Interview with Dr. Yannick Beaudoin - better economic thinking for sustainability in cosmetics (and society)

Economics and business as we know it are broken, and they're amplifying many of our societal problems - our environment being a big one. Can we actually make meaningful steps to addressing climate change, for example, unless we solve this core problem that's fueling it? Gross Domestic Product (GDP) - the monetary value of all finished goods and services made within a country during a specific period of time. It provides an 'economic snapshot' of a country, particularly with its growth rate - on an international stage, a higher GDP will win a 'seat at the table', nationally, our politicians will often promote it, economic growth, when they're vying for votes. But what are we growing? In reality, GDP is an abstract number that can only see quantitative numbers - we're not people, we're consumers. Our resources aren't of value unless we create products with them. So how do we start to change things? I had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Yannick Beaudoin in this episode, former chief scientist of GRID-Arendal, a collaboration center of the United Nations Environment Program, and current Director General (Ontario and Northern Canada) for the David Suzuki Foundation. While this conversation may seem outside of the scope of cosmetics, if we actually want 'sustainability' in our industry, this should be a part of that discussion. If you're interested in the topic of sustainability, whichever angle you're coming at it from, if you haven't considered the role our economy is playing as a roadblock for moving forward, this episode will be a good one for you to listen to!