Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Monday briefing – EUDR and beyond: navigating risks, delays and opportunities

This week: Mark Gutierrez and Alex Udermann from the Minnesota Soil Health Coalition talk with Ian Welsh about how farmers are leading a quiet revolution beneath their feet – restoring degraded soils, cutting fertiliser use, and helping others avoid costly mistakes. 

 

Plus: from EUDR uncertainty and climate resilience to regenerative agroforestry and AI-enabled traceability, Innovation Forum’s Anamya Anurag shares how companies are moving beyond compliance toward real system change. She discusses how tools such as blockchain, remote sensing, and payments for ecosystem services are driving more transparent and resilient supply chains.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

 

We’ll be in Amsterdam later this month for the Sustainable Commodities and Landscapes Forum to continue the conversation. Listen to the episode for an exclusive discount. Click here for information on how to get involved.

Weekly podcast – The $17bn challenge: building a better recycling system

This week: Keefe Harrison, chief executive of the Recycling Partnership, talks with Ian Welsh about how US recycling can scale through data, design, and new policies such as the Circle Act and EPR laws. They also discuss why fixing the system requires $17bn in investment and how CalFlex is reshaping flexible packaging recycling in California.

 

Plus: SBTi launches training to boost green skills; climate change displaces Bangladesh garment workers; Nespresso to launch regenerative certified coffee; and, why the Paris Agreement goals are slipping away, in the news digest by Ellen Atiyah.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

 

To continue the conversation on sustainable packaging, we will be in Chicago on 28-29 October for the upcoming sustainable packaging innovation forum. Click here for information on how to get involved.

Deforestation-free leather: ambition or reality?

Fernando Bellese, senior director for beef and leather supply chains at WWF, talks with Ian Welsh about how a new deforestation free leather fund aims to scale transparency, improve pasture management and help reintegrate farmers into more tightly-regulated markets. They set out how these steps can safeguard farmer livelihoods in the transition to sustainable leather and prepare companies for tightening global deforestation regulations.

Weekly podcast – Who pays? Sharing the costs and risks of regenerative agriculture

This week: Sajeev Mohankumar, senior technical specialist at FAIRR Initiative, talks with Ian Welsh about the role of value chain actors in de-risking the transition towards regenerative agriculture. They explore how cost-sharing agreements and off-take contracts can help align environmental goals with economic realities.

 

Plus: Innovation Forum’s Niamh Campbell unpacks the latest findings from Textile Exchange’s annual Materials Market Report. She highlights the drivers behind polyester growth and the emerging role of recycled fibres and regenerative practices.

 

And, another delay proposed for the EU deforestation regulation; Collective Fashion Justice highlights fashion’s methane footprint; and, report finds greenwashing fears undermine corporate sustainability, in the news digest.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

 

Join the complimentary webinar ‘Food, fashion, and farmers: finding common ground on regenerative agriculture’ on Wednesday 15^thOctober at 4pm CEST / 10am EDT. Hear from Canada Goose, McDonalds, Bowles Farming Company and the Almond Board of California. Click here to join.

From beans to biodiversity: rethinking coffee’s hidden impacts

Etelle Higonnet, founder of Coffee Watch, talks with Ian Welsh about the big sustainability challenges in coffee, from deforestation and water stress to poverty incomes and labour rights. They highlight solutions such as agroforestry, better farmer livelihoods and stronger governance to help shift coffee from being a cause of environmental and social harm to a force for regeneration.

Scaling coastal climate solutions: the potential for blue carbon in net-zero strategies

Coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes – collectively known as blue carbon – are some of the most efficient natural carbon sinks on the planet, storing carbon up to 10 times faster than terrestrial forests. They also protect coastlines, support fisheries and provide critical habitat for biodiversity. Yet these ecosystems are disappearing rapidly, and their protection remains underfunded in most climate strategies.

 

The importance of blue carbon is beginning to gain traction among corporate sustainability teams, but it still represents a small share of nature-based investments. There’s a clear opportunity to change that, especially in regions such as west Africa where high-impact restoration efforts are underway.

Our panel of experts:

• Whitney Johston, director of ocean sustainability, Salesforce
• Yihan Wang, strategy and climate impact, Terraformation
• Amy Schmid, global blue carbon project lead, Conservation International
• Ledama Masidza, founder and marine conservationist, KindWorld Project

The discussion covers:
What to look for in a high-quality blue carbon project
How blue carbon fits into broader net-zero strategies
Why west Africa is a critical region for scalable blue carbon investment

This session is designed for corporate sustainability, ESG, and procurement professionals exploring nature-based climate solutions.

Case study: This session studies ReDAW, a mangrove restoration project in Ghana’s Anlo wetlands. It’s one of the few blue carbon projects of its kind currently in development globally, demonstrating measurable impact for climate, communities, and biodiversity. We also explore what credible blue carbon projects look like today, where the gaps are, and how companies can support this work in a way that aligns with climate, nature, and community goals.

Weekly briefing – The economic case for financing the future of critical minerals

This week: With the global race to secure sustainable critical mineral supply chains intensifying, financing remains one of the sector’s toughest hurdles. ING’s Tim van Pelt talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh to unpack where the gaps lie in funding critical mineral projects and how companies can navigate the challenges to unlock capital.

 

Plus: Innovation Forum’s Emilia Colman highlights key emerging themes ahead of the Critical Minerals Innovation Forum in London this November from supply chain transparency and ESG pressures to shifting corporate strategies as demand accelerates.

 

Host: Ian Welsh

 

Click here for the recording of the recent streamlining standards webinar with ICMM and ZF Group, organised in the lead up to the Critical Minerals Innovation Forum on 5th-6th November. Join Anglo American, ICMM, Glencore, BHP, Vale Base Metals, Airbus, BASF, LG Energy Solutions, Ørsted, Standard Chartered Bank, and many more. Click here for more information on how to register, or contact emilia.colman@innovationforum.co.uk.

Weekly podcast – Traceability is like air traffic control: why companies can't fly blind

This week: Florent Bouguin, chief technology officer at Optel, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the top and bottom line benefits and opportunities of supply chain traceability, particularly in the context of a shifting regulatory landscape.

Plus: Mars, PepsiCo, and ADM unite to boost Polish regenerative farming; CEOs prioritise sustainability action as competitive edge; report finds European wild fish heavily contaminated with toxic PFAS; and, clean energy set to replace 75% of fossil fuel demand, in the news digest by Ellen Atiyah.

Host: Ian Welsh

Breaking silos: what apparel can learn from food and other sectors

Fashion’s climate and nature strategies are converging – but what does that mean for brands and suppliers? Beth Jensen, chief impact officer at Textile Exchange, reflects on the key takeaways from our recent apparel conference, from cross-industry collaboration to the role of data. In conversation with Innovation Forum's Tanya Richard, she explains why nature-positive practices are not only about driving sustainability, but also about building supply chain resilience.

Weekly briefing – Beneath the surface: unlocking the climate potential of blue carbon ecosystems

This week: blue carbon ecosystems such as mangroves, seagrass and salt marshes, can sequester carbon up to ten times faster than terrestrial forests, while also protecting coastlines and supporting biodiversity. Ahead of our webinar, Yihan Wang from Terraformation talks with Innovation Forum's Ellen Atiyah to explain their climate potential, why they remain undervalued and how projects such as the Keta Lagoon Blue Carbon Project in Ghana are changing the story.

Plus: Innovation Forum's Lia Da Giau shares insights on the trends reshaping packaging, from regulatory deadlines and circular models to breakthrough material and infrastructure solutions.

Host: Ian Welsh

Join us on Wednesday 17 September at 4pm CEST / 10am EDT for a complimentary webinar on the potential for blue carbon in net-zero strategies. Hear from Salesforce, Terraformation and Conservation International. Click here to reserve your spot.

To continue the conversation on sustainable packaging, we will be in Chicago on 28-29 October for the upcoming sustainable packaging innovation forum. Click here for information on how to get involved.