Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Charlotte Bande, food sector and climate strategy lead at Quantis, talks with Ian Welsh about best practice in the food sector for reducing environmental impacts in operations and supply chains. They discuss the key points that companies should consider when identifying the commodities that are driving impacts and when engaging suppliers. Bande argues that a central danger is getting stuck in “dat...

Felicitas Weber, Know the Chain project director at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, outlines to Ian Welsh the results of the new Know the Chain benchmarking of technology sector companies. They discuss the specific risks that ICT companies should be aware of, and geographical concerns – Malaysia, China, the Philippines and Thailand are countries that Weber highlights. Debt bondage,...

This week: Ryan Lynch, practice director for sustainability at BSI, discusses what’s required from food companies to meet environmental targets, how to use science-based targets effectively, the rise of regenerative agriculture, and some of  the constraints preventing adoption of innovation at scale. Plus: Nestlé’s switch from Fairtrade to Rainforest Alliance for cocoa and sugar, why European and...

Terry Lawler, fabric development manager for Naia at Eastman, discusses with Ian Welsh changing consumer habits in the apparel sector and why they are becoming more concerned with what goes into products. Lawler argues that more sustainable products are the future, with more flexible, multi-purpose, garments, with a real shift towards consumers identifying themselves as sustainable shoppers. They...

Amol Mishra, global commercial director, CottonConnect describes to Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh why partnering with both apparel brands and cotton farmers, covering both ends of the supply chain, delivers more sustainable supply. Mishra outlines how projects are structured so there is a clear link between investment and economic return, how brands are increasingly using sustainable sourcing achie...

This week: Felicitas Weber, Know the Chain project director at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, on the results of the latest human rights benchmark on the IT sector, and what characterises the companies that are doing well, and those that are lagging behind. And, Charlotte Bande, food sector and climate strategy lead, Quantis International, on what best practice looks like for food s...

Intel’s Mike McDonnell, senior manager for supply chain sustainability, talks with Ian Welsh about how knowing what your customers want from your business can help identify the human rights and forced labour risks in your own supply chain. A central challenge for companies remains inadequate mapping and analysis of supply chains – but there are tools to help. Cross-sector information sharing, help...

Mary Linell-Simmons, director of marketing at Fairtrade America, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about some of the human rights impacts of the coronavirus pandemic in commodity supply chains. Taking the the coffee sector, she argues that fluctuating prices driving the timing of crop harvesting brings a number of labour rights risks. And they discuss the child labour risks for the cocoa sec...

This week: Amol Mishra, global commercial director at CottonConnect, talks about some of the challenges around scaling projects in the developing world. He argues the case for designing them so they can have a real impact on producer communities and so that brands have the certainty and supply security they need. Plus: the UN’s Race to Zero campaign, CDP’s list of shame, land rights in Indonesia a...

Renee Henze, global marketing and channel development director at Dupont Biomaterials, discusses, with Ian Welsh, some of the challenges for apparel brands in developing real circularity in garments. They talk about why customers are ever keener to buy products that have greater recyclability, and the pitfalls for business to ensure the recycling infrastructure necessary is in place. And, as Henze...

PEFC’s CEO and secretary-general Ben Gunneburg and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh talk about how sourcing fibres from sustainably managed and certified forests can make real improvements in terms of environmental impacts for the fashion sector. They discuss potential consumer trends post-pandemic, how relationships with brands around transparency might change, and why a chain of custody approach can...

This week: Terry Lawler, fabric development manager for Naia at Eastman, discusses what the coronavirus pandemic has meant for the apparel sector, and the innovations required to meet the resulting change in consumer habits. She outlines what brands should consider doing to rethink sourcing policies to enable more sustainable supply chains. Plus: latest Global Forest Watch report, Ikea doubles dow...

Pauline Op de Beeck, client manager at the Carbon Trust, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh discuss the importance of definitions for companies and organisations striving for net-zero emissions. They talk about best practice in off-setting and why actually cutting emissions is essential, how to include scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions and why creativity is an essential part of how to really get to grips w...

Joining Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb at the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference are Patagonia’s senior manager for traceability Nicholas Allen, Cotton Council International’s European director Stephanie Thiers-Ratcliffe, and H&M’s head of sustainability Pascal Brun.   They discuss some of the challenges for business in really getting to know their supply chains, the benefits of supp...

This week: Mary Linnell-Simmons, Fairtrade America’s director of marketing, discusses some of the trade and human rights implications of the coronavirus pandemic, including commodity supply chain child labour risks, and how consumer relationships with brands are changing. And, Intel’s senior manager for supply chain sustainability, Mike McDonnell, talks about some of the ongoing compliance challen...

Drew Northern, director, global anticorruption at Cook Group, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about how business should respond to human rights violations and what appropriate mechanisms can be put in place to remedy victims effectively. They discuss how to ensure worker voice solutions work well, and the benefits of tailoring remediation plans to individual cases.  

Recorded at the recent Innovation Forum sustainable apparel and textiles conference are Anna Maria Rugarli, senior director of sustainability and responsibility EMEA for VF Corp, Renee Henze, global marketing and channel development director for DuPont Biomaterials, and Burak Cakmak, dean of fashion at Parsons. They debate with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh the fundamental building blocks necessary...

This week: Ben Gunneberg, CEO of PEFC International, on the benefits for the apparel sector from switching to forest-based fibres. And Pauline Op de Beeck, client manager at the Carbon Trust, on the challenges for brands getting to net zero emissions, particularly scope 3 supply chain emissions. Plus: why 155 big brands want climate science led pandemic response; UK supermarkets threaten Brazil bo...

This week: Renee Henze, global marketing and channel development director, Dupont Biomaterials, talks about the challenges for the apparel and textiles sector in developing real circular economy models, and the roles of designers and fabric manufacturers in moving the industry towards achieving them. Henze outlines the spectrum of what consumers want their favourite brands to do to promote circula...

FSC and Eastman Naia on the sourcing sustainable wood pulp challenges Ruth Farrell, textiles marketing director at Eastman Naia, and Andrés Ortolano, FSC Italy chain of custody manager, discuss with Ian Welsh the role of certification in helping develop sustainable wood pulp supply chains in the apparel sector. They talk about how to ensure protection of critical ancient forests, while providing b...

Webinar – Farm environmental impact: innovation and progress in animal agriculture In this webinar, the panel discusses the pressing need within the food and agriculture industry to ‘do more with less’, focusing specifically on cattle in North America, and how innovation has led to improved sustainability over animal life cycles. They consider Cargill’s BeefUp Sustainability initiative, which is c...

This week: Drew Northern from US-based Cook Group describes the importance of establishing effective human rights grievance mechanisms that workers trust. He outlines why these mechanisms to often fail to earn that trust, the pitfalls to avoid when working with third party suppliers to establish worker voice solutions, and how to tailor remediation plans to individual cases. Plus: new EU human rig...

Bryan Yates, general manager and director of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Orbital Insight, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about how study of geospatial data on transportation and food supply can identify the growing pinch points caused by pandemic crisis. Yates outlines how studying these can help business plan to avoid disruption and delay as much as possible. Join Bryan a...

This week: Andrés Ortolano, FSC Italy chain of custody manager, and Ruth Farrell, textiles marketing director at Eastman Naia, debate how and why the apparel sector is sourcing increasing amounts of wood-based fibre. There are clear supply risks, and they discuss what brands can do to ensure that their suppliers are environmentally sustainable. Plus: how pandemics are linked to deforestation and e...

Phil Bloomer, executive director of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about where the burdens of the pandemic are likely to be felt as business finds a way through the crisis. They discuss some of the challenges that are emerging and how government relief for companies should be managed. Bloomer points out the potential for humanising of supply...