Ep 8: High Stakes International Alcohol Policy With Julian Braithwaite, CEO of IARD

What actually happens when the alcohol industry gets a seat at the global health table? In this episode, Julian Braithwait, the former UK ambassador to the UN and now Director General of the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking, lays out how international alcohol policy is made and contested.

From WHO mandates to temperance NGOs and the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs, this wide-ranging discussion explores why “no safe level” is a political slogan, not a scientific consensus and what’s at stake if the global policy framework shifts away from managing harmful drinking.

Topics Covered:

• What IARD is and how it works with global institutions

• The difference between WHO Geneva and its regional offices

• What ECOSOC status actually allows industry to do

• How the alcohol sector is reforming digital marketing

• The science behind “no safe level” and why it's controversial

• Influence of Bloomberg and Gates Foundation in WHO policy

• The risk of a Framework Convention on Alcohol Control

• Illicit alcohol and emerging market risks

• How temperance groups gained formal recognition

• Why upcoming UN resolutions could change everything

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Meet your host:

Felicity Carter is an award-winning wine and drinks journalist, editor, speaker trainer and content strategist. She led Meininger’s Wine Business International to become the world’s most must-read wine trade magazine, and was founding Executive Editor of The Drop/Pix, which the Wall Street Journal named one of the most trusted sources of wine information. A regular keynote speaker at international events, she was named a 2024 Industry Leader by WineBusiness Monthly.