Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

This week: H&M’s Pascal Brun and Puma Group’s Stefan Seidel debate action on climate change and what future low carbon business models will look like with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb. Plus: pandemic impacts on Bangladeshi factories; 2020 fashion transparency index, WHO action on wet markets, and species extinction warnings, in the news digest.   Host: Ian Welsh

This week: Bryan Yates, general manager and director of sales for Europe, Middle East and Africa at Orbital Insight, talks about how analysis of geospatial data can help companies track their supply chains and gauge risks. In particular he discusses the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on food supply chains, and how data can give insight into how social distancing is being practiced in different...

This week: Why education and active engagement is how to work with suppliers to implement human rights policy, and how to overcome the inevitable capacity challenges, with insight from Shane Tyler at Fresca Group and Sarah Carpenter from Assent Compliance.   Plus: what Primark is doing to help millions of laid-off garment factory workers; UN call for wet market bans; and, UK government scheme to c...

This week: Phil Bloomer, executive director of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, discusses with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh some key impacts for companies as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Bloomer describes how it’s the suppliers of big brands – in, for example, the apparel sector – who will ultimately suffer as orders are cancelled and workers laid off, or exploited. More pos...

Kristin Hughes, director of the Global Plastic Action Partnership, a multistakeholder initiative coordinated by the World Economic Forum, talks with Ian Welsh about the partnership’s work over the past 12 months coordinating government and brand approaches and desire to do something effective. Hughes explains why the partnership is focusing efforts in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa developi...

In this session, an expert panel discusses the opportunity for business to act as human rights defenders. They assess when and how companies should take action, and how this space will evolve. The panel also considers how NGOs and companies can together move human rights further up the consumer interest agenda, and act as agents for change. Andreas Graf, human rights manager, FIFA Celia Ouellette,...

Corporate transparency on human rights has never been more important, and many initiatives have been developed to help businesses get this right. In this webinar session, an expert panel consider the state of play of current levels of disclosure, and which companies and sectors are performing well or badly, and why. They also discuss the challenges for businesses keen to develop a best-practice ap...

At the point of recruitment, workers are often at their most vulnerable to falling into modern slavery. But how can brands protect the rights of workers who are not easily located within the supply chain, and also not obviously the victim of bonded labour? This webinar session explores the opportunities for business to prevent exploitation in the recruitment process. Leading the discussion: Mark B...

The effective abolition of child labour is one of the 10 UN Global Compact principles aiming to promote sustainable businesses practices. However, child labour is endemic in numerous sectors, with the International Labour Organisation estimating that there are currently 152 million victims of child labour worldwide. When operating in countries with known child labour risks, how can businesses moni...

Working with suppliers is key to implementing human rights policy, and driving greater understanding and impact. Education and active engagement is hailed as a long-term solution to this. However, the reality is that this can be difficult to implement, especially when individual businesses do not have total capacity of a factory or farm. In this webinar discussion join: Shayne Tyler, group complia...

This week: Highlights from a recent Innovation Forum webinar discussing evolving business and human rights legislation, the compliance challenges, and how this impacts companies and their supply chains, with Institute for Human Rights and Business, Mondelēz, Unicef and Freshfields. Plus: why using biomass as a fuel might be climate positive after all; Nestlé’s cocoa and deforestation progress; and...

Yuca Waarts, senior researcher, sustainable value chain development, Wageningen University talks with Ian Welsh about the challenges developing living incomes for smallholder farmers and plantation workers. She points out that the interventions that can make a difference for coffee, tea and cocoa production aren’t necessarily the same, with many factors impacting income levels, and argues that for...

Traceability is incredibly important in mapping and monitoring high risk areas of the supply chain. But, tracing and tracking vast numbers of suppliers, especially beyond tier two, remains a significant challenge. In this webinar, discussion focuses on how business can map and monitor complex supply chains in order to prioritise high risk areas and better direct resources.  Panel: Chris Ettery, di...

With continually evolving regulatory growth, international compliance has become all the more complicated. Business must be aware of how current – and emerging – global regulation impacts on their supply chains and operations across jurisdictions. While many agree that the UK Modern Slavery Act has failed to deliver the transformational change that had been hoped for, there is now significant pres...

This week: François-Ghislain Morillion, co-founder of trainer brand Veja, on how the business has developed short and sustainable supply chains for materials in its shoes, including recycled polyester from plastic bottles. And, some exciting news from Innovation Forum about our spring conference series. Plus: Cop26 in Glasgow in question; human rights impact of Covid-19 beyond health; and, why the...

Andrew Wallis CEO of charity Unseen talks with Ian Welsh about the key human rights risks that business can’t ignore, and the unintended consequences of changing low-paid worker migration rules. Wallis argues that the pace of necessary change remains slow but welcomes the EU move towards tighter reporting rules, and other initiatives that can help companies move away from exploitative business mod...

This week: Kristin Hughes, director of the Global Plastic Action Partnership, on how a holistic multistakeholder approach is necessary to deal with plastic pollution. She discusses why the partnership is working in southeast Asia and Africa to develop waste collection and recycling infrastructure, and the path to a circular economy approach. And, Danone North America CEO Mariano Lozano talks with...

New Forest 500 report authors Sarah Rogerson and Emma Thomson, from Global Canopy, discuss with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh why the 2020 report argues there isn’t enough progress on deforestation from business and investors among the largest companies involved in commodity supply chains. They talk about how some companies – the usual suspects – are making progress, and others are failing to live...

This week: Yum! Brands’ Jon Hixon, Mondelēz International’s Christine McGrath and Nestlé’s Anna Turrell debate the action the food sector is taking to tackle the climate emergency, and make the necessary cuts in emissions to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C. They consider some of the challenges around developing effective science-based targets.   Plus: rich country payments to protect biodiv...

Amy Yoder, CEO of agri-tech business Anuvia Plant Nutrients, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh on how from organic waste material can be turned into fertiliser that develops long term soil health, and allows for more food to be produced on less land. Yoder points out how a lack of focus on health of soil microbes and allowing for natural regeneration has led to decline in soil structure and...

With targets looming and the ever-present reminders of the impact of climate change, 2020 is set to be a pivotal year in sustainability. Fashion, an industry with one of the largest carbon and water footprints, is having to rethink and transform its operations in an effort to stay within planetary limits and keep temperature increases below 1.5°C. In this webinar, discussion focused on: How compan...

Nathalie Walker, director, tropical forests and agriculture, at the US’s National Wildlife Federation, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about why confronting domestic climate change risks in the US means having to engage with international businesses to tackle tropical deforestation and other ecosystem destruction. She argues that, whatever the public stance of the federal government, there...

Airbus’s head of sales, agriculture and forest solutions, Patrick Houdry, and Earthworm Foundation’s director of technical services, Rob McWilliam, talk with Ian Welsh about how the satellite remote sensing system Starling has developed over the past few years. From an initial project mapping palm oil in Malaysia and Indonesia, Starling now can map entire supply chains worldwide across commodities...

This week: Yuca Waarts from Wageningen University on living income challenges for smallholder farmers and plantation workers, and what agriculture sector companies should be doing to ensure supply stability. Plus, Hugo Boss’s Andreas Streubig on his brand’s striving for more-transparent supply chains. And, why Burberry’s going for insetting; a new sustainability manifesto for luxury UK apparel bra...

Recent years have seen calls for major changes in human rights due diligence and reporting gathering momentum. This tidal wave of governments making legislation that holds businesses legally accountable isn’t stopping any time soon. In addition, NGOs, investors and consumers are demanding more than just the bare minimum when it comes to business and human rights practices. However, with a whole su...