Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

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.

How to scale a landscape approach for sustainable commodities

Conference minipod: Justin Adams, executive director of the Tropical Forest Alliance, talks with Ian Welsh about some of the critical factors in developing a landscape approach, including multistakeholder collaboration, measuring progress, transparency and finding the right incentives for producers.

This one of a series of short podcasts summarising conference sessions recorded at Innovation Forum's sustainable landscapes and commodities event in London.

How to implement a landscape approach

Conference minipod: Peter Stanbury-Davis, principal at the Frontier Practice, and Ian Welsh discuss some of the main talking points from a landscapes approach workshop. Main challenges include the complexity of the issues, the lack of local-level capacity, and finding the right way to simply get things started.

This one of a series of short podcasts summarising conference sessions recorded at Innovation Forum's sustainable landscapes and commodities event in London.

Is the smallholder farm business model viable?

Conference minipod: Laurence Ruffieux, director of operations, sustainability, at Philip Morris International, tells Innovation Forum’s Tom Idle why she thinks smallholder farmers have a long-term future, and the role of big business in ensuring the viability of farm income streams.

This one of a series of short podcasts summarising conference sessions recorded at Innovation Forum's sustainable landscapes and commodities event in London.