Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

COP28: the imperative for government and company action now, from Julia Butterfly Hill

Forests activist Julia Butterfly Hill talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about progress and further opportunities for companies and government in forest and biodiversity protection. They highlight the importance of corporate investment towards carbon market projects such as REDD+. Julia also shares an urgent message for world leaders convening in Dubai for the COP28 climate talks.

 

For more on Julia’s call to action for world leaders click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gYzJcGcRNI

From beans to brew: navigating EUDR’s effects on the coffee sector

IDH's regional director for Asia landscapes, Chi Tran, and senior programme manager for coffee, Tessa Meulensteen, talk with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about what the incoming EU's deforestation regulation will mean for the coffee sector. They discuss the opportunities and challenges to this regulation, including potential smallholder farmer exclusion and diversity loss in supply chains.

Monday briefing: what to expect from COP28

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the key issues up for negotiation at COP28, which begins this week in Dubai. In particular, they discuss the different positions around clean energy agreements, and the need to establish a new loss and damage fund.

 

Bea Stevenson talks to Gotz Martin, director of sustainability and strategic projects at Golden Agri-Resources, about the outcomes and impact that he hopes will come from this week's webinar, 'The pathway to nature-positive business: definitions, measurements and targets'. Watch the video is now available. Or listen as a podcast here.

 

Bea also speaks with Veronique Schmitt, Bayer Crop Science’s head of communications for EMEA, about why they have been working with Innovation Forum to put out the 'Focus on Farmers' series: Regenerative food systems in Africa: scaling solutions to empower smallholder farmers'. Watch the video recording or click here to listen as a podcast.

 

Plus, Innovation Forum's Hanna Halmari talks to Ian Welsh about what to expect from Innovation Forum's sustainable apparel and textiles conference in April.

Weekly podcast – The big picture: evolving private sector landscape-level action

This week: Rodrigue Kreilmann, corporate sustainability governance manager at Mars, and Veronique Bovee, deputy director for responsible sourcing at Proforest, talk with Ian Welsh about how companies can help accelerate progress towards nature, people and climate goals on a landscape level. They discussed the importance of corporate leadership to drive this and peer collaboration.

 

Plus: At the recent future of climate action conference in Washington DC, Bea Stevenson and Ian Welsh spoke with Ashley Allen from Oatly and Saif Hameed at Altruistiq about the importance of scaling product carbon footprinting and emissions data for corporate decision making.

 

And, 2.9C warming looming even with national efforts, according to UNEP; the Ellen Macarthur Foundation calls companies to scale the use of refill packaging; this year's Pepsico Positive Agriculture Outcomes Accelerator rewards farm projects worldwide; and, why insetting is part of the climate impacts solution, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

 

To read Tropical Forest Alliance's latest report, click here.

Turning nature risk into resilience and how TNFD can help

Deloitte's senior manager for sustainability, climate and equity, Nabarun Sengupta, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the evolving corporate approaches to nature-related risks and disclosures. They discuss the role of the new Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosure Framework, and highlight the opportunities of nature-based approaches.

Monday briefing: saving more than just your wallet on Black Friday

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the first ever world sustainable transport day on 26th November. Designated by the UN General Assembly, the day aims to raise awareness on lower emission and energy-efficient sustainable transportation to achieve the sustainable development goals. They also discuss what a more sustainable Black Friday could look like.

 

Plus: Innovation Forum's Natasha Bodnar shares what to expect at the responsible sourcing and ethical trade forum on 20th-21st March 2024 in London. £500 discount early-bird registrations are open – secure your passes this week.

Weekly podcast – Reality check: the impact of EUDR and the US Inflation Reduction Act

This week: At the recent sustainable commodities and landscapes forum, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh spoke with Pallavi Sharma from Global Rights Compliance, Olivier Tichit from Musim Mas and Giorgio Budi Indrarto from Madani. They talked about the evolving impacts and unintended consequences of the incoming EU deforestation regulation and what it means for non-EU supply chain stakeholders.

 

Plus: At the future of climate action conference, Ian also talked with Adam Tarr, formerly senior adviser to the US secretary of agriculture, and Germin8 Ventures' chief scientific officer, Ashlie Burkart. They discussed the progress of the US Inflation Reduction Act in boosting clean energy technologies and scaling nature-based carbon removal projects.

 

And, the Zoological Society of London's Spott assessment shows increased palm oil corporate commitment in tackling deforestation; Mighty Earth flags growing deforestation impacts within the cashew sector in Côte D'Ivoire; and, national climate action plans to be insufficient to meet Paris agreement goals, according to the UN, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

Adopting landscape approaches: a how-to guide

Jack Hurd, executive director of the Tropical Forest Alliance and Emily Kunen, senior director, positive agriculture capabilities and forest risk at PepsiCo, talk with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about importance of scaling the use of landscape and jurisdictional approaches for sustainable land use. They discuss the findings from the TFA's latest report, including the unintended consequences of EUDR, expectation for stakeholders to drive progress, and guidance on achieving this.

 

To read the Tropical Forest Alliance's latest report, click here.

Weekly briefing: What to expect at Asia-Pacific Climate Week

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about Asia-Pacific Climate Week, being held in Malaysia to showcase solutions and innovations to tackle climate challenges in the lead up to COP28. They also discuss the EU council's upcoming adoption of farm sustainability data network regulations for collecting environmental and social data of food systems for companies, producers and beyond.

 

Plus, Innovation Forum's Hannah Oborne introduces the future of food conference returning to Amsterdam on 14th-15th May 2024. Early-bird registrations are now open.

Weekly podcast – Live from the conference: the future of climate action and sustainable commodities

This week: At Innovation Forum's future of climate action conference in Washington DC, Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson discuss the key talking points from the opening day of the event. They highlight the impact of evolving legislation and the ongoing corporate struggle to turn climate commitments and targets into credible action plans to deliver real progress.

Plus: During Innovation Forum's recent sustainable landscapes and commodities forum, Ian Welsh spoke with Anita Neville from Golden Agri-Resources, Catherine Barton from Chester Zoo and Innovation Forum's Peter Stanbury. These conversations focused on the challenges and potential impacts of the incoming EU deforestation regulation, in terms of business as well as conservation efforts.

Host: Ian Welsh