Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Toby Webb speaks with Grant Rosoman, senior forests campaigner at Greenpeace, about the organisation’s new report – Destruction: Certified. The discussion includes reference to Ikea, FSC, RSPO, soy certification, Rainforest Alliance and other schemes. For more content like this subscribe to the Innovation Forum newsletter here .

Gotz Martin, head of sustainability implementation at Golden Agri-Resources, explains why food systems face a big problem if smallholder farming communities can’t become more resilient and escape endemic poverty traps. He outlines some of the factors necessary to achieve this. While strong palm oil prices can help in the short term, there are clear deforestation risks if the sector as a whole expa...

Business has lost its purpose, says Prof Andy Hoffman from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, talking with Ian Welsh. He says that, in the face of crises such as climate change and income inequality, a restructure of how companies regard success is now required. Hoffman argues the case for corporate legacy, meaning and purpose and not just pursuit of profit above all else,...

Neste’s Lars Börger, Covestro’s Lynette Chung, Unilever’s Marika Lindstrom and Werner Bosmans from the European Commission debate with Toby Webb the developing practical solutions to the challenge of new materials and what they are made from and, specifically, the innovations that they hope to see in 2021. To listen to the full extended discussion, click here . Plus: why we need a pandemic-level r...

In the first of a new quarterly podcast series, Textile Exchange CEO La Rhea Pepper talks with Innovation Forum founder Toby Webb about how organic cotton practices can help transform the sector as a whole. They debate the case for a soils-first approach and how regenerative agriculture can be a real game-changing solution for cotton and for producer communities more broadly. For more content like...

This week: Silke Peters from the sustainable agriculture supply chain initiative at GIZ talks about the challenges involved in developing effective multistakeholder collaboration to help smallholder farmers across different commodities. And, in the run up to this year’s conference, another chance to hear how Cargill CEO David MacLennan opened 2020’s Future of Food USA event, in conversation with I...

Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect, talks with Ian Welsh about the durability of cotton supply chains and why apparel brands can gain from working directly with producers to really develop transparency. Representing 75% of all cotton farmers, and with the livelihoods of 350 million people at stake, working with smallholders in particular leads to gains for brands and everyone in the value chain. Th...

This week: Andy Hoffman, professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, on why business has to evolve to embrace sustainability across functions and accept that profit is only one measure of success. Business may be the problem, he argues, but is also clearly the solution. Plus: H&M and Ikea developing new low impact fibres from forests; Sainsbury’s to take back and recycl...

Jessie Cato, natural resources and human rights programme manager at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, talks with Ian Welsh about the significant human rights risks that exist in the supply chains of low carbon technology manufacturers. As demonstrated by the BHRRC’s tracker of companies producing six transition minerals – lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel, zinc and manganese – required...

This week: Hear Musim Mas’s Olivier Tichet outline his ‘magic ingredients’ for landscape level solutions for agricultural commodity supply chains: everyone must be involved; all parties must be committed to change; and, there must be acceptance that change takes time. Plus: new commitments from BNP Paribas on Amazon soy and beef sourcing; a concerning increase in land grabs by the extractive and a...

Sarah Rogerson and Emma Thomson from Global Canopy talk with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the conclusions of the latest Forest 500 report. 2020 no-deforestation targets were universally missed, and the new research highlights a lack of deforestation commitments from investors and the finance sector in general, particularly in North America. Forest 500 also shows that perhaps recent focus on...

This week: Alison Ward, CEO of CottonConnect, discusses how brand buyers can work with cotton producer communities to access markets and finance, and how to identify and mitigate some of the serious human rights risks in the broader apparel sector. Plus: Nestlé and Shell plot their routes to net zero emissions; H&M and others working on new circular fashion partnership in Bangladesh; and CDP uncov...

In this extended discussion, hear experts from Neste, Covestro, Unilever and the European Commission talk about scalable, affordable solutions to the sustainable materials challenge. The panel demonstrate progress, debate some difficult questions and highlight what is possible during 2021, a vitally important year, of course, for the climate. Hear about Neste’s views on scalable, lower-greenhouse-...

This week: Jessie Cato from the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre talks about the latest tracker following the forced labour risks in the supply chains of the minerals necessary to transition global energy supply to renewables. Lithium, cobalt, copper, nickel are among the elements required for solar panels, batteries and wind turbines, and have significant supply chain human rights challe...

ZSL’s Eleanor Spencer and Ian Welsh talk about the latest SPOTT survey into transparency and strength of corporate commitments on deforestation at the palm oil sector’s top 100 companies. As ever progress across the sector is mixed, with leading companies – particularly suppliers to big consumer-facing brands – continuing to drive best practice, but many others achieving a score of zero across the...

This week: Global Canopy’s Sarah Rogerson and Emma Thomson discuss the latest Forest 500 report, which highlights the lack of deforestation policies at financial institutions and the lack of consistency of approach across commodities for many sourcing companies. They discuss the need for a due diligence approach to deforestation for business, and what the legislation that can help looks like. Plus...

Nathalie Walker, director for tropical forests and agriculture at the National Wildlife Federation, talks with Ian Welsh about the new legislation that is going to require companies to take a tougher approach to environmental and human rights issues when sourcing. She welcomes the positive approach from the new Biden administration in the US, particularly around fossil fuel divestment and encourag...

Ying Xuen Hoe, project manager, Proforest Southeast Asia, Rashyid Redza bin Anwarudin, head, group sustainability, Sime Darby Plantation, and Olivier Tichit, director sustainable supply chains, Musim Mas, discuss the use of the Accountability Framework initiative to engage the challenges in palm oil supply chains. They highlight the need for multistakeholder collaboration at landscape scale. Plus:...

Victoria Crawford, manager of the Investment Partnership Network at Just Rural Transition, and from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, talks with Ian Welsh about some of the steps necessary to unlock potential investment opportunities in sustainable commodity sourcing. There are key roles for public and private capital, and focused collaboration is essential, Crawford argues.

Niels Wielaard founder and CEO of Satelligence talks with Ian Welsh about initiatives that are developing to transfer the lessons learned in one commodity supply chain to others, and to enable the real traceability buyers increasingly demand. Wielaard also reflects on how the rise of true science-based approaches is an enabler that help brands meet their no peat, deforestation and exploitation goa...

This week: Eleanor Spencer, palm oil specialist at ZSL, on the latest SPOTT survey assessment on the strength of deforestation and conservation commitments at the top 100 palm oil companies. Scores are up, but progress remains disappointing, Spencer argues.   Plus: ExxonMobil’s scope 3 emissions disclosure; plastic risks ignored by investors; M&S boycotting China’s Xinjiang province because of for...

Peter Stanbury, senior associate at Innovation Forum, talks with Ian Welsh about new research into how business can help develop really sustainable and robust smallholder farming communities. Stanbury argues that all in commodity value chains need to accept that systemic change is required, and only real cooperation can bring this about. For more information about Innovation Forum’s Innovation Acc...

David Horlock, managing director for global food and retail supply chains at BSI talks with Ian Welsh about why beef and red meat production has attracted criticism and how the sector can be sustainable. The problem, Horlock argues, is not red meat itself, rather how it is produced.

This week: Nathalie Walker, director for tropical forests and agriculture at the National Wildlife Federation, discusses how the changing legislative landscape is leading to more of a due diligence approach for companies on deforestation. She analyses how international collaboration on climate change will develop during 2021. Plus: BlackRock says that sustainable investment will accelerate; WWF sa...

Marianne Marinet, programmes director for the Earthworm Foundation, Emily Kunen, global responsible sourcing lead for palm oil and seafood at Nestlé, and Sandra Doig, head of sustainability at Grupo Palmas discuss at the recent Innovation Forum sustainable landscapes conference how they have collaborated on developing a sustainable cocoa and palm oil producing landscape in Tocache, Peru. Moderated...