Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

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.

Webinar – A roadmap to 2025: how business can achieve plastics targets

When it comes to plastics, all stakeholders ultimately want the same thing: to reduce and eliminate plastic waste so they leave the environment in a better place for generations to come. Leading brands and retailers have already committed to some ambitious 2025 goals. But what about the practicalities and realities of achieving these targets?

In this webinar a panel of business experts discuss some of the wholesale business changes required to reduce plastic footprints, and make the right plastics sustainable.

Panel:

• Anna Turrell, head of sustainability, Nestlé UK
• Eric Quenet, director, western Europe, PlasticsEurope
• Kate Daly, executive director, Centre for the Circular Economy, Closed Loop Partners

Introduced and moderated by Ian Welsh

 

Weekly podcast: how public attitudes are impacting plastic pollution trends

This week: Simon Usher, CEO of Plastics Oceans UK, on the trends and innovations developing in plastics packaging and pollution, and the systems change necessary to avoid a rush to higher-impact alternatives. Plus, Rainforest Alliance’s Leah Samberg and Forest Trends’ Philip Rothrock discuss tools to help brands to deliver deforestation commitments.

And: Amazon fires and President Bolsonaro, palm oil’s Brexit angle, plastic polluting the Arctic and the growth of apparel resale, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Please note that the Detroit event discount code for podcast listeners is POD20. Click here to register.

 

Rainforest Foundation Norway on biofuel’s impact on deforestation

Nils Hermann Ranum, head of the drivers of deforestation programme at Rainforest Foundation Norway, talks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about biofuel feedstocks, including palm oil, the associated land use change and its potential impact on forests and indigenous communities.

They debate what a sustainable biofuel policy might look like, and how it could be used to encourage better production policies in palm oil and other potential biofuel feedstocks.

How to align business and worker interests in the Indian apparel sector

Anant Ahuja, co-founder and CEO of Good Business Lab, talks with Innovation Forum’s Haafizah Khodabocus about his organisation’s work in apparel factories in India.

He explains how his family background in Indian apparel business Shahi Exports has helped inspire Good Business Lab’s worker empowerment programmes, and they discuss collaboration projects with Gap and other brand partners.

Weekly podcast: innovation in agriculture supply chains, and how Microsoft and Hilton engage the C-suite on sustainability

This week: Jon Dettling from Quantis on how business can innovate to tackle supply chain challenges in the agriculture sector, including game-changing plant-based alternatives to meat. And Hilton’s Daniella Foster and Microsoft’s Jennifer Marsman outline how they engage their senior colleagues on the business case for sustainability, how to measure positive impacts, and the importance of ‘story-telling’ to keep communications relevant.

Plus: fallout from the latest IPCC report; benefits of switching subsidy to renewable energy technology; and, M&S and Aldi’s latest packaging innovations to remove single use plastics, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

GAR on the emotional debate around palm oil as a biofuel

Anita Neville, senior vice-president group corporate communications, Golden Agri-Resources, and Ian Welsh discuss the challenges for the palm oil sector in developing the crop as a biofuel feedstock. Neville argues that there is not a level playing field for potential inputs into biofuels, and a lack of life cycle analysis into relative impacts of different crops.

They also discuss supply chain deforestation risks, and reasons why most companies are going to miss 2020 targets, despite significant innovation in use of technology to, for example, identify areas of tree loss and land use change.

How Tesco frames its environmental targets

Kené Umeasiegbu, head of environment at Tesco, talks with Ian Welsh about how the business has used science-based targets to catalyse action in its operations and supply chains.

He argues for setting environmental targets that are stretching while realistically achievable – and points out the importance of setting milestones so that progress can be demonstrated to both internal and external stakeholders.