Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Defining a landscape approach and why it’s so important

Justin Adams, executive director of the Tropical Forest Alliance talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the urgency for collective action on deforestation and its associated social challenges.

They discuss the tensions and tradeoffs necessary to deliver sustainable landscapes, and the partnerships locally and at a global level required. Adams describes how the Amazon Soy Moratorium has had successes and failures in protecting forests in Brazil – and the unintended consequences such approaches can have for biome clearance elsewhere.

The importance of ‘active listening’ for business planning

At IFC’s manufacturing conference in Morocco, Irache Pardo, finance and treasury director for Spanish hi-tech business CIE Automotive and Ian Welsh discuss the impacts of sustainability and industry 4.0 technology on the manufacturing sector.

They discuss how to link sustainability and profitability, and then target investment to bring about the best business impacts. And they debate how to get these impacts properly built into business planning.

Innovation, technology and industry 4.0: a Mexican case study

Frédéric Garcia, advisor for industry to the head of staff of the president of Mexico, and formerly CEO of Airbus Mexico, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh discuss the importance of the manufacturing sector for the Mexican economy, and how Mexico has benefited from free trade with the US and Canada over the past few decades.

They discuss what innovation can do for a developing economy, particularly in terms of access for business to technology, the challenges from a rapidly growing population, and how to make the Sustainable Development Goals relevant.

Weekly podcast: Business sustainability – why small changes can have big impact

This week: CB Bhattacharya, professor of sustainability and ethics at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Small Actions, Big Difference, on how companies are working hard to change how they approach sustainability and leverage greater value.

Plus Tesco’s new sustainable basket metric, how avocados with edible coatings can cut plastic use, Indian migrant workers human rights risks, ocean oxygen depletions discussed at COP25, and GRI’s new tax reporting standard, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Accountability Framework initiative: developing corporate deforestation and commodity commitments

In the first of a new podcast series about the Accountability Framework initiative, Rainforest Alliance director of global programmes Jeff Milder talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about why the framework has been established, what it is setting out to achieve and how it can specifically help companies with taking action and monitoring progress in their commodity supply chains.

And, Ruth Nussbuam, co-founder and director of Proforest and David Cleary, director of global agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, share their hopes for what the AFi could achieve.

This podcast series is supported by Rainforest Alliance.

Webinar – Can audits work to tackle human rights violations?

In this webinar panellists from QIMA, Aldo, Twinings and BAT discuss how companies and suppliers can improve auditing practices. They assess how to leverage AI and data analytics to uncover potential human rights violations and debate the extent to which audits can assist and/or complement these processes.

Panellists:

• Terri Olano, senior business development manager, QIMA
• Vera Galarza, senior director, ethics and compliance, Aldo
• Gabriella Wass, social impact manager – human rights specialist, Twinings
• Verity Lawson, senior international sustainability manager, British American Tobacco

Introduced and hosted by Ian Welsh, Innovation Forum

This webinar was sponsored by QIMA.

 

Weekly podcast: Can business help balance smallholder farm conservation and livelihoods?

This week: Emily Kunen from Nestlé, Gotz Martin from Golden Agri-Resources and Róisín Mortimer from Earthworm Foundation debate how business and partner organisations can really help smallholder farmers grow incomes without clearing new land.

Plus: major international brands back extension of the Amazon soy moratorium, brands and climate progress, UN human rights action plans and H+M supports game-changing dyeing process, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Why Bangladesh’s garment factories must continue to be more innovative

Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and managing director of Mohammadi Group, talks with Ian Welsh about the challenges facing the apparel sector in Bangladesh. She highlights the progress made with the help of international cooperation, since the Rana Plaza disaster, through the building safety accord and the worker safety alliance, with the work being taken on by the Readymade Sustainability Council.

They discuss why sustaining the progress is now the sector’s challenge as it keeps up with the global market’s expectations and trends. New technology and industry 4.0 automation can help maintain a crucial industry that supports 82% of the Bangladeshi economy.

Why corporate targets are no longer just fingers in the wind

Nathan Shuler, sustainability solutions architect at Schneider Electric Energy & Sustainability Services, and Ian Welsh debate the continued rise in importance of science-based targets for progressive business.

They talk about how companies have had to change approach to switch to targets that are focused on making a proportionate difference to corporate impacts rather than just a PR-based number that looks good.

Weekly podcast: How can certification be effective in the plastics debate?

This week: Franco Costantini, managing director of Control Union UK on how and why certification can help companies rationalise their use of plastics in packaging. And Irache Pardo, finance and treasury director for Spanish hi-tech business CIE Automotive on the impacts of sustainability and industry 4.0 technology on the manufacturing sector.

Plus: more work required to keep warming to 1.5C, Ikea’s “climate positive” programme, hotels and modern slavery risks, and $50m sustainability loan for Prada, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Control Union was a sponsor of the recent Innovation Forum future for plastics conference.