naturally, in this landscape. Whenever we come, we take the soil and throw it.

41:59It is the gravel. There we find the diamond. It's kind of like a bright blue, grey soil that you're crushing in your fingers now. And inside, you have the stones. I'm fingering it now. Yeah, sometimes the diamond lies in it. So it'd just be a tiny, tiny little fragment, like a tiny piece of dirt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like this. How much money do you make normally doing this work? For me? Well, I have not made a lot of money yet. Sometimes, for the whole of the year, you can't get anything. For the whole of the year, you can't get anything. It is true by the grace of God that you find a diamond. It is not a spot.

42:48Thin pickings, then. Decades of extraction mean the remaining worthwhile stones now lie mostly at a deeper level, beyond the reach of picks and shovels. So this is what it's all about. I'm holding in my hand now a stone, a diamond. It's maybe the size of my small fingernail, the smallest finger fingernail, and it's, what, 12 carats apparently. It's got some imperfections on the outside. This is a rough diamond, but it's worth, I'm told, even here, before it leaves the country, $80 ,000 to$100 ,000, this small stone. And when it reaches the Western market and cut, it'll be worth an awful lot more.

43:39But diamonds of this size and purity are rare and prices have been falling sharply over the last five years. This is why lab-grown diamonds, diamonds produced in factories either by chemical vapour over several days or by using high pressure and high temperature. India alone is producing perhaps three million of these diamonds a year, collapsing global prices by as much as 40%. Jason Cohn is a documentary maker who's researched and visited some of the diamond-making foundries. The factory that I went to was the size of a college campus, and they had these enormous rooms that you could not see the end of, each one with, I think, 1 ,000-plus huge diamond-making machines, and they were just growing.

44:30So because there is no limit on how many synthetic diamonds can be made, there's no limit on how low the price could go, essentially. Jason Cohn. You're listening to Business Daily. I'm Ed Butler, and today I'm looking at the challenges facing the natural diamond industry, specifically the rise of lab-grown diamonds, gems made in factories, an industry which is now valued at some$30 billion a year. Rohit Mehta is CEO of FourLink Ventures. It's a commodities house based in India's diamond capital, Surat. He says that lab-grown diamonds aren't just cheaper, they're also more ethically and environmentally sourced.

45:11There's no blood on these stones, he argues. I see a situation where people all over the world are going to get more conscious about climate change, about extracting too much from the earth. And because of this, there may be a situation where the dependence of the industry on the naturally mined diamonds is going to be less and people will be looking more towards lab-grown diamonds and that is where a big boom in the lab-grown diamond industry is going to happen. There is a counter view. Prices have significantly collapsed, which has reduced the beauty of the story behind the diamond and brought down the value of the natural diamond market.

46:02Stanley Maturam is a US-based environmental consultant who studied the growth of the lab-grown industry from 1 % of the global market in 2015 to some 20 % now. He completely rejects the idea that lab-grown is somehow better, either for the planet or for humanity. I would bluntly say it's untrue. It is factually not defined by science. That is, these are really not lab-made, so these are manufactured in mass amounts in a factory, and the biggest impact that they make is energy. These reactors run at the temperature of the sun. They're like data centres. That's the kind of energy that they require to operate these.

46:45And how many people did you help? What was the broader benefit of the community and all of that stuff? There's nothing really socially or environmentally responsible about this. Where are they mostly being made, the lab-grown diamonds? Right now, as I know, most of them are made in India and China. All of the CBD stuff is made in India. HPHT is made in China. Those are the two different forms of making lab-grown diamonds, which is chemical vapor deposition and HPHT is high pressure, high temperature. Two different processes, that's how they do it. Stanley Mataram also says that the allegations of environmental destruction leveled against artisanal diamond mining have been exaggerated.

47:22It's hard rock mining. It is the cleanest form of mining. There are no chemicals used. You're not talking about iron ore mining or gold mining. These all have other issues, but diamond mining, classic hard rock diamond mining, is the cleanest form of mining. and when done correctly, is not only does it provide a lot of social benefits, it's like these holes in the ground become future reservoirs, clean, properly maintained ecosystems. These are the carbon sinks. They become the most biodiverse, ecosystem-friendly mining form that you can sustain for climate. And the most important thing, you can actually quantify the social impact.

48:08Economies develop. You create jobs. You create entire ecosystems. You uplift the lifestyles of women and children, education. The best significant benefits. So to compare it, a most sustainable diamond would probably be a natural diamond when done correctly. The traditional diamond industry is trying to push back now. The British multinational diamond company De Beers has recently launched ads like this one, promoting the traditional stones.

48:42The diamond you choose should match your journey, match the patience you took to find each other, and match the resilience that formed the essence of your course. And that is a natural diamond. Because just like your journey, a natural diamond is worth the wait.

49:09As well as TV commercials, Tobias has launched Gemfair. It's a venture in Sierra Leone aimed at giving artisanal miners better equipment and a fair price for their diamond finds. You might call it fair trade for diamonds, part of the campaign to change that difficult association some people have with war and corruption. Raymond Alpha is Gemfair's local representative. The idea is to connect the markets so that they can be able to find a place to sell the diamonds when they find diamonds. And also to empower them to be able to know what they are doing, access to markets and the fair value. We give them training, we give them skills to make sure that they are poor human rights.

49:51At their mine sites, we make sure that no forced labour is practiced at the mine sites. We provide them with the working equipment. And hopefully to improve the reputation of diamond mining. The reputation of the industry, which I think we are following by introducing the Genfier standard. Do they get a better price from you guys? That's what I've had them testify. They are happy with a fair price. If you're not happy, you are free to walk out and find another buyer. To sell a diamond, I guess, that has this story, the story of a piece of stone that was dug by guys like these guys standing next to us who are digging in a soil in a well-regulated pit with good cleaning, good sanitation, good human rights, all the rest of it that you've mentioned, that improves the value, I guess, of the stone when it comes to market.

50:44Yeah, I agree. And that's the reason why we are trying as much as possible. Gemfair is growing? Yes, Gemfair is growing because we started from a few membership and now we are getting to 500, about that mine sites that have joined the programme since. And we still get people expressing interest to join. It's a difficult time though, right? Because prices are falling in the diamond market because of these lab-grown diamonds that are coming out of China and India and other places. So do you think there's a long-term future for the diamond industry here? I think it would be best to contact maybe De Beers then we'll talk about that Well I did contact De Beers and they told me that West African diamonds are an important source for the global market and they said with people increasingly wanting to know where other products like coffee, cotton or chocolate come from the Gemfair model connects people more closely to the stories of their individual diamonds as well and the livelihoods that it supported along the way.

51:47Well, that's the intended message. But is it really being heard? The determining factor has been the price and the size of the stone. You know, the phrase, size matters. They're going for the biggest bling that they can afford, I guess. That's Doug Meadows. He's an Atlanta-based jeweller. At the end of the day, I have to give my consumer what they're asking for or looking for. In the past, you know, five, six years, our natural diamonds have dropped to represent about 20 % of our total diamond sales. And lab-grown has become 80 % of my diamond sales. It's just collapsed. Yeah. Some of it's perception, you know, people coming in thinking of the idea of a blood diamond.

52:31The lab-grown community has touted it as being ethical and eco-friendly and all this kind of stuff. And, you know, I could never buy that. I've always been an advocate for what I call mine to market, to where I can know the traceability of either a gemstone or a diamond. But to try to educate a consumer the value in a natural diamond, it's a new task, a new challenge that I don't know how we do it yet. I'm hoping the industry can give us some help. The thoughts of the U.S. jewellery retailer Doug Meadows.

53:14Back in the pit, Daniel Thibault is still digging and hoping for his first diamond find. I think I have one here. Wherever you find these things, those blacks. The black stone is a sign there may be diamonds as well. Sign of diamonds, yes, the black stone. Whatever the taste and the falling value of diamonds on the global market, Daniel and tens of thousands of other Sierra Leoneans are still digging and hoping. For now, they say they don't have much choice. So unfortunately there is no diamond here. I'll try my rock again. That was Ed Butler in Sierra Leone speaking with a local man about his search for his first diamond and that growing pressure on the country's diamond industry.

54:06Remember, this programme isn't live. Please don't text in. And finally today, Will Chalk has been exploring the world of gaming cheats. Gaming is one of the world's biggest industries. It's become increasingly popular, increasingly professionalised. Tournaments often have large prize sums at stake. And that does mean dealing with more cheating, more attempts at cheating. He went backstage at London's Wembley Arena to a Counter-Strike tournament where teams compete for a$400 ,000 prize pool. So if I'm hunting cheaters, it makes sense to start where the stakes and potential rewards are highest. And you don't get much more high profile than this.

54:50Just on the other side of the stage there, thousands of fans are piling in, ready to watch the best Counter-Strike players in the world. You'd think if you're going to cheat, you'd have good reason to do it here. Hey, this is Will. Hi Will, great to hear you. Andrew Howarth is from the organisers Blast Esports. They run dozens of tournaments like this every year for the biggest competitive video games in arenas all around the world. We were in Austin in the US and Texas earlier this year and sold 40 ,000 tickets in six hours to fans. We sold just over 20 ,000 tickets in Hong Kong in a week. These are big, big global entertainment properties now that fans are travelling to, not just local fans.

55:29The reason those fans are coming is to see the best players in the world competing on a level playing field. And if there's any suspicion that's not the case, it can hit the reputations of players, teams, tournaments and even entire games hard. In 2018, pro Counter-Strike player Forsaken on the team Optic India was caught at an event just like this with cheats on his hard drive. He was banned from competing for five years. I think in any walk of life where the odds are high, the margins between success and failure are small. People will try and gain their advantage. and they'll obviously, Isik as the investigative body, do investigate and have banned people so clearly there is cheating going on at some level.

56:09So the professionality comes back into how we've managed to police that. The chief of policing this event is a very smiley, unassuming man called James Watts. So we come to my area, we've got about four screens here. Kirsty, could you spin up the test server for me? James is the lead tournament admin, in other words, the head referee. And from his booth backstage, he can see everything the players are up to during the game. But the security steps actually start way before that. This is an in-person LAN tournament. In other words, the game is hosted on a closed network controlled by the organisers.

56:45The players are also scanned airport security style as they enter their booths in the arena. Each player has their own SSD, so own hard drive. And that is never left in their position without one of my team or me present. Right, so the hard drive has presumably the game content on it then. I can show you one now. So this is our nice little Peli case of them all. This is Vitality's. And you're saying the players are never left alone with that? Presumably because, what, theoretically they could go into the hard drive and change some code or something? So what we have is we have a lot of restrictions in Windows.

57:19You can't even put a USB in, like a removable hard drive. That will just block any data, so no data can come in and out. You know there's no, hey, you've been left alone, maybe you had internet. No, the internet is restricted, we're there to police. If we have all these checks and balances in place, then there's no question that the game is invalid. James is confident that major esports events like this have learnt from old scandals. His main worry is actually much more analogue, and it's to do with the fact that the crowd can see more info on the big screen they're watching than the players can see in their gaming booths.

57:54Prime example, there was a player a while back, they hovered their mouse over corners of walls. And so the crowd would go, hey, if there was someone behind the wall, because they could see the x-ray. That's so interesting, because this is so high tech in some senses, but that is the most low tech way of cheating you can imagine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The big thing is we get someone like James Banks, who's our host, he will come out and go, hey guys, and speak to the whole crowd. This is not right. You guys are fans of CS. That's going to make this a fair competition. so we have a lot of policing methods to make sure we try and reduce all these kinds of things as much as possible.

58:28Still, go out into the crowd and just mention the word cheating to the fans here and they all have a lot to say. I'm Deanna. Jessie. Do you think there's a solution or do you think it's just one of those things that will always happen? It'll always happen. People are bad at the game, people want to cheat. There will always be cheaters, really, and even if they develop a better anti-cheat, cheaters will find a way to bypass that in due time. That was Will Chalk speaking with attendees at a Counter-Strike tournament in London about cheating in esports. Well, that is all that we've got time for today.

59:00Thank you so much for listening. And if you've enjoyed any of the episodes you've heard this morning, you can hear more. Don't forget to subscribe to Business Daily on BBC Sounds. But while you're there, subscribe to Wake Up To Money as well and you'll never miss an episode. Sean will be back tomorrow. He will, as always, be delighted to have your company. Have a really good bank holiday Monday, whatever you're doing.

59:48Cricket on 5 Live Sport. Oh, I've lived every ball of this. Listen on BBC Sounds.

59:59Ever invest in something that seemed incredible at first, but didn't live up to the hype? Like those$5 roses at a gas station, or a second-hand piece of technology that breaks in the first 10 minutes? Marketers know that feeling. We optimise for the numbers that look great, impressions, reach and reacts, But when they don't show revenue, well, that's a not-so-great conversation with the CFO. LinkedIn has a word for that. Bull spend. Now you can invest in what looks good to your CFO. LinkedIn ads generates the highest ROAS of all major ad networks. You'll reach the right buyers because you can target by company, industry, job title, and more.

1:00:42So cut the bull spend. Advertise on LinkedIn. The network that works for you. Spend$250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn ads and get a 250 credit for the next one. Just go to linkedin.com slash broadcast. That's linkedin.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply. Spring has sprung and big savings are in full bloom at Menards. Visit Menards Garden Center for everything you need to get your garden growing. Choose from hundreds of beautiful, colorful flowers. lush trees and shrubs, and everything in between. Menards Garden Center is back in bloom. Stop in today to get your garden on. Check out fresh deals happening now at Menards.

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