Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

The Nature Conservancy on what a Cerrado conservation agreement might look like

David Cleary, head of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, talks with Toby Webb about the shifting patterns of deforestation in South America, and land conversion challenges for forests and other biomes, including the Cerrado grasslands.

They discuss the impacts of different commodities on land use change, including soy, and specifically the Cerrado manifesto and the barriers to moving to a full agreement. And they talk about the beef sector’s impact on deforestation and why its fragmentation leads to greater challenges.

How to avoid data overload in the food and forest sectors

Rob Waterworth, chief executive of the Mullion Group, discusses with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh what the food sector can learn from forestry to improve stakeholder relationships and trust.

Waterworth argues that challenges being faced by the food sector now reflect many that forestry faced in the 1970s and 1980s, in Australia in particular.

While technology is providing exciting opportunities, there is a danger of there being too many solutions looking for problems. Choosing the right technology to answer specific questions is a better approach, if a challenge in itself, he says.

The Mullion Group was a sponsor of the recent Innovation Forum Future of Food conference in London.

Weekly podcast: How to mitigate biofuel impacts on land use change and tropical deforestation

This week: 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. And, another chance to hear from Joe Franses, vice-president, sustainability at Coca-Cola European Partners, talking with Ian Welsh about deposit return schemes for plastic bottles, and other plastic use challenges.

Plus: EU trade deal links to Amazon deforestation, apparel sector circularity progress, and academic groups declare climate emergency, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

 

Quantis on how the food sector can establish clear climate strategy roadmaps

Carole Dubois, senior sustainability consultant and food sector lead at Quantis, talks with Ian Welsh about how companies can use science to develop the targets that will drive business value in the food and agriculture sectors.

She outlines some of the challenges to set the right science-based targets and the disruptive, bold solutions required for all business if the 1.5C limits to global warming are to be achieved. This will need, she argues, the establishment of more meaningful data to help set baselines and then to track progress.

Quantis was a sponsor of the recent Innovation Forum Future of Food conference series.

 

IBM on the potential for AI in food supply chains

Dan Wolfson, IBM distinguished engineer with the Weather Company, discusses the potential of artificial intelligence for agriculture.

As an example, Wolfson explains how smart visual recognition techniques can help farmers identify problems, such as disease, in the field – without even the need for online connection. Satellite and drone imagery also have exciting potential, he argues, pointing out that AI doesn't replace human activity, but is more "another tool in the box". 

Weekly podcast: Tesco on using science-based targets to tackle food supply challenges

This week: Kené Umeasiegbu, head of environment at Tesco talks about how food retailers can tackle environmental challenges in supply chains, and the benefits of using science-based targets.

Plus: mass reforestation and climate change, $1bn green bond for Brazilian soy farmers, more waste returned to Australia, UK LPG switch to biofuels, and the world’s 2bn tonnes of municipal waste problem, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Greenpeace on the massive business-model changes required to prevent climate change

Richard George, head of forests, Greenpeace UK, and Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb discuss the main findings from a new Greenpeace report into what companies have been doing to meet 2020 targets to eliminate deforestation across supply chains.

George says that Greenpeace has taken a cross-commodity approach in this latest report as single supply chain campaigns – such as on palm oil – lead to lack of progress on other commodities – such as soy. He argues that it is clear that many companies have found that ending deforestation is more complicated than they at first thought, and that many big commodity buyers need to act now to make the big changes in their business models that are required to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

Ipsos on the intention-behaviour gap for consumer purchasing decisions

Tamara Ansons, behaviour science consultant at Ipsos, and Ian Welsh discuss new research – from Ipsos and Innovation Forum – that shows how consumers, particularly younger consumers, are engaging with corporate sustainability issues. The results show that all demographic groups are interested in making sustainable choices, but conflicting demands makes acting on these a challenge. Ansons argues that companies should think about how to make these consumer choices easier. 

Click here for more detail about the Ipsos-Innovation Forum research. We’re looking for new partners to work with to develop more research that is really valuable for business. Interested? Click here to get in touch.

Weekly podcast: The Nature Conservancy on deforestation and land conversion, and Mullion Group on food sector stakeholder trust

This week: David Cleary, head of agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, talks with Toby Webb about land conversion challenges for South American forests and other biomes, including the Cerrado. And Rob Waterworth, chief executive of the Mullion Group, discusses with Ian Welsh what the food sector can learn from forestry to improve stakeholder relationships and trust.

Plus all the news about what’s coming up at Innovation Forum.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Weekly podcast: how palm oil supply chains can become more forest-positive

This week: Golden Agri-Resources’ Anita Neville on how the debate on biofuels is shifting and how palm oil supply chains can become more impact-positive alongside focusing on deforestation.

Plus: Arctic permafrost melting far faster than expected; climate change dangers for the Amazon; PepsiCo’s new Latin American recycling programme rolled out in Peru; and Boots replacing plastic bags with paper, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh