Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Weekly podcast: From pdfs to QR codes – the changing face of consumer engagement

This week: Xavier Roussel, sustainability and marketing director at Dole Foods, talks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about how technology is changing how brands can engage with their consumers. Virtual reality and interactivity are to the fore as consumers become better informed, and increasingly expect to know where products come from and how they’re grown.

Plus an update about the upcoming sustainable commodities and landscapes conference. And, many COP26 delegates yet to get their UK government covid-19 vaccinations; palm oil’s stranded assets; Europe’s banks too slow on decarbonising, says ShareAction; and, Mondelez International’s new €2bn green bond, in the news digest.  

Host: Ian Welsh

Is heat-impacted worker health the next big reputation risk?

Jason Glaser, co-founder and CEO of La Isla Network talks with Ian Welsh about the real dangers for outdoor workers, including in agricultural supply chains, from increased heat stress while in the field or on construction sites. They discuss the potential impacts of climate change and how these risks are spreading to previously temperate latitudes. Glaser argues why companies must take this seriously, not least because of the reputational risks around “sleepwalking into a scandal” allowing workers producing basic commodities to come to harm.  

Weekly podcast: Recycling polyester, durability and no more apparel sector ‘business as usual’

This week: La Rhea Pepper, Claire Bergkamp and Morgan Stoneburner from Textile Exchange talk with Toby Webb about developing more sustainable polyester for the apparel sector, the rise of chemical recycling and other transitions in infrastructure necessary to grow the market for recycled material at scale.    

And, news about the launch of Innovation Forum’s Sustainable Apparel Barometer 2021 and some of the report’s conclusions.

Plus: why net zero might not be enough for 1.5C pathway says Climate Crisis Advisory Group; Singapore-listed companies climate disclosure mandates; WWF and others call for new UK supply chain deforestation rules to be tightened; and, up to 50% of the world’s tree species under threat according to State of the World’s Trees report from Botanic Gardens Conservation International, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

Click here to sign up to the free Sustainable Apparel Barometer webinar on Thursday 9th September at 1pm UK time.

The ‘knowing what to do with farm data’ cocoa sector challenge

At the recent Innovation Forum Future of Food conference, Nicko Debenham, vice president and head of sustainability at Barry Callebaut, and Taco Terheijden, director, cocoa sustainability at Cargill and talked about supply chain traceability and use of data with Toby Webb.

They discussed the importance of getting quality data about smallholder farmers without disrupting farm activities, and why it the process is frequently expensive and labour intensive. And then, ensuring that the data is used effectively is equally important and just as challenging.  The discussion includes the merits of data sharing to help alleviate farmer survey fatigue and to enhance sector transparency.

Weekly podcast: Packaging strategy in a less plastic world

This week: Nestlé’s Jodie Roussell, senior public affairs manager for packaging and sustainability, talks about challenges developing lower-impact packaging and thinking about how to encourage re-use and refill solutions, and the dangers of unintended consequences of simply switching away from using plastic.

Plus, an update from Innovation Forum’s Hanna Halmari about the upcoming climate action conference. And, big US food companies failing to address scope 3 emissions; Swiss mandatory climate reporting rules; Glasgow city venues denied for climate damaging companies at COP26; new CDP water resources tool; and, John Lewis and Waitrose partner on wool, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

Is climate positive food possible?

Daniel Baertschi, food and agriculture sector lead at Quantis, argues the case for developing a whole-system approach to developing food supply that is less impactful. Talking with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh, he points out some practical steps in product diversification and ingredient sourcing that can make a big difference, including thinking more strategically around shortening supply chains and leveraging existing value chain relationships. Part of the solution is thinking about traditional farming practices while using the latest technology to preserve and enhance soil health and improve yields.

Quantis was a sponsor of Innovation Forum’s recent Future of Food conference series.

Weekly podcast: The corporate challenges in tackling climate change at pace

This week: Myles McCarthy, director for implementation and e-mobility at the Carbon Trust, talks about the big climate challenges for business in the run-up to COP26. He argues that while there are some big step-change targets being set across industries, the challenge now is in making the progress necessary at scale and pace, and developing the technology and models that will be required.

And, Toby Webb and Peter Stanbury discuss the next steps in Innovation Forum’s action research project into smallholder farmer resilience.

Plus: implications of IPCC’s latest report; New York pension fund reviewing fossil fuel assets; Lidl UK to be carbon neutral by 2022; Barry Callebout, Nestlé and Proforest develop sustainable coconut supply chain scorecard; and, new apparel transparency pilot involving Next, New Look and H+M Group, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

For an extended conversation between Toby Webb and Peter Stanbury on Innovation Forum’s smallholder resilience research, click here.

Asking the unasked questions about smallholder farmer supply chains

Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb and Peter Stanbury talk about why entire value chains have to be sustainable and that a narrow focus just on smallholder farmers in isolation is not the best approach. They discuss some of the factors that encourage more resilient rural development and farm income encompassing market forces – including a necessary move from just a “don’t cut down the forest” conversation to one encompassing ecosystem services and carbon sequestration, for example.

The Innovation Accelerator: Building resilient smallholder supply chains report can be downloaded here.

Weekly podcast: Climate risks to worker health in commodity supply chains

Epidemiologist Jason Glaser, CEO of La Isla Network, talks about the risks for any company with commodity supply chains around high temperatures and agricultural worker health. While these have been researched in tropical regions for some time, climate change impacts mean that agricultural workers in more temperate zones are now at risk. There are some simple strategies to follow – but, as Glazer argues, significant collaboration is necessary, now.

And, forests expert Simon Lord and Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb debate some of the challenges around reforestation and forest restoration.

Host: Ian Welsh

How a community development approach can deliver for smallholder farmers

Eunice Oduro, project manager at anti-poverty NGO CARE, and Samuel Apana, Cargill’s cocoa sustainability lead in Ghana, talk with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the long-term collaboration project between Cargill and CARE to improve the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers in west Africa. Among the issues the collaboration has targeted include increasing yields and farm incomes, empowering women farmers and encouraging younger farmers to stay in the sector, and people-centred community action plans.  

For more information on the Decade of Impact in Cocoa Communities report click here