Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

SourceUp: connecting landscapes with their markets and buyers

IDH’s Matthew Spencer, Proforest’s Ruth Nussbaum and Conservation International’s John Buchanan talk with Ian Welsh about how the SourceUp platform can improve the distribution of value in commodity supply chains, bringing corporate boardrooms and grower communities together. They argue the case for companies engaging more closely with the landscapes they source from and how positive impacts can be scaled up.

Why companies must continue to source from ‘high-risk’ countries

Niels Wielaard, founder of Satelligence, and Ian Welsh talk about traceability-to-plantation innovation in palm oil and cocoa supply chains. Wielaard explains why appreciating the complexity of the challenges is important and, crucially, why companies should not shift from sourcing from higher risk countries as a reaction to EU and other due diligence legislation. This could, he argues, simply shift problems to lower risk countries.  

Weekly podcast: Is business moving to a ‘just in case’ approach to supply chains?

This week: David Grayson, campaigner and former director of the Doughty Centre at Cranfield School of Management, and co-author of the new Sustainable Business Handbook, talks with Ian Welsh about the evolving role of business in tackling climate change, global inequality and the impacts of globalisation. Grayson outlines how shifts in emphasis from the investment community in terms of ESG screening is impacting business planning, and welcomes the growth in sustainability bonds. And, they discuss how the pandemic has led companies to rethink their “just in time” approach to supply chains.     

And, Innovation Forum senior associate Peter Stanbury and Welsh review some of the main issues that arose during Innovation Forum’s responsible sourcing and ethical trade conference in London, including how to improve value chain data, the importance of grievance mechanisms, how to focus collaboration, and the potential unintended consequences when companies stop working in high risk regions.   

Cocoa child labour – how cash transfer schemes can help

Megan Passey, head of knowledge and learning at the International Cocoa Initiative, talks with Ian Welsh about use of cash transfer to farmers to target hazardous child labour in Ghana. They discuss why regular funds direct to farmers can be more effective than single lump sums, and why disconnecting them from payments for their cocoa crop is important.  

Nestlé’s plan to tackle cocoa child labour

Toby Webb and Peter Stanbury reflect on Nestlé’s new strategy for the cocoa sector, with the ambition to get to grips with child labour risks, increase farm income and achieve full traceability in the cocoa sector. This will involve farmers having the ability to earn more for their crop alongside making improvements in other areas, including diversifying income and encouraging school enrolment. They argue that Nestlé’s plans represent significant ambition and discuss what the longer-term impacts of this and other initiatives could be.

Weekly podcast: How to identify human rights risks in production landscapes

This week: José Luis López, palm oil and biodiversity programme manager at Solidaridad, and Mario Rafael Rodriguez, senior associate for LandScale at the Rainforest Alliance talk about a collaboration project in the Ocosito landscape in Guatemala using the LandScale framework. In particular, they discuss how LandScale – a new system for measuring sustainability at a landscape level, led by Rainforest Alliance, Verra and Conservation International – has helped to identify human rights and labour risks.  

Plus: new research shows that forests, and especially tropical forests, have an even greater role in tempering climate change than previously thought; Nasdaq’s new reference indices tracking carbon price; Ukraine war forces Iceland U-turn on palm oil use in its own products; and UN World Food Programme facing $9bn shortfall, in the news digest.

And, Innovation Forum’s Emily Heslop gives an update on the Future of Food conference coming up in Minneapolis on 14^th-15^th June.

Host: Ian Welsh

 

How the apparel sector can cut 45% emissions by 2030

Textile Exchange’s COO Claire Bergkamp and director of Climate+ strategy Beth Jenson talk with Ian Welsh about some impacts of climate change for the apparel and textiles sector. They discuss the challenges around getting to a net zero position by mid-century, via a 45% cut in emissions by 2030, and the willingness of the sector to make the innovations necessary.  

Weekly podcast: due diligence opportunities from new EU directive

This week: Salla Saastamoinen, director for civil and commercial justice, DG Justice and Consumers at the European Commission, talks with Innovation Forum’s Bea Stevenson about how the new EU due diligence directive for companies regarding human rights and environmental impacts will be implemented. They discuss how companies can work to prepare their strategy now to ensure alignment with the proposed regulation, and the potential sanctions for non-compliance.  

Plus: new emissions reporting proposals from the US Securities and Exchange Commission; EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism details become clearer; HSBC’s plan to finance the transition to net zero; Swiss Re to stop insuring carbon-intensive energy projects; and, Unilever tracks 188,000 tonnes of palm oil in a blockchain transparency pilot, in the news digest.

And, Innovation Forum's Natasha Bodnar provides an update on June’s climate and business action conference.

Host: Ian Welsh

Effective landscape approaches unpacked – ISEAL’s practical step-by-step guidance

Leony Aurora, landscapes and partnership lead at the Tropical Forest Alliance, and Patrick Mallet, director of innovations at ISEAL, talk with Ian Welsh about newly released guiding practices from ISEAL designed to help companies address critical sustainability challenges collectively and at scale. The guidance covers where is makes the most sense to invest, how to maximise impact, how to measure effectiveness and what clear and credible communications should look like.

The unintended consequences of due diligence for palm oil

Ian Suwarganda, Golden Agri-Resources’ head of policy and partnerships, sustainability and communications, and Róisín Mortimer, Tropical Forest Alliance lead private sector engagement and programming, talk with Ian Welsh about the impacts of the EU’s importing regulations. While the establishment of a level playing is welcome, they argue that there should be greater awareness of the challenges for smallholders to demonstrate compliance. There is a risk of sourcing into the EU switching away from higher-risk regions, which could mean that the deforestation and other challenges in these areas will not be addressed.