Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

BSI on what company leaders need to know about food fraud

David Horlock, managing director for global food and retail supply chains at BSI, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh discuss how the development of rigorous standards can help businesses build resilience in operations and supply chains. To tackle food supply security, and food fraud, Horlock outlines his CEO stress test, which can help company leaders identify the points of critical risk. Often, he argues, companies still don’t really know who their suppliers are.

Satelligence on how data analysis has tracked the Amazon fires

Niels Wielaard, co-founder and CEO of Satelligence, explains to Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh how satellite data has been used to track the Amazon fires over the summer, and analysing the vegetation types that have been burning.

He clears up some of the confusing statements that have been spread – including that there have been more fires in other years – but stresses that this year is particularly significant because of the number of fires in a year with average rainfall. Previous high fire outbreaks have been associated with much drier conditions.

Weekly podcast: Bayer on the innovations that drive food sector security

This week: Ronald Guendal, Bayer Crop Science’s global head of food security and advocacy, on the factors influencing change in food supply security, and emerging trends in farming techniques and use of inputs that are designed to sustainably boost productivity. And CottonConnect CEO Alison Ward on how to develop engaging projects – such as CottonConnect’s partnership with Primark – that can empower smallholder farmers at scale.

Plus: climate change at the UN, Bolsonaro hits back at critics, IPCC assesses warming impacts, Japanese seafood, and Coca-Cola’s switch to cardboard packaging, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Weekly podcast: How standards counter food fraud and supply chain fragility

This week: David Horlock, managing director for global food and retail supply chains at BSI, demonstrates how a CEO stress test, and following rigorous standards, can help food sector businesses tackle supply chain security challenges effectively. And insight from Cargill’s Kate Clancy on what drives smallholder farmer viability.

Plus: slow progress on climate change readiness and New York Declaration on Forests, the possible $4.5tn upside from a truly innovative new economy, and the plight of the UK’s modern slavery helpline, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Weekly podcast: The story behind the Amazon fires

This week: Niels Wiellard from Satelligence on how satellite data analysis can provide crucial details about why the Amazon fires have hit record numbers this year. And Schneider Electric’s Nathan Schuler on the rise and rise of science-based targets.

Plus, in the news digest: Greenpeace drops Wilmar, Unilever and Mondelez; cocoa sustainability to be regulated in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire; mineral mining exploitation; and, $11tn now divested from fossil fuels.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Why food companies must innovate to cut impact

Jon Dettling, global director for services and innovation at Quantis, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh discuss some of the challenges for businesses in the food supply industry, and how they have to innovate to make the necessary change to control impacts.

Dettling points out the requirement for measuring and tracking benefits – as there is no point in developing a ‘sustainable’ product that ends up being a business failure. And they discuss how the potentially game-changing switch for consumers to plant-based alternatives to meat might eventually reflect a overall trend towards long-term sustainable food supply.

Weekly podcast: How business can realistically cut plastic use

This week: Nestlé’s Anna Turrell, Plastics Europe’s Eric Quenet and Closed Loop Partners’ Kate Daly on the wholesale business changes necessary to reduce corporate plastic footprints. And Cargill’s Marie Lavialle-Piot, PepsiCo’s Natasha Schwarzbach and Proforest’s Sophie Higman on the benefits of a landscape approach for sustainable palm oil.

Plus: brands banning Brazilian leather, Blackrock linked to deforestation, India’s single-use plastic ban, and animal protein suppliers don’t meet brands’ commitments, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Plastics Oceans UK on how to avoid unintended consequences of switching from plastic

Simon Usher, CEO Plastics Oceans UK, talks with Ian Welsh about some of the changes in public attitudes and political concern around plastic pollution, and the role of business to tackle the problem.

Usher says he’s encouraged by innovation in packaging materials, but argues for the collaboration necessary to achieve real systems change. However, frustrations come, he says, from a rush to switch to alternatives without considering the full lifecycle analysis of making the change.

Simon Usher will be speaking at Innovation Forum's future for plastics conference in Amsterdam on 30th and 31st October. Click here for full details.

Weekly podcast: how financial institutions are driving sustainable landscapes

This week: ABN Amro’s Dick Ligthart, M&G Investments’ Anita McBain and Invesco’s Maria Lombardo on the role of the investment community in global commodities supply chains. And Ocado’s Suzanne Westlake on the challenges of developing more sustainable packaging that involves less plastic.

Plus: G7 weighs in on Amazon fires, palm oil free product labelling ban in Indonesia, Tesco threatens to de-list brands on plastic use and Primark’s training to reach 160,000 farmers, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

The role of biofuels in a just transition to a low carbon economy

Stephen Wetmore, director of business development at the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials, and Ian Welsh discuss biofuel feedstocks and their role in moving to a low carbon economy.

Wetmore outlines the challenges around balancing the demands in a developing bio-economy, and debates some of the unintended consequences that can arise. He argues the case for always keeping ultimate relative carbon emissions front of mind when considering the best use of potential feedstocks.