Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the World Investment Forum, which commences this week in Abu Dhabi, with a focus on investing in sustainable development. Over the five days, stakeholders will convene to produce strategies and address global investment and development challenges. They also discuss World Food Day, which focuses this year on raising...

This week: At Innovation Forum's recent future of plastics and packaging conference, Ian Welsh spoke with UNEP’s Llorenç Milà I Canals, Daniel Katz from the Overbrook Foundation and Rainforest Alliance, Sebastian Munden from WRAP, Steve Hardman from Plastic Collective and Innovation Forum's Catie Ball and Tanya Richard, reflecting on the discussions and debate at the conference. Plus: Kamudiben Sa...

Saif Hameed, CEO of Altruistiq, talks with Ian Welsh about how companies can keep on top of data measurement and monitoring, and the tightening regulatory requirements. They discuss how stakeholder expectations are changing and what companies can do to adapt.

Charlotte Bande, global food and beverage sector lead at Quantis, talks to Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how businesses are shifting from intention to action, when it comes to real long-term sustainability. They also discuss the difficult conversations that companies should be having internally, and how to ensure transparency is not a barrier to necessary collaboration.

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about how Tokyo Stock Exchange traded carbon credits will work. They also discuss what we can expect from 2023's Middle East and North Africa Climate Week, a regional collaboration platform to inform the first global stocktake concluding at COP28 in November.   Plus, Innovation Forum's Hanna Halmari gives an update on wha...

This week: Bex Hall, head of consulting at Sedex, talks to Ian Welsh about the factors that have led to consumer reliance on potentially undervalued food, and how food costs can be spread equitably across value chains. They also discuss how food may be going through a re-valuation process and the opportunities presented by this.   Plus, at Innovation Forum’s Future of Plastics and Packaging Confer...

Say Samal, former minister for the environment and now deputy prime minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the benefits of REDD+ carbon projects in delivering forest preservation and economic benefits in partnership with indigenous peoples and local communities in Cambodia. They discuss the importance of a partnership approach, developing econom...

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about what the incoming single use plastics ban means for businesses in England including retailers, vendors and the hospitality industry. They discuss the International Climate and Energy Summit coming up in Madrid, where industry, finance and civil society leaders have gathered to accelerate progress in the clean energy...

This week: Cargill's vice president for environmental sustainability, Heather Tansey, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how supply shocks have impacted the planet's food systems. They discuss the importance of future proofing for these inevitable shocks as the sector continually builds towards a higher-yield, lower impact food supply system.   Plus: Muhammad Muiz Bajwa, sustainability...

Brett Kaysen, senior vice-president, producer and state engagement lead, at the US National Pork Board and Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh case study the sustainability challenges for the pork industry and for protein supply chains more generally. They discuss how to best set goals, and the tools and guidance to reach targets and monitor progress.

At the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference in New York, Innovation Forum's Toby Webb reflects with Karimah Hudda, founder of illumine.earth, about the discussions over the two days of the event. In particular, they talk about the contrast between food and apparel industry and the continued importance in adopting circular principles. They also discuss the need to maintain balance in...

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, coming up on the 29th September, focusing on taking action to transform and build resilient food systems. They also discuss the development of the global chemical and waste framework coming up at the 5th session of the International Conference on C...

This week: As a preview of the 2023 future of plastics and packaging conference in Amsterdam, hear from Ignacio Gavilan, formerly of the Consumer Goods Forum, Jodie Roussell from Nestlé, Eastman’s Camiel Steffanie and Sofie Vergucht, Jenny Wassenaar from Trivium Packaging and Christina Dixon from the Environmental Investigation Agency as they reflected with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh last year o...

This year at the sustainable apparel and textiles conference in New York, Toby Webb talked with Talha Khan, chief executive of Pakistan Environment Trust, about the evolving conversations about apparel supply chains in North America and how they compare to those in Europe, including more downstream discussions around circular business models. They discuss the importance of textiles supply chain de...

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the Sustainable Development Goals week of events, organised during the UN General Assembly High-level Week. Key themes include climate, gender equality inclusion and more to accelerate sustainable impact as we pass the midway point of the SDG’s original timeline. They also discuss what to expect and how to get invol...

This week: Saif Hameed, CEO of Altruistiq, talks with Ian Welsh about the challenges in measuring and tracking corporate emissions data. They discuss changing regulatory requirements and stakeholder expectations, and how companies can best adapt.   Plus: the first in a new farmer voice series. Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson speaks with Deborah Osei-Mensah from the Asunafo Cocoa Cooperative in Gh...

At the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference, Innovation Forum's Toby Webb spoke with Krishna Manda, vice-president for sustainability at Lenzing, about supply chain decarbonisation. They talked about the importance of steering away from a one-size-fits-all solution and the need to engage with collaborative platforms such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition. They discussed Lenzing's...

In the midst of our escalating waste crisis and the global call for sustainable solutions, chemical recycling for plastics has emerged as both a potential solution and a subject of spirited debate. The concept of transforming post-use plastic into usable resources equivalent to virgin materials through chemical processes holds significant promise. However, several pitfalls and question marks have...

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the upcoming Sustainable Development Goals quadrennial report – the first since 2019 – that focuses on providing evidence that helps decision makers accelerate action and overcome barriers to success, particularly looking at the role of science in recent years. They discuss SDG action weekend coming up where key sta...

This week: Say Samal, former minister for the environment and now deputy prime minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how the country benefits from REDD+ carbon projects and in particular in terms of forest preservation and positive impacts for the indigenous peoples living in the forests. They discuss the importance of a partnership approach an...

JoDee Haala, director of public affairs at Christensen Farms, reflects with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about some of the discussions on food sector resilience raised at the recent future of food conference in Minneapolis. They also talk about recent developments in sustainable farming practices and how to overcome challenges in scaling across the food value chain.

Steven Bethell, founder of Bank & Vogue, and Innovation Forum's Toby Webb continue the discussions from the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference in New York. They talk about the difference in the current regulatory landscape in North America and Europe, and how to introduce regulation to enforce initiative such as green tax and circularity.

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about waste awareness campaign Zero Waste Week that focuses on how households, businesses and organisations can reduce waste and increase awareness of pollution. They also discuss Kenya's incoming sustainability reporting standards and what they will mean for business – the standards are expected to bring tighter complian...

This week: US National Pork Board's senior vice-president, producer and state engagement lead, Brett Kaysen and Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh case study the US pork industry and its sustainability challenges. They discuss the importance of cross-industry collaboration to tackle issues such as greenhouse gas emissions and developing regenerative agriculture.   Plus: H&M to withdraw from Myanmar...

Deepika Mishra, global sustainability consultant at US Cotton Trust Protocol, and farmer Mead Hardwick from Hardwick Planting talk with Ian Welsh about what the transition to regenerative agriculture practices for the cotton sector can look like. They discuss the tangible benefits from these practices on farmland and the importance of data gathering in improving resource efficiency and cutting gre...