Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

This week: Why education and active engagement is how to work with suppliers to implement human rights policy, and how to overcome the inevitable capacity challenges, with insight from Shane Tyler at Fresca Group and Sarah Carpenter from Assent Compliance.  

Plus: what Primark is doing to help millions of laid-off garment factory workers; UN call for wet market bans; and, UK government scheme to cut food waste through better redistribution, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

This week: Phil Bloomer, executive director of the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, discusses with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh some key impacts for companies as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bloomer describes how it’s the suppliers of big brands – in, for example, the apparel sector – who will ultimately suffer as orders are cancelled and workers laid off, or exploited. More positively, he argues that the crisis does mean that many supply chains become more transparent – such as the rubber gloves manufacturing sector in Malaysia – as consumers take more interest in them.

Plus, all the news about Innovation Forum’s upcoming spring online conference series.

Kristin Hughes, director of the Global Plastic Action Partnership, a multistakeholder initiative coordinated by the World Economic Forum, talks with Ian Welsh about the partnership’s work over the past 12 months coordinating government and brand approaches and desire to do something effective.

Hughes explains why the partnership is focusing efforts in southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa developing waste collection and recycling infrastructure, and paths to a circular economy approach.

In this session, an expert panel discusses the opportunity for business to act as human rights defenders. They assess when and how companies should take action, and how this space will evolve. The panel also considers how NGOs and companies can together move human rights further up the consumer interest agenda, and act as agents for change.

• Andreas Graf, human rights manager, FIFA
• Celia Ouellette, chief executive, Responsible Business Initiative for Justice
• Matthias Stausberg, group advocacy director, Virgin

Host: Ian Welsh, Innovation Forum

Corporate transparency on human rights has never been more important, and many initiatives have been developed to help businesses get this right.

In this webinar session, an expert panel consider the state of play of current levels of disclosure, and which companies and sectors are performing well or badly, and why. They also discuss the challenges for businesses keen to develop a best-practice approach, and how to engage with investors, civil society and other stakeholders.

Panel:

• Camille Le Pors, lead, Corporate Human Rights Benchmark, World Benchmarking Alliance
• Linda Kromjong, global labour and human rights director, Samsung
• Phil Bloomer, executive director, BHRRC

Host: Toby Webb, Innovation Forum

At the point of recruitment, workers are often at their most vulnerable to falling into modern slavery. But how can brands protect the rights of workers who are not easily located within the supply chain, and also not obviously the victim of bonded labour?

This webinar session explores the opportunities for business to prevent exploitation in the recruitment process.

Leading the discussion:

• Mark Blick, head of government solutions, Diginex
• Demi Smoloktou, senior manager, responsible procurement, ASOS
• Felicitas Weber, KnowTheChain project lead, BHRRC

Host: Toby Webb, Innovation Forum

 

The effective abolition of child labour is one of the 10 UN Global Compact principles aiming to promote sustainable businesses practices. However, child labour is endemic in numerous sectors, with the International Labour Organisation estimating that there are currently 152 million victims of child labour worldwide. When operating in countries with known child labour risks, how can businesses monitor its supply chain and effectively remediate victims?

In this webinar discussion, join:

• Elaine McKay, international affairs director, JTI
• Michelle O’Neill, VP global corporate affairs, cocoa, Mars
• Kate Larsen, founder/CEO, SupplyESChange

Host: Ian Welsh, Innovation Forum

Working with suppliers is key to implementing human rights policy, and driving greater understanding and impact. Education and active engagement is hailed as a long-term solution to this. However, the reality is that this can be difficult to implement, especially when individual businesses do not have total capacity of a factory or farm.

In this webinar discussion join:

• Shayne Tyler, group compliance director, Fresca Group
• Sarah Carpenter, manager of business and human rights, Assent Compliance

Host: Ian Welsh

This week: Highlights from a recent Innovation Forum webinar discussing evolving business and human rights legislation, the compliance challenges, and how this impacts companies and their supply chains, with Institute for Human Rights and Business, Mondelēz, Unicef and Freshfields.

Plus: why using biomass as a fuel might be climate positive after all; Nestlé’s cocoa and deforestation progress; and, investors put pressure on Corporate Human Rights Benchmark laggards, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh  

Yuca Waarts, senior researcher, sustainable value chain development, Wageningen University talks with Ian Welsh about the challenges developing living incomes for smallholder farmers and plantation workers.

She points out that the interventions that can make a difference for coffee, tea and cocoa production aren’t necessarily the same, with many factors impacting income levels, and argues that for many smallholders finding a way out of poverty is impossible with ever-smaller farm sizes. However, business can still help.

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