Innovation Forum podcast

Weekly podcast – Cross-value-chain collaboration for food sector resilience

This week: Rikke Kyllenstjerna, senior vice-president, food chains, at Norway-based fertiliser business Yara International, talks with Ian Welsh about the company’s all value chain approach to carbon reduction that can help deliver long-term food sector resilience. They discuss the importance of precision agriculture and the potential for carbon pricing and cost-sharing.

 

Plus: Net Zero Tracker says nation-wide net-zero targets are lacking; OECD guidelines for responsible business conduct returns with tougher regulations on climate change and human rights impacts; and, UK House of Lords votes for financial services deforestation-free due diligence checks, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

How digital traceability can drive circularity in the apparel sector

Debbie Shakespeare, senior director for sustainability and compliance, apparel solutions, at Avery Dennison talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how hi-tech solutions including radio frequency identification – RFID – can help scale circularity in the apparel sector. They discuss the potential of digital traceability in addressing overproduction, and for end-of-life management, re-use and recycling.

Weekly podcast – What does the future of food look like?

This week: at Innovation Forum's future of food conference in Minneapolis, some of the expert participants spoke with Ian Welsh, reflecting on conversations from the conference. They discussed the importance of farmer incentives, regenerative action for long-term resilience and how to best set science-based targets using the FLAG guidance. Hear from Ted McKinney from the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Regrow's Anastasia Volkova and Thalia Vounaki from FAIRR Initiative.

Plus: University of Leeds research shows developed economies owe $170 trillion on climate reparations; Plastic recycling poses chemical risk; small-scale farming leads to greater agriculture-driven deforestation than large-scale farming, says FAO, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

The power of recycled plastics and packaging

Katherine Hofmann, sustainability strategic initiatives manager at Eastman, and Ed Higgins, director of product development at Stanley Black & Decker, talk with Ian Welsh about their collaborative progress in developing sustainable power tools using chemically recycled plastics and packaging. They share their strategies on providing end of life solutions and scaling these sustainable approaches without sacrificing performance.

Monday briefing: World Environment Day collaboration to tackle plastic pollution

In this week's preview, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about this year's World Environment Day focusing on solutions to plastic pollution, following the second negotiation session for the global plastics treaty. They discuss the agenda for the EU green week on how to deliver a net zero world with newly developing EU environmental policies. Ian also shares information on how the UN climate change conference will spark initial conversations ahead of COP28 and catalyse action on the loss and damage fund.

 

Click here to listen to the podcast on the UN global pact on plastic pollution with Environmental Investigation Agency’s Christina Dixon.

Weekly podcast – Regenerative farming: building resilience in modern agriculture

This week: Ian Welsh recently spoke with Fabiana Furlan, Head of Commercial, Finance and Sustainability at Scheffer in Brazil. They talked about how a regenerative approach can help farmers to overcome reliance on chemical inputs, restore soil health and rebalance ecosystems. They also discussed the improvements that regenerative practices have on biodiversity and carbon sequestration, and how these metrics can be measured and certified.

Plus: on-the-spot interview at the future of food conference in Minneapolis with Rod Snyder, senior agriculture advisor to the administration at the US Environmental Protection Agency and Ian Welsh. They discuss progress within the US agricultural sector and voluntary vs regulatory incentives for sustainable agriculture.

And, potential for CO2 capture with Greenland's rock ‘flour’; UNEP's guidance on building a circular textile sector across the value chain; CDP calls 1,600 companies to report environmental data; Mars bar trialling recyclable paper packaging in the UK, in the news digest by Bea Stevenson.

Host: Bea Stevenson

The key to a truly responsible palm oil sourcing supply chain

Chief sustainability officer at Sime Darby Plantation, Rashyid Anwarudin talks to Ian Welsh about the importance of flagging labour rights breaches to deliver truly responsible sourcing supply chains. They discuss Sime Darby Plantation's responsible recruitment procedures and policies to mitigate typical migrant worker risks, from origin and destination countries.

Weekly podcast – Unlocking circularity: the use of technology in apparel supply chains

This week: Debbie Shakespeare, senior director, sustainability and compliance, apparel solutions, Avery Dennison and Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh talk about how technology can be a catalyst for the development of circularity in apparel supply chains. They discuss the importance of digital traceability in extending the life of a product, through consumer education and authentication.

Plus: UK Climate Change Committee warns against government inaction on green jobs; G7 supports ‘temporary’ use of natural gas; France implements ban on short-haul flights; Science-Based Targets Network publishes new framework on nature, in the news digest.

Host: Bea Stevenson

Webinar – Resilient agriculture: value-chain collaboration for a climate-smart food system

Left vulnerable from the degradation linked to conventional farming, food crops world-over are increasingly exposed to extreme impacts of climate change. For the agri-food industry, regenerative agriculture offers a vital opportunity to re-nourish agricultural land and build up system resilience, whilst relying on and supporting farmers. To implement this at scale, there is a need for strong leadership and willing collaboration across whole value chains.

In this webinar, we heard about the approaches, tools and technologies that leading brands are using to drive this collaboration. Our panel discussed:

• How agri-food leaders can build partnerships to drive agricultural system resilience through regenerative agriculture
• How jurisdictional sourcing approaches can enable businesses to support farmer livelihoods and regenerate landscapes
• What are the available tools and technologies to monitor and optimise agricultural ecosystem health?

The panel:

• Anastasia Volkova, CEO and co-founder, Regrow
• Jay Watson, director, regenerative agriculture, General Mills
• Janelle Meyers, chief sustainability officer, Kellogg Company

Moderator: Toby Webb, founder, Innovation Forum

This webinar was hosted in partnership with Regrow.

Lifting the curtains: ethical trade and human rights corporate regulation

Founding director and director of sustainable sourcing at Brodie partners, Georgie Erangey and Dave Pendlington, follow up with Ian Welsh on some of the key topics discussed at Innovation Forum's recent responsible sourcing and ethical trade forum, including evolving corporate attitudes in supply chain risk and transparency. They highlight remediation and the involvement of procurement professionals as key pillars of corporate transparency.