Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Nigel Sizer, executive director of the Preventing Pandemics at the Source coalition, and former president of Rainforest Alliance, reflects on some of the outcomes from COP26, welcoming the funding that was announced to help halt deforestation. Speaking with Ian Welsh, Sizer also talks about the links between deforestation and global pandemics and how, much like climate change, it is always those t...

This week: Andrew Wallis, CEO of UK-based trafficking and modern slavery organisation Unseen, talks about where the modern slavery and forced labour hotspots are right now, and the impacts of climate change on forced migration. He also outlines what Fifa should be thinking about ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Plus: Walmart’s new supply chain finance programme with CDP and HSBC; how HSBC pla...

Liesl Truscott, corporate benchmarking director at Textile Exchange, Lucita Jasmin, director of sustainability and external affairs at APRIL, and Nigel Sizer, executive director at the Preventing Pandemics at the Source initiative, talk with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about some of the findings from the recent Apparel Barometer report, in particular regarding viscose. The discussion includes the...

In this 30 minute webinar, the latest in the From the Forest Frontlines series, hear from project members and community leaders at the Wildlife Works Mai Ndombe REDD+ project in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Congo Basin is home to the world’s second-largest tropical rainforest and the largest carbon sink. The preservation of this forest is critical to mitigating climate change, as well...

The concept of regenerative agriculture is being hailed as the new paradigm in sustainable supply chains. While it is predominantly food brands that have acted fastest to make significant commitments to regenerative, the future of cotton production could be based on similar practices that aim to restore, renew and replenish the environment. However, big questions still stand on definitions, proces...

Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect, and Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb chat in Dublin, while attending Textile Exchange’s Sustainability Conference 2021, about what regenerative agriculture can bring to the cotton sector. They discuss CottonConnect’s 3,000 farm regenerative agriculture pilot programme, how this builds on work developing sustainability in cotton supply chains more generally, and why a...

This week: Sebastiaan van der Hoek, forestry advisor at Cargill, talks about how agroforestry can benefit the cocoa sector, and help the business deliver its sustainability goals, including the Cargill Cocoa Promise. He welcomes the high profile that nature-based solutions had at COP26 and the traction they are gaining more generally. Plus: global energy intensity improved in 2021 says IEA’s lates...

At the Global Landscapes Forum in Glasgow during COP26, the Hon Gary Juffa, governor of Oro province in Papua New Guinea, and Tony Simons, executive director of CIFOR-ICRAF, the body formed by the merger of the CIFOR – Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry, spoke with Ian Welsh.  They discussed a new Resilient Landscapes initiative supported by the national and local go...

Achieving the Paris Agreement targets requires a radical transformation of the world’s food and land use systems. The land sector alone can deliver at least 30% of the mitigation required to reach net-zero. In this context, companies with a land-use footprint must embrace interventions to conserve and restore forests and other natural ecosystems in the landscapes they source from as part of their...

This week: Tara Luckman, advisor to the US Cotton Trust Protocol, and Dr Mark Sumner from the school of design at the University of Leeds, talk about the impacts of a lack of transparency in apparel production, and cotton in particular. They discuss the importance of data, and how the sector can move away from mass balance approach to supply chain sustainability and monitoring, and deliver proper...

Ian Welsh reports from the second day of the 2021 sustainable landscapes and commodities conference. Among the main discussion points were how landscape approaches are being implemented now, and the challenges encountered; how to properly engage smallholder farmers and other grower communities in corporate decision making; and, how to find sustained finance, at scale, to drive change.

Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh reports on the opening day of the 2021 landscapes and commodities event. Highlights include analysis of the impacts of the outcomes from COP26, what transformational change means in practice for key commodity landscapes, and how evolving corporate procurement policies can deliver on targets. Coming up on day two are open discussions on landscape restoration, regenerati...

This week: Lord Deben, chair of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, reflects on the outcomes from the COP26 meetings and how momentum can be carried forward over the coming months. A standout from Glasgow, he argues, was the enthusiastic involvement of leaders from big business driving progress forwards. Plus: PepsiCo targets access to nutritious food; European retailers not doing enough in farmed...

Victor Tamanjong, assistant technical manager for Africa at the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, outlines the history of the palm oil sector in Africa, and the more recent growth of certified crop. He discusses how to engage smallholder farmers with the benefits of certification and adopting a more sustainable approach in general – including market access, training, increased yields and farm in...

Peter Williams, president of the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction, talks with Ian Welsh about how funding for developing world grower communities can best focus on economic empowerment, alongside health, food systems, environmental and health matters. They also discuss why better climate resilience is essential, and how this can be achieved.

This week: Nigel Sizer, executive director of the preventing pandemics at the source coalition, talks about the relationships between deforestation and pandemic prevention, and why taking action to preserve forests is an essential human health imperative. Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb summarises a session focusing on what the apparel industry can learn from the food sector – at the Textile Sustaina...

In the final update on the COP26 climate talks, Ian Welsh and climate journalist Mike Scott give their impressions on the events in Glasgow and reflect on the new climate pact that emerged, debating if it was just about as good as could have been expected. Among the pact highlights they consider are the agreements on deforestation, coal and methane, and the drawing up, finally, of rules on how the...

The link between climate change and human health is clear. Now we need business to step up and define its role in adaptation as well as mitigation. So, what can companies – and in particular business coalitions – do to make a substantive difference on building human resilience? This webinar panel discusses what business can do now and in the future to drive consumer awareness, risk management, and...

As the scheduled end of the COP26 meetings approaches, in the latest update from Glasgow news about how the final agreement is coming, or not, together, and the major remaining sticking points. Thursday saw announcements from the C40 cities group’s chair Sadiq Kahn on $1bn investment in Latin American city green transport, and the Beyond Oil and Gas Alliance gained some new recruits. Plus: Ian Wel...

In the latest update from the COP26 meetings in Glasgow from Ian Welsh, news of how the first draft of the proposed end of summit agreement was received and the surprise joint declaration from China and the US on cutting emissions over the coming decade. Plus more countries and car makers agree to eliminate fossil fuel powered vehicles by 2040, and the rise and rise of iconic Scottish soft drink I...

The latest update from Glasgow on the COP26 meetings with Ian Welsh. As Barack Obama wows the city on Monday and Tuesday, reality strikes with the Climate Action Tracker report that suggests 2.4C warming is on the cards. There was positive news with 22 governments aligning on clean technology for industry via the Mission Innovation programme. And Nicola Sturgeon and Nancy Pelosi lead debate on the...

In the latest daily update on the COP26 meetings in Glasgow, Ian Welsh reports from the three-day Global Landscapes Forum, where he was joined by the Hon Gary Juffa, governor of Oro province in Papua New Guinea, and Tony Simons, executive director of CIFOR-ICRAF, the body formed by the merger of the Centre for International Forestry Research and the World Agroforestry Centre. They talk about a new...

In the latest daily update from Ian Welsh on the COP26 meetings in Glasgow, news from energy day as 190 countries and organisations pledge to quit coal – though the US, China, India and Australia continue to drag their heels. And, how national declarations have now shifted the world to a 1.8C pathway (and improving). With insight and comment from corporate sustainability expert and veteran COPwatc...

The key environmental issues related to climate change are clear. But what about the human side? How well does business understand the human implications, and what are the challenges and opportunities they can act upon? In this webinar session, a panel of expert speakers from business, NGOs, academia, and public health explore the relevant issues for business. They discuss what companies are doing...

Scott Steedman, director general, standards, at BSI, explains to Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh why engaging on the climate crisis should be a focus of business standards and how the recent London declaration commitment to embed climate science in all standards is an important development. They talk about how the ambitions of the declaration will play out on a practical level as all business sectors...