Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Insect protein as animal feed: why we need it and how to scale it

It’s clear that animal feed supply chains in their current form are unsustainable for industrial animal production systems. To keep up with increasing global demand for meat, alternatives to the traditional feedstocks should be considered. So, what role can insect protein play?

In this webinar, an expert panel discussed how insects are developing as an alternative protein, the opportunities for scale and impact, and the regulatory and financial environment needed to make it happen.

Panel:

• Sara Walton, sector lead, agri-food standards, BSI
• Arnold van Huis, emeritus professor, laboratory of entomology, Wageningen University
• Cindy Dunston Quirk, CEO and founder, Scout & Zoe’s Premium Pet Products
• Adrian Charlton, principal scientist, Fera Science

This discussion, held in partnership with BSI, was moderated by Toby Webb, founder of Innovation Forum.

How to tackle deforestation now and at scale

This webinar discussion, the latest in Innovation Forum’s “From the front-line battle to stop deforestation by 2030” series, features an expert panel discussing how private-sector investments are helping to end deforestation, protect threatened wildlife and fund significant economic development activities for local communities.

The webinar was held in Stockholm as part of the United Nations Environment Programme’s World Environment Day celebrations, and featured representatives from groundbreaking forest conservation REDD+ projects in Kenya, the DRC, Colombia and Cambodia. The panel talked about community-based conservation and their successes stopping deforestation, and the challenges involved.

Panel:

• Joseph Mwakima, community relations manager, Wildlife Works, Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project
• Cara Barund, conservation office manager, Wildlife Works, Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project 
• Neneth Freund, francophone Africa liaison, Wildlife Works, Mai Ndombe REDD+ project 
• Lider Sucre, regional director for Latin America, Wildlife Works
• Chaly Y, GIS and communications officer, Tumring REDD+ project 
• Rithiny Teng, national strategic manager, Wildlife Conservation Society, Keo Seima REDD+ project
• Suwanna Gauntlett, CEO, Wildlife Alliance, Southern Cardamom REDD+ project

Host: Ian Welsh, Innovation Forum

The webinar was sponsored by Everland – click here for Everland's Forest Plan.

Weekly podcast: Why leading companies will have to do more than their fair share on climate

This week: Business and climate strategy expert Iain Watt talks about some of the challenges for companies getting to net-zero emissions. He argues the need to recognise that science mandates that timeframes are very tight for 1.5C and 2C pathways – but that embracing science-based targets has switched ambitions from what looks achievable to what’s necessary.

Plus: up to 1,000 microplastic particles spread per square metre of farmland per year in Europe; retailers not making credible progress on plastic bags say Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace, Changing Markets Foundation and others; and, $80bn of losses risked without action on deforestation now, according to a new report from the Accountability Framework initiative and CDP, in the news digest.  

Host: Ian Welsh

Why there is no such thing as ‘waste’

Bank + Vogue and Beyond Retro co-founder Steven Bethell talks with Ian Welsh about the growth of apparel resale and remanufacturing at scale, and how to “industrialise the used as an input for the new”. Bethell highlights the importance of both physical and chemical recycling for the development of truly circular models in the garment sector.

From commitments to action at scale: Critical steps to achieve deforestation-free supply chains

In the eight years since companies and governments came together under the New York Declaration on Forests committing to end deforestation by 2020, we have instead seen a continued rise in deforestation rates. To meet net-zero goals and ensure a climate resilient future, companies need to quickly accelerate systems and processes to manage their impacts on forests.

In this webinar, our expert panel discussed company best practice to end deforestation across agricultural and forestry value chains and where corporate ambition and action currently stand according to a new report evaluating company progress against the Accountability Framework, using CDP 2021 Forests data.

You can access the Accountability Framework initiative and CDP joint report here.

The session featured the latest case studies showing how companies have integrated leading practices into their business.

Panel:

• Juliana Lopes, ESG, communications and compliance director, Amaggi
• Katerina Elias-Trostmann, head of ESG and sustainability, Brazil, BNP Paribas
• Leah Samberg, lead scientist, global policy, Rainforest Alliance
• Tom Maddox, global director, forests and land, CDP

The session was moderated by Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh. This webinar was held in partnership with the Accountability Framework initiative.

Weekly podcast: What ambitious apparel scope 3 targets look like

This week: Anant Ahuja, head of organisational development at Indian apparel manufacturer Shahi Exports, talks about how all of the apparel sector’s value chains can work together to decarbonise and transition towards net zero. Ahuja outlines some of the barriers to the shift in business models that are necessary, not least developing long-term supplier-brand relationships.

Plus: further food supply risks from the war in Ukraine; Carbon Tracker highlights lack of credibility in oil and sector climate targets; new $500m circular plastics fund from Alliance to End Plastic Waste; and, Tesco and WWF cooperate on new food supply chains Innovation Connections scheme, in the news digest.

And, Innovation Forum’s Hanna Halmari introduces the 2022 sustainable landscapes and commodities conference, coming up on 1^st and 2^nd November.

Host: Ian Welsh

For more information about the sustainable landscapes and commodities event in November click here.

Why there’s no ‘one size fits all’ solution for due diligence

David Pettet, global human rights and sustainable supply chain director at Reckitt, talks with Ian Welsh about why taking a holistic approach to human rights risks in supply chains is essential. Pettet argues how internalising auditing processes can lead to closer relationships with suppliers and manufacturers, and why a focus on grievance mechanisms, eliminating recruitment fees and real transparency is necessary.  

Weekly podcast: How to create high quality apparel fibres from post-consumer garments

This week: Caroline Ledl, head of product management, textiles, at the Lenzing Group, talks about the challenges in using recycled content to create high quality fibres that can compete with virgin materials in the apparel sector. She outlines how collaboration on material use and design can help scale up processes and get around the recycling problems stemming from mixed-fibre garments.

Plus, in the news digest: record Amazon deforestation in three out of first four months of 2022; Malaysia to cuts taxes on palm oil exports as prices surge; aviation sector hit only one out of 50 climate targets says charity Possible; and, more than 2,200 companies now signed up to emissions reductions verified by the Science Based Targets initiative  

And, some reflection on the discussions at Innovation Forum’s online future of food conference.  

Host: Ian Welsh

Why due diligence may lead to a ‘wave of litigation’

The potential impacts of due diligence legislation in various jurisdictions are discussed by Freshfield Bruckhaus Deringer’s Elizabeth Forster and Innovation Forum’s Bea Stevenson. They talk about the changing transparency and reporting obligations for companies and how to identify where the risks are, and the need for cultural shift in approach for many businesses.

The human rights risks embedded in your daily cuppa

Ethical Tea Partnership chief executive Jenny Costelloe talks with Ian Welsh about how environmental and, particularly, labour and trafficking challenges are coming to the top of corporate agenda in the tea sector. They talk about ETP’s 2030 strategy and the systemic change that is necessary, particularly to address power imbalances that impact women and children at plantations, and how “radical transparency” needs to become widespread.