Innovation Forum podcast

Weekly briefing: How business can unlock scope 3 solutions

This week: Ian Welsh and Diana Kim reveal details of the complimentary Innovation Forum webinars  coming up in the next few weeks. They discuss what to expect at the Brazilian agribusiness case study webinar, held in partnership with Orbitas on the 30th April. They also talk about the importance of sustainable crop nutrition ahead of a webinar on the role of fertilisers in regenerative agriculture in partnership with Yara.

 

Ian Welsh also shares some agenda and speaker highlights that will be coming up at the scope 3 innovation forum in Amsterdam on 12th-13th June. The discussions will include how to enable business to tackle supply chain greenhouse gas emissions, deliver on climate targets and establish the path to net zero. Register by this Friday for a €300 discount on conference passes.

Weekly podcast: What a good scope 3 emissions strategy looks like

This week: Saif Hameed, CEO of Altruistiq, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the challenges for companies tackling their scope 3 supply chain emissions. They discuss how to identify scope 3 hotspots, avoid the common mistakes companies make and more.

 

Plus: during Innovation Forum’s responsible sourcing and ethical trade event in London, some of the expert participants spoke with Ian, reflecting on conversations from the conference. Hear reflections from Alenka Turnsek from EY and International Justice Mission's Andrey Sawchenko.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

Responsible recruitment: safeguarding migrant worker rights

Neill Wilkins, head of the migrant workers programme at the Institute for Human Rights and Business, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about human rights risks in recruitment, particularly for women migrant workers. They discuss the challenges in responsible recruitment and how initiatives such as IHRB's responsible recruitment register can help.

 

Click here to read IHRB's report on responsible recruitment for women migrant workers.

Weekly briefing: building ethical, responsible and transparent supply chains

This week, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh talks about what to expect at this week's responsible sourcing and ethical trade forum in London. He introduces this year's focus on the practical implications of evolving legislation, and highlights key speakers who will be joining over the two days.

 

Plus: Innovation Forum's Hanna Halmari shares further updates on the upcoming sustainable apparel and textiles conference taking place in Amsterdam on 23rd-24th April. Click here for more information and registration details.

Weekly podcast: A look into the future of critical metals for decarbonisation

This week: Gerard Barron, CEO of deep sea mining exploration company The Metals Company, speaks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh on the challenges and environmental impacts of traditional extraction methods and what the future demand for critical metals and minerals is going to look like. They discuss the latest innovation in extracting vital resources from the sea floor with significantly less harmful impacts.

 

Plus: the Science Based Targets initiative updates progress on its Business Ambition for 1.5C programme; World Trade Organization finds fault in EU's move against palm oil biofuel; and, EU's corporate sustainability due diligence directive in revision with a greater focus on smaller suppliers' compliance, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

Nestlé Global Virtual Event: A 2023 Climate Progress Update

Please note that this is an audio recording of a webinar containing slides and presentations. To view the video recording, click here.

 

On 12th March, Innovation Forum and Nestlé hosted a webinar sharing Nestlé's 2023 climate progress update

Nestlé has pledged to reduce absolute emissions by 20% by 2025, and by 50% by 2030. This live virtual event featured updates of its progress in 2023, with case studies illustrating how transformative action is taking place on the ground.

In particular they discussed:

• The importance of transparency in climate disclosures, particularly on progress across scopes and different GHGs
• Evolutions in target setting, including Nestlé’s SBTi approved FLAG objectives.
• The critical role of nature-based solutions in driving emissions reductions in agricultural supply chains (via two impactful case studies)

The panel:

• Florence Henry, global head of sustainability nutrition, Nestlé
• Benjamin Ware, global head of climate and sustainable sourcing, Nestlé
• Sukumaran Karuthara, head of agriculture services, coffee and tea, Nestlé India
• Barbara Sollero, sustainable agriculture manager, Nestlé Brazil
• Charlotte Podeur, strategy and ESG manager, Nestlé Coffee Brands
• Alexandre Berndt, researcher, The Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporate (Embrapa)
• Moderator: Ian Welsh, publishing director, Innovation Forum

This webinar was hosted in partnership with Nestlé.

See here for more on Nestlé’s 2023 Creating Shared Value and Sustainability Report.

Setting the corporate climate agenda: ambition, action, accountability

Pilar Cruz, chief sustainability officer at international food business Cargill, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about where corporate efforts should be focused over the coming months and through to the COP30 climate meetings in Brazil at the end of 2025. They discuss the drivers for multi-stakeholder collaboration in tackling climate challenges and to produce food sustainably.

Monday briefing: EU's ecodesign regulation, and accelerating the energy transition

This week, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, which is due to be officially approved by the EU. They also discuss what to expect at the Energy Transitions 2024 event, focusing on the disruption of the traditional "energy trilemma".

 

Plus: Innovation Forum's Emily Heslop shares updates on the upcoming future of food and beverage USA forum taking place in Minneapolis on 30th-31st May. Click here for more information and registration details.

Weekly podcast – Finding the funding for regenerative agriculture

This week: Max Dougherty, carbon business development lead at Bayer Crop Science, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about why a farmer-centric approach to regenerative agriculture is essential, and some of the potential routes to funding for agricultural transition. They also discuss the markers for effective stakeholder collaboration, when it comes to implementing regenerative farming in practice.

Plus: SEC approves climate disclosure rules; negotiators push for watered down EU CS3D deal; preliminary agreement on PPWR; and FAO report shows higher financial toll of climate crisis for rural women, in the news digest, with Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson.

Webinar recording – Beneath the surface: exploring best practices for soil regeneration and carbon farming

On 5th March, Innovation Forum and Bayer Crop Science hosted a webinar exploring the best practices for soil regeneration

At the root of some of the most urgent challenges facing agriculture today is the global threat to soil health. Challenges such as soil erosion, compaction, salinization and water retention are compounded by the impacts of the evolving climate crisis, threatening the resilience of global food systems.    

Maximising soil health can lock in carbon to mitigate climate change and provide various benefits to growers and ecosystems - such as soil resilience, improving profitability, biodiversity, crop yield and nutrition.  

As land stewards, farmers can regenerate soils through the adoption of carbon farming practices. But what are the correct practices to ensure maximum carbon sequestration, emissions reduction and regenerative outcomes? And how can we ensure the significant value-chain support needed to enable this?  

In this webinar, our panel drew on case studies to identify practical and impactful farmer-centric solutions for building the relationship between healthy soils, regenerative agriculture, and climate-resilient food systems at scale.  

They discussed:

• The practices, such as cover cropping, crop rotation and no-till, which can help to restore soil organic matter and sequester and/or reduce carbon.  
• The importance of taking a nuanced and context-specific approach to applying sustainable practices.   
• The technology and data tools available to develop, nurture and maintain healthy soils   
• The role of different value-chain actors in supporting continued innovation and scale 

The panel:

• Florence Braye-Rigel, EMEA Carbon Farming Agronomic Lead, Bayer Crop Science 
• Paul Luu, Executive Secretary, The International “4 per 1,000” Initiative 
• Antoine Bedel, Forage and Service Plants Expert, RAGT 
• Andrew Williamson, Farmer 
• Moderator: Toby Webb, founder, Innovation Forum