Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Webinar: how brands can drive sustainable innovation in plastics and packaging

In this webinar, practitioners from Iceland Foods, Surfdome and CupClub take a pragmatic look at what brands are doing to face the challenges around plastics, packaging, and sustainable innovation. They discuss the new approaches they have taken to packaging, including working to eliminate plastic entirely in the case of Iceland, business benefits and how best to engage all stakeholders to drive forward reduction in plastic waste and pollution.

Joining Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh are: Ian Schofield, own label and packaging manager for Iceland Foods; Adam Hall, head of sustainability at Surfdome; and Safia Qureshi, founder and CEO, CupClub.

 

Investor protocols to avoid funding modern slavery

Valentina Gurney, associate programme director, Interfaith Centre on Corporate Responsibility and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh discuss trends in how the investment community is dealing with potential forced labour risks in investor portfolios. They debate the pros and cons of soft and hard laws, and how regulatory approaches are moving from reporting to due diligence requirements. Gurney also outlines the differences between a faith-based approach and an ESG approach to investment, and the moves she sees towards the use of the sustainable development goals for investor screening.

Weekly podcast: what to do about point-of-recruitment modern slavery risks

This week: some highlights from Innovation Forum’s recent webinar on what business needs to know about forced labour risks at the point of recruitment, and the employer pays principle, featuring Coca-Cola’s Brent Wilton, Walmart’s Doug Nystrom and ETI’s Cindy Berman, introduced by Ian Welsh. And, Mighty Earth’s Glenn Hurowitz speaking with Toby Webb on soy supply chains and deforestation in the Brazilian Cerrado grasslands. Plus: drinks brand Lucozade’s trialling of edible sachets, new Californian investor regulation on climate risk, and apparel sector communicating on supply chain sustainability, in the news roundup.

Hosted by Ian Welsh.

Palm oil’s complex impact on biodiversity

Erik Meijard, founder of Borneo Futures, discusses why the palm oil sector has such a bad reputation on biodiversity impacts with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb. Meijard shares some of the highlights from recent research, and argues there is much the palm oil sector as a whole can learn from the best plantations, which can perform well on biodiversity. And they debate why the palm oil sector is targeted for its impacts while coconut and banana plantations, with similar or worse impact, are not subject to the same level of activist criticism.

Weekly podcast: Diageo’s return from social and environmental investment

This week: Harriet Howey from Diageo talks to Ian Welsh about how the business tracks the impacts of its social and environmental programmes and the return on investment the company achieves. And another chance to hear Toby Webb and Imperial College’s Joss Lyons-White discuss the commitment gaps developing in the palm oil sector. Plus, detail from the latest Global Slavery Index, cities grasping the climate change nettle, deforestation rates in Brazil and the food waste challenge, in the news roundup.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Webinar: how can materiality drive sustainability reporting and strategy?

There are many factors that have lead to the increased awareness of environmental, social and governance – or ESG – issues. These sustainability challenges are changing the way companies go about financial reporting and auditing.

This has led to greater focus on the principle of materiality to distinguish the information that is most important for key stakeholders. But for companies, defining when and why each matter becomes material is a real challenge.

In this webinar, our expert panel discuss: how to clear up any confusion over what is ‘material’; tips on how to design a materiality assessment that suits your business; and, then how to use information generated from these assessments to drive strategy more effectively.

Panel:

Bill Hall, head of sustainability, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles

Amy Braun Senter, senior director, global sustainability, Kellogg Company

Terry Nelidov, managing director, The Erb Institute, University of Michigan

Hosted by Ian Welsh

All you need to know about materiality

Judy Kuszewski, chief executive of Sancroft, and Toby Webb from Innovation Forum debate approaches to corporate materiality. Kuszewski outlines the results of Sancroft’s recent research – Towards materiality – into FTSE100 companies. She argues that practices around materiality appear not to have evolved very far over the past 10 years, and that companies should focus more on linking materiality and risk. And for investors, companies should consider demonstrably integrating material issues into their strategy, to show that they have identified risk and opportunity effectively.

How to go all in on corporate sustainability

David Grayson, emeritus professor of corporate responsibility, Cranfield University, speaks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about how understanding and expectations have changed over the past two decades around business and sustainability. They also debate what business leaders are going to be doing differently over the coming years. Co-author of the new book – All in: the future of business leadership – Grayson outlines five critical attributes for business and sustainability that he and his colleagues identified.

How BNP Paribas promotes sustainable palm oil

Elisabeth Hipeau, senior industry analyst, BNP Paribas, explains to Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb the bank’s approach to dealing with deforestation risks, and how it puts into practice its policy of its investments having as little impact as possible. Hipeau outlines how innovative financial products can help reward sustainability performance.

Weekly podcast: changing corporate deforestation commitments and impact of slavery sanctions

This week: Mickael Blais from the French Alliance for Forest Protection talks to Toby Webb about how company commitments on deforestation across different commodities are changing. And Stephanie Brown Cripps, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, discusses with Ian Welsh the impacts of government modern slavery sanctions on business. Plus, Australia pulls back on emissions commitments, plastic pollution in SE Asia and the best jeans ever, in the news roundup.

Hosted by Ian Welsh