Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

David Horlock, managing director for global food and retail supply chains at BSI, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh discuss how the development of rigorous standards can help businesses build resilience in operations and supply chains. To tackle food supply security, and food fraud, Horlock outlines his CEO stress test, which can help company leaders identify the points of critical risk. Often, he...

Niels Wielaard, co-founder and CEO of Satelligence, explains to Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh how satellite data has been used to track the Amazon fires over the summer, and analysing the vegetation types that have been burning. He clears up some of the confusing statements that have been spread – including that there have been more fires in other years – but stresses that this year is particularly...

This week: Ronald Guendal, Bayer Crop Science’s global head of food security and advocacy, on the factors influencing change in food supply security, and emerging trends in farming techniques and use of inputs that are designed to sustainably boost productivity. And CottonConnect CEO Alison Ward on how to develop engaging projects – such as CottonConnect’s partnership with Primark – that can empow...

This week: David Horlock, managing director for global food and retail supply chains at BSI, demonstrates how a CEO stress test, and following rigorous standards, can help food sector businesses tackle supply chain security challenges effectively. And insight from Cargill’s Kate Clancy on what drives smallholder farmer viability. Plus: slow progress on climate change readiness and New York Declara...

This week: Niels Wiellard from Satelligence on how satellite data analysis can provide crucial details about why the Amazon fires have hit record numbers this year. And Schneider Electric’s Nathan Schuler on the rise and rise of science-based targets. Plus, in the news digest: Greenpeace drops Wilmar, Unilever and Mondelez; cocoa sustainability to be regulated in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire; mineral m...

Jon Dettling, global director for services and innovation at Quantis, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh discuss some of the challenges for businesses in the food supply industry, and how they have to innovate to make the necessary change to control impacts. Dettling points out the requirement for measuring and tracking benefits – as there is no point in developing a ‘sustainable’ product that ends...

This week: Nestlé’s Anna Turrell, Plastics Europe’s Eric Quenet and Closed Loop Partners’ Kate Daly on the wholesale business changes necessary to reduce corporate plastic footprints. And Cargill’s Marie Lavialle-Piot, PepsiCo’s Natasha Schwarzbach and Proforest’s Sophie Higman on the benefits of a landscape approach for sustainable palm oil. Plus: brands banning Brazilian leather, Blackrock linke...

Simon Usher, CEO Plastics Oceans UK, talks with Ian Welsh about some of the changes in public attitudes and political concern around plastic pollution, and the role of business to tackle the problem. Usher says he’s encouraged by innovation in packaging materials, but argues for the collaboration necessary to achieve real systems change. However, frustrations come, he says, from a rush to switch t...

This week: ABN Amro’s Dick Ligthart, M&G Investments’ Anita McBain and Invesco’s Maria Lombardo on the role of the investment community in global commodities supply chains. And Ocado’s Suzanne Westlake on the challenges of developing more sustainable packaging that involves less plastic. Plus: G7 weighs in on Amazon fires, palm oil free product labelling ban in Indonesia, Tesco threatens to de-lis...

Stephen Wetmore, director of business development at the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, and Ian Welsh discuss biofuel feedstocks and their role in moving to a low carbon economy. Wetmore outlines the challenges around balancing the demands in a developing bio-economy, and debates some of the unintended consequences that can arise. He argues the case for always keeping ultimate relative ca...

When it comes to plastics, all stakeholders ultimately want the same thing: to reduce and eliminate plastic waste so they leave the environment in a better place for generations to come. Leading brands and retailers have already committed to some ambitious 2025 goals. But what about the practicalities and realities of achieving these targets? In this webinar a panel of business experts discuss som...

This week: Simon Usher, CEO of Plastics Oceans UK, on the trends and innovations developing in plastics packaging and pollution, and the systems change necessary to avoid a rush to higher-impact alternatives. Plus, Rainforest Alliance’s Leah Samberg and Forest Trends’ Philip Rothrock discuss tools to help brands to deliver deforestation commitments. And: Amazon fires and President Bolsonaro, palm...

Nils Hermann Ranum, head of the drivers of deforestation programme at Rainforest Foundation Norway, talks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about biofuel feedstocks, including palm oil, the associated land use change and its potential impact on forests and indigenous communities. They debate what a sustainable biofuel policy might look like, and how it could be used to encourage better production...

Anant Ahuja, co-founder and CEO of Good Business Lab, talks with Innovation Forum’s Haafizah Khodabocus about his organisation’s work in apparel factories in India. He explains how his family background in Indian apparel business Shahi Exports has helped inspire Good Business Lab’s worker empowerment programmes, and they discuss collaboration projects with Gap and other brand partners.

This week: Jon Dettling from Quantis on how business can innovate to tackle supply chain challenges in the agriculture sector, including game-changing plant-based alternatives to meat. And Hilton’s Daniella Foster and Microsoft’s Jennifer Marsman outline how they engage their senior colleagues on the business case for sustainability, how to measure positive impacts, and the importance of ‘story-te...

Anita Neville, senior vice-president group corporate communications, Golden Agri-Resources, and Ian Welsh discuss the challenges for the palm oil sector in developing the crop as a biofuel feedstock. Neville argues that there is not a level playing field for potential inputs into biofuels, and a lack of life cycle analysis into relative impacts of different crops. They also discuss supply chain de...

Kené Umeasiegbu, head of environment at Tesco, talks with Ian Welsh about how the business has used science-based targets to catalyse action in its operations and supply chains. He argues for setting environmental targets that are stretching while realistically achievable – and points out the importance of setting milestones so that progress can be demonstrated to both internal and external stakeh...

Over the past decade, sustainable and impact investing has grown from a niche form of financing to being implemented by practically every major financial institution. Companies such as COFCO and Wilmar have secured substantial loans tied to their sustainability efforts. Similarly, BNP Paribas announced it would use $10bn in capital by 2025 for projects that are committed to improving social and en...

The past two years have seen rapid progress in the emergence of norms and best practices for setting and implementing commitments to eliminate deforestation, ecosystem conversion and human rights abuses from supply chains. There has also been a proliferation of tools and approaches for the evaluation of company progress and performance. In this webinar, we’ll discuss how companies can use newly av...

This week: Stephen Wetmore from the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials and Ian Welsh discuss biofuel feedstocks and their role in moving to a low carbon economy. And Anant Ahuja from Good Business Lab talks with Innovation Forum’s Haafizah Khodabocus about his organisation’s work in Indian apparel factories and worker empowerment. Plus: latest OECD/FAO agri supply chain predictions; companies...

David Cleary, head of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, talks with Toby Webb about the shifting patterns of deforestation in South America, and land conversion challenges for forests and other biomes, including the Cerrado grasslands. They discuss the impacts of different commodities on land use change, including soy, and specifically the Cerrado manifesto and the barriers to moving to a full...

Rob Waterworth, chief executive of the Mullion Group, discusses with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh what the food sector can learn from forestry to improve stakeholder relationships and trust. Waterworth argues that challenges being faced by the food sector now reflect many that forestry faced in the 1970s and 1980s, in Australia in particular. While technology is providing exciting opportunities, t...

This week: Nils Hermann Ranum, head of the drivers of deforestation programme at Rainforest Foundation Norway, talks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about biofuel feedstocks, including palm oil, the associated land use change and its potential impact on forests and indigenous communities. And, another chance to hear from Joe Franses, vice-president, sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners,...

Carole Dubois, senior sustainability consultant and food sector lead at Quantis, talks with Ian Welsh about how companies can use science to develop the targets that will drive business value in the food and agriculture sectors. She outlines some of the challenges to set the right science-based targets and the disruptive, bold solutions required for all business if the 1.5C limits to global warmin...

Dan Wolfson, IBM distinguished engineer with the Weather Company, discusses the potential of artificial intelligence for agriculture. As an example, Wolfson explains how smart visual recognition techniques can help farmers identify problems, such as disease, in the field – without even the need for online connection. Satellite and drone imagery also have exciting potential, he argues, pointing out...