
Innovation Forum hosts a weekly podcast along with regular interviews with business leaders in sustainability. Each week, we summarise the latest sustainability news and announcements, and get the views of leading experts on business critical issues. Widely regarded as one of the best sustainability podcasts around, stay tuned for regular insights, debate and analysis.
Episodes

Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Can US agriculture be carbon negative?
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Thursday Feb 20, 2025
Marty Matlock from the University of Arkansas talks with Ian Welsh about how US agriculture can become a climate solution, transitioning to be a net-negative in terms of greenhouse gas. They discuss the innovation in existing farming practices necessary and how farmers can be at the forefront of the transition.

Monday Feb 17, 2025
Monday briefing – Latest food trends and how to empower farmers
Monday Feb 17, 2025
Monday Feb 17, 2025
This week: Ian Welsh and Anamya Anurag explores emerging food trends in North America, including farmer inclusion specifically for underrepresented farmers and continued uncertainty around input costs, labour availability and policies.
Plus: a short preview of a interview coming up in the Innovation Forum podcast with palm oil company Musim Mas, social business Livelihood Ventures and impact NGO SNV, discussing regenerative agriculture in Indonesia. Hear from SNV’s Rizki Pandu Parma talk about how farmers are being empowered by region ag projects.
Host: Ian Welsh
Click here for more information on upcoming complimentary webinars.
To learn more about food innovations, join us at the future of food and beverage forum USA (Minneapolis, 28-29 May) . Click here.

Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Weekly podcast – What ethical sourcing means for businesses today
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
This week: Andrew Wallis, CEO of business and human rights NGO Unseen, talks with Ian Welsh about what good practice looks like when companies are engaging on responsible sourcing and ethical trade issues. They discuss the opportunities business can take advantage of and what incoming legislation means for them.
Plus: more calls for delay in EU sustainability regulations; soy sector companies back threatened soy moratorium; why renewable energy's rise is unstoppable; and, EUDR may threaten Scandinavian forestry, in the news digest.
Host: Ian Welsh

Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Best practice: How to find the opportunity from regulation
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Thursday Feb 13, 2025
Wayne Jordash, managing partner at Beyond Human Rights Compliance, talks with Ian Welsh about how companies are engaging with evolving business and human rights regulation, particularly from the European Union. Wayne shares advice on how companies can approach risk assessments, what to look out for and the opportunities from this approach.

Monday Feb 10, 2025
Monday Feb 10, 2025
This week: Ian Welsh and Natasha Bodnar explores the critical link between climate change and human rights. They discuss innovative initiatives from organisations such as La Isla Network, Sainsbury’s, and Fairtrade, which aim to mitigate heat stress and support farmers in adapting to climate challenges, ensuring both worker well-being and supply chain resilience.
Plus: an interview preview with Andrew Wallis, CEO of UK anti-modern slavery charity Unseen, on the key drivers for corporate action on human rights.
Host: Ian Welsh
Click here for more information on upcoming complimentary webinars.

Friday Feb 07, 2025
Weekly podcast – Could bio-based alternatives replace plastic packaging?
Friday Feb 07, 2025
Friday Feb 07, 2025
This week: Aidan Maguire, coalition programme manager at the Plastics Pollution Coalition, talks with Ian Welsh about latest innovative material solutions that could transform the packaging industry. They explore the challenge of developing alternatives to traditional plastics for packaging and debate the scalable solutions that are emerging.
Plus: EUDR tightens paper packaging rules; the EU's omnibus regulation raises supply chain risk concerns; and, microplastics found in 99% of seafood, in the news digest by Ellen Atiyah.
Host: Ian Welsh
Click here for more information on upcoming complimentary webinars.

Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Enhancing soil health from the ground up
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Thursday Feb 06, 2025
Marina Ettl and Simon Pogson from fertiliser business Yara International talk with Ian Welsh about how to maintain healthy soil. They discuss what best practice collaboration with growers looks like and how to conduct soil health data analysis, and highlight which specific data points farmers should focus on.

Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
Tuesday Feb 04, 2025
This week: Ellen Atiyah and Ian Welsh reflect on the outcomes from the recent European Union Deforestation Regulation webinar series, which discussed the impact of the delay will have over the coming months on value chains across the palm oil, soy, coffee and cocoa sectors.
And Lia Da Giau and Ian take about innovation in sustainable packaging. They highlight examples of material innovation and post-consumer waste management.
Host: Ian Welsh
Click here for more information on upcoming complimentary webinars.

Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Weekly podcast – Can agriculture become a greenhouse gas-negative industry?
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
This week: Marty Matlock, professor at the University of Arkansas, talks with Ian Welsh about latest research on soil sequestration, nitrogen use efficiency and regenerative farming. They reveal how existing farming practices could transform agriculture into a climate solution rather than a climate problem.
Plus: World Economic Forum demand urgent cooperation with global risks; UK's deposit return scheme excluding glass sparks debate; South Korea cuts biomass subsidies; and, Bloomberg steps in to cover US Paris climate funding, in the news digest, by Ellen Atiyah.
Host: Ian Welsh

Thursday Jan 30, 2025
How did we get here? The no deforestation supply chain story
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Thursday Jan 30, 2025
Scott Poynton, CEO and founder of A Different Way, and founder and former CEO of the Earthworm Foundation, talks with Ian Welsh about the past, current and future challenges in achieving robust and sustainable commodity supply chains. The discussion focuses on the evolution of corporate commitments to no deforestation, particularly in palm oil, highlighting key milestones that have shaped the conversation over the past 15 years. From Nestlé's no deforestation pledge in 2010 to Wilmar’s comprehensive policy in 2013, they explore how values-driven decisions by companies have influenced industry standard and practices.
This interview was originally released in two parts in Innovation Forum’s weekly podcast.