Innovation Forum podcast

Transformation, traceability and transparency: from intention to action

Charlotte Bande, global food and beverage sector lead at Quantis, talks to Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how businesses are shifting from intention to action, when it comes to real long-term sustainability. They also discuss the difficult conversations that companies should be having internally, and how to ensure transparency is not a barrier to necessary collaboration.

Monday briefing: carbon credit trading on Tokyo Stock Exchange

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about how Tokyo Stock Exchange traded carbon credits will work. They also discuss what we can expect from 2023's Middle East and North Africa Climate Week, a regional collaboration platform to inform the first global stocktake concluding at COP28 in November.

 

Plus, Innovation Forum's Hanna Halmari gives an update on what to expect at the sustainable commodities and landscapes forum coming up in Amsterdam from 31st October-1st November. Register here for a €100 discount – the offer expires this Friday, 13th October.

Is our food undervalued?

This week: Bex Hall, head of consulting at Sedex, talks to Ian Welsh about the factors that have led to consumer reliance on potentially undervalued food, and how food costs can be spread equitably across value chains. They also discuss how food may be going through a re-valuation process and the opportunities presented by this.

 

Plus, at Innovation Forum’s Future of Plastics and Packaging Conference in Amsterdam this week, Ian spoke with Nestle’s global public affairs lead for packaging and sustainability, Jodie Roussell. They talked about some of the trends in packaging and reflected on how the sector is shifting towards tougher mandatory compliance standards.

 

And, Starbucks develops climate-resilient coffee seeds; EU reaches deal to reduce ‘super potent’ GHGs; Global power emissions flatline in first half of 2023; and, almost £600m of surplus UK food redistributed in 2022, in the news digest with Bea Stevenson.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

 

Tackling deforestation with carbon markets in Cambodia

Say Samal, former minister for the environment and now deputy prime minister of the Royal Government of Cambodia, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the benefits of REDD+ carbon projects in delivering forest preservation and economic benefits in partnership with indigenous peoples and local communities in Cambodia. They discuss the importance of a partnership approach, developing economic benefits and securing land title for communities, as well as helping the country align with its Paris Agreement commitments.

Monday briefing: England’s single-use plastics ban explained

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about what the incoming single use plastics ban means for businesses in England including retailers, vendors and the hospitality industry. They discuss the International Climate and Energy Summit coming up in Madrid, where industry, finance and civil society leaders have gathered to accelerate progress in the clean energy transition to attempt to align with the Paris Agreement.

 

Plus, ahead of this week’s future of plastics and packaging conference in Amsterdam, Innovation Forum's Diana Kim shares some useful content highlighting some of the progress made tackling plastics use in the past year.

Weekly podcast – Delivering future food supply security: a how-to guide

This week: Cargill's vice president for environmental sustainability, Heather Tansey, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how supply shocks have impacted the planet's food systems. They discuss the importance of future proofing for these inevitable shocks as the sector continually builds towards a higher-yield, lower impact food supply system.

 

Plus: Muhammad Muiz Bajwa, sustainability manager at South Asian Sourcing Private Limited, talks with Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson about the impacts of climate change and the necessary adaption measures farmers need to make.

 

And, new data analysis linking soy and deforestation in Brazil; Tyson Foods and Purdue Farms investigated for child labour; and, reflections on Climate Week and the UN General Assembly in New York, in the news digest with Bea Stevenson.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

Going the whole hog? Sustainability in the US pork sector

Brett Kaysen, senior vice-president, producer and state engagement lead, at the US National Pork Board and Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh case study the sustainability challenges for the pork industry and for protein supply chains more generally. They discuss how to best set goals, and the tools and guidance to reach targets and monitor progress.

Driving change in fashion: circularity, design innovation and regulation

At the recent sustainable apparel and textiles conference in New York, Innovation Forum's Toby Webb reflects with Karimah Hudda, founder of illumine.earth, about the discussions over the two days of the event. In particular, they talk about the contrast between food and apparel industry and the continued importance in adopting circular principles. They also discuss the need to maintain balance in regulation and design innovation.

Weekly briefing: Managing food waste across the supply chain

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction, coming up on the 29th September, focusing on taking action to transform and build resilient food systems. They also discuss the development of the global chemical and waste framework coming up at the 5th session of the International Conference on Chemicals Management, which aims to tackle chemical pollution.

 

Plus, Innovation Forum's Emily Heslop shares details about the upcoming future of climate action conference to be held in Washington, DC on 8th-9th November.

Weekly podcast – Farmer voice: how brands and buyers can help smallholders and secure supply

This week: As a preview of the 2023 future of plastics and packaging conference in Amsterdam, hear from Ignacio Gavilan, formerly of the Consumer Goods Forum, Jodie Roussell from Nestlé, Eastman’s Camiel Steffanie and Sofie Vergucht, Jenny Wassenaar from Trivium Packaging and Christina Dixon from the Environmental Investigation Agency as they reflected with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh last year on how business can build plastics and packaging strategy that delivers impact at scale.

 

Plus: Wakinya Samuel, smallholder coffee farmer from the Bushika Integrated Area Cooperative Enterprise in Uganda, speaks with Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson about how farmers can best be supported to counter climate change impacts and the potential for agroforestry to deliver sustainable supply security.

 

And, the UK government makes a U-turn on key environmental policies; European Union's new regulation to tackle corporate greenwashing; many big plastics companies not linking executive pay to sustainability metrics, according to Planet Tracker; and, Equitable Earth Coalition launched to develop new voluntary carbon market standard to drive finance to forest communities to halt deforestation, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh