Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Weekly podcast – Climate impacts on Brazil’s cattle sector, and combating price pressures for growers

This week: Niamh McCarthy, director for climate-related risk at Climate Advisers, talks with Ian Welsh about the launch of a new report from the Orbitas initiative on the Brazilian cattle sector and the impact of climate transition. They discuss the sector’s risks and opportunities amid climate transitions, and the impacts of the incoming regulatory change. 

 

And, Ian talks with Amanda Archila, executive director at Fairtrade America, and Anna Mann, assistant director of responsible business at the Fairtrade Foundation, about pricing pressures in food value chains. In particular, they discuss how to ensure that they don't always impact growers unfairly.

 

Plus: the European Court of Human Rights calls out the Swiss government for insufficient action on climate change; lack of government support and insufficient funding hinders SME companies to take climate action; and, UK retailer Waitrose partners with Tony's Chocolonely Open Chain initiative for responsibly sourced cocoa, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

 

To discover further analysis from the Orbitas report, join expert panelists at an Innovation Forum webinar on 30th April at 3pm CET. Click here for full registration details.

It’s all about data: how to get to grips with scope 3 emissions

Saif Hameed, CEO of Altruistiq, and Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh talk about how companies should engage suppliers on their scope 3 emissions and the challenges that inevitably arise. They discuss how companies can avoid some common mistakes in tackling scope 3 emissions and how to work on the granularity of their carbon emissions at a product level.

Monday briefing: Building a more sustainable, resilient and regenerative food system

This week: a preview of what's coming up including an interview with Climate Advisers on their new Orbitas' report on the Brazilian cattle sector, and an initial look at the gap between price and value in supply chains with Fairtrade America and Fairtrade Foundation. Full interviews will be available later this week.

Plus: Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Hannah Oborne talks about what to expect at the Future of Food conference in Amsterdam on 14th-15th May. They share some agenda highlights and what to expect across the two days. Click here for full registration details.

Weekly podcast – Improving farmer livelihoods with regenerative cotton

This week: At the recent responsible sourcing and ethical trade forum in London, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh spoke with some of the expert participants to reflect on the conversations that took place. Hear from Sam Ludlow Taylor from the John Lewis Partnership, Peter McAllister from the Ethical Trading Initiative and Wayne Jordash from Business and Human Rights Compliance.

 

Plus: During his recent trip to India, Innovation Forum's Toby Webb spoke with Alison Ward and Dawa Dorje from CottonConnect about how the cotton sector is tackling its impacts, moving to a more regenerative approach and improving farmer livelihoods. Sign up here for Innovation Forum’s YouTube channel for a documentary on the cotton value chain in India due to be released alongside Innovation Forum’s sustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam (23rd-24th April).  

 

And, UN's Global E-waste Monitor highlights the need for more e-waste recycling capacity; majority of EU agriculture ministers back Austria's proposal to water down the EUDR; and, according to InfluenceMap, coal, gas and cement production sectors' carbon footprint has grown since the Paris agreement, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

A deep dive into critical metal and mineral sourcing

Gerard Barron, CEO of deep sea mining exploration business The Metals Company, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about a seabed alternative to traditional metal and mineral extraction methods that has lower environmental and social impacts. They discuss the potential future demand for these materials, which are critical for manufacture of the renewable energy infrastructure necessary for decarbonisation.

Weekly podcast: What EUDR means for the palm oil sector

This week: Joseph D'Cruz, CEO of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, and Olivier Tichit, chief sustainability officer at Musim Mas, talk with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the impact of the EU's deforestation regulation on the palm oil sector. They discuss its potential unintended consequences, such as impacting smallholder farmers’ market access and the development of segregated supply chains. They also share action points for stakeholders across the value chain as the regulation is due to be fully enforced by the end of the year.

 

Plus: PepsiCo achieves its 2025 water efficiency target two years early; the UK government rows back on deforestation-related products import ban; and, the US state of Florida's new bill banning legislation to protect agricultural workers from heat exposure, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

Delivering sustainable nutrition and convenience

Jessica Sansom, sustainability director at Huel, talks with Innovation Forum's Hannah Oborne about how food brands are devising new means of balancing sustainability with accessibility and nutrition. They discuss how the future of food will be impacted by changes in consumer trends and share advice on how brands can be successful in the convenience food industry and to generate consumer trust.

 

Jessica will be speaking at this year's Future of Food conference in Amsterdam alongside other experts from Unilever, Mars, Kellogg, Nestlé and more. There's still time to join us, click here for full registration details.

Putting farmers first: Implementing regenerative farming in practice

Max Dougherty, carbon business development lead at Bayer Crop Science, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the importance of a farmer-centric approach to regenerative agriculture and how to foster effective multi-stakeholder collaboration. They discuss some case studies on what good regenerative agricultural practices look like and the potential routes to funding for agricultural transition.

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