Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

David Horlock, managing director for global food and retail supply chains at BSI talks with Ian Welsh about why beef and red meat production has attracted criticism and how the sector can be sustainable. The problem, Horlock argues, is not red meat itself, rather how it is produced.

This week: Nathalie Walker, director for tropical forests and agriculture at the National Wildlife Federation, discusses how the changing legislative landscape is leading to more of a due diligence approach for companies on deforestation. She analyses how international collaboration on climate change will develop during 2021.

Plus: BlackRock says that sustainable investment will accelerate; WWF says two-thirds of SE Asian banks don’t recognise biodiversity risks; 60m potential climate refugees in south Asia; and, one billion fewer pieces of plastic at Tesco, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

Marianne Marinet, programmes director for the Earthworm Foundation, Emily Kunen, global responsible sourcing lead for palm oil and seafood at Nestlé, and Sandra Doig, head of sustainability at Grupo Palmas discuss at the recent Innovation Forum sustainable landscapes conference how they have collaborated on developing a sustainable cocoa and palm oil producing landscape in Tocache, Peru. Moderated by Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb.

This week: Niels Wielaard founder and CEO of Satelligence talks about how greater traceability can help brands and traders take the lessons learned in one supply chain and apply it across commodities, and how the barriers to tracking from farm to mill to finished product are changing.

Plus, in the news digest: serious human rights risks for Chinese cotton; big brands call for traders to do more to stop sourcing Cerrado soy with deforestation risks; Marks & Spencer to relaunch Plan A; and, is the EU 55% carbon cut commitment enough?

Host: Ian Welsh

Low famer incomes, human rights abuses and environmental degradation still plague smallholder-based supply chains of soft commodities and other agricultural products. For the past nine months, Innovation Forum’s Innovation Accelerator project has been running an action research project to understand why.

This webinar was held to launch the initial findings of the research, which has explored a wide range of supply chains, including cotton, fruit and vegetables, dairy, coffee, soy, palm oil and maize. As well as bringing together cross-sector experience, the project sought insights from political science and development economics to explore the wider societal dynamics of communities and countries in which supply chains exist.

Panel:

• Ariana Constant, director, Clinton Development Initiative
• Alison Ward, CEO, CottonConnect
• Anita Neville, senior vice-president, group corporate communications, Golden Agri-Resources
• Thilo Liedlbauer, advisor, sustainable agricultural supply chains and standards programme, GIZ
• Yann Wyss, senior manager, social impact, Nestlé
• Peter Stanbury, senior associate, Innovation Forum

Introduced by Toby Webb

Click here to download the new report.

Innovation Accelerator is supported by the Clinton Foundation, COLEACP, CottonConnect, GIZ, Golden Agri-Resources and Nestlé.

This week: Victoria Crawford, manager of the Investment Partnership Network at Just Rural Transition, discusses some of the steps necessary to enable investment in sustainable commodity supply chains, why collaboration is essential and how blended finance involving public and private funding can help.

Plus: Nestlé’s big plans for net zero; Sweden tops sustainable competitivity index (again); new UNEP report highlights spiralling emissions crisis; and, CDP highlights top performers, in the news digest.  

Host: Ian Welsh

Ying Xuen Hoe, project manager, Proforest Southeast Asia, Rashyid Redza bin Anwarudin, head, group sustainability, Sime Darby Plantation, and Olivier Tichit, director sustainable supply chains, Musim Mas, discuss with Ian Welsh how the Accountability Framework initiative is helping the palm oil sector in southeast Asia.

They talk about why a number of tools are necessary to achieve sustainability commitments – around for example ‘no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation’ – and highlight the characteristics of the collaboration necessary.  

This is the latest in a series of podcasts sponsored by the Accountability Framework initiative. Click here for an introduction to the initiative, here for a webinar discussion about ensuring secure supply chains during the pandemic and here for discussion on deforestation-free supply chains in South America.

Collection and recycling of material plays a vital part in enabling a circular economy and is an inherently complex challenge to tackle. The problem is particularly acute in developing countries where lack of proper infrastructure and waste management processes stall the progress.

This webinar brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to shed some light on the challenges and the solutions that they are currently implementing or that can be implemented in the future.

The discussion includes exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas on how to support or transform the collection and recycling of plastics and composite materials to accelerate the transition to circular economy in packaging.

Panel:

• Cynthia Shih, director of knowledge, rethinking recycling, McKinsey.org
• Jasper Munier, business development manager NWE, Clariter
• Francesca Priora, global collection programmes director, Tetra Pak
• Michel Steinecke, R&D sustainable packaging manager, Britvic

Host: Ian Welsh, publishing director, Innovation Forum

This webinar was sponsored by the 3R Initiative.

Olivier Tichit, director for sustainable supply chains at integrated palm oil business Musim Mas, talks with Ian Welsh about the characteristics of successful landscape approaches that work for the palm oil sector. Tichit argues that key elements are to have everyone involved, strong commitment from all stakeholders and an acceptance that time is necessary for the challenges to be met.  

 

Musim Mas was a sponsor of the recent Innovation Forum sustainable landscapes and commodities conference.

 

This week: David Horlock from the British Standards Institute talks about how to develop sustainability standards for red meat. He argues that, despite the sector’s reputation, red meat can be part a sustainable food production system, but it depends on how it’s produced. And, a preview of the results of Innovation Forum’s research into developing resilience in smallholder farming communities with Peter Stanbury.

Plus: the latest Climate Action Tracker; UNEP’s post pandemic concerns; Amazon deforestation hits a 12-year high; and, will Swiss companies have extended liability for human rights and environmental damage?  

Host: Ian Welsh