Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Blockchain’s modern slavery transparency solutions

Mark Blick, head of government solutions at Diginex, explains to Ian Welsh how blockchain can help brands identify where the modern slavery and forced labour risks in their supply chains are – following the relevant data points and ensuring transparency.

Consumers and business customers increasingly expect transparency and point of recruitment remains a key point of labour-violation risk. Workers moving from country of origin to place of work are still paying recruitment fees running into thousands of dollars – it is crucial that workers can have verifiable copies of their contracts that they know are correct and that can be shown to be the same as the copy that is presented to auditors. A blockchain, with transparent ledger technology, can help.

Weekly podcast: Hugo Boss on supply chain transparency and the challenges of industry 4.0 automation

This week: Andreas Streubig from Hugo Boss discusses how pre-competitive collaboration can work to counter fragmentation in the apparel sector, and Ethical Trading Initiative’s Peter McAllister outlines evolving trends in business modern slavery risks and what companies have to do to keep up.

Plus: Future of Food report from Sainsbury’s; impacts of new plastic waste exporting rules; slower progress in apparel sector exposed; and, H&M and Walmart accused of supplier labour breaches in Ethiopia.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Why peer collaboration on auditing works

Yves Nissim, vice-president and head of transformation and operations in CSR for Orange, discusses with Ian Welsh the benefits for the company and its 77,000 tier-one suppliers of cooperating with other telecoms companies to share auditing results. Nissim highlights the leverage that companies working together have with shared suppliers to tackle labour issues in particular. He argues that auditing should not be a tool to punish, but rather to help suppliers improve business practices. 

Asia Pacific Rayon on how to source sustainable pulp for apparel

Cherie Tan, vice-president for communications and sustainability at Asia Pacific Rayon, talks with Innovation Forum's Toby Webb about the challenges inherent in developing a sustainable viscose supply chain. Tan explains how APR uses blockchain technology to trace raw materials back to source and how companies can actually deliver on their sustainability pledges – with accountability and transparency essential elements.

How corporate transparency on modern slavery drives change

Jaya Chakrabarti, founder of TISC Report, talks with Ian Welsh about her work analysing data on corporate compliance with the UK Modern Slavery Act. She explains the clear correlation between those companies – with retailers leading the way – that take modern slavery transparency seriously, and publicly provide reassurance to their customers and stakeholders, and the development of best practice in general. They also discuss the spectrum of engagement and why some sectors perform better than others.

 

Weekly podcast: what business leaders need to know to drive innovation and productivity

This week: Tensie Whelan, former Rainforest Alliance president and now professor at Stern School of Business in New York, and Toby Webb debate what companies should do to embed sustainability in corporate culture, and the real business-benefits that result. Plus: biodiversity-loss risks, Selfridges and palm oil, climate risk reporting, and new commitments from Mondelez and Coca-Cola.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

How to regenerate fishing nets into socks

Eric Roosen, owner of Star Sock, explains to Toby Webb how ocean waste can be regenerated into yarns for making socks. With a business selling over 25 million socks a year, Roosen outlines how the company’s exclusive Econyl yarn is made from recycling old fishing nets, and then used as part of the fibre mix in StarSock’s range of products. He also argues the case for better collaboration – pointing out how his own business could only develop once it had established effective links within both the waste industry and yarn spinning sector.

Weekly podcast: Veja’s recycled plastics supply chain, and apparel sector factory engagement

This week: François-Ghislain Morillion, co-founder of sustainable sneakers brand Veja on innovation in sourcing to find the right materials for the company’s products. And Sebastian Siegele, managing director, Sustainability Agents, on how to develop best practice in supplier factories.

Plus: climate impacts on food supply, deforestation rates, enzyme-based plastic recycling, and H+M’s new garment supplier transparency, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Why sustainable supply chains need thriving supplier communities

Alison Ward CEO of CottonConnect and Ian Welsh discuss the benefits of transparency in helping monitor corporate impacts in apparel supply chains. Ward also highlights how better story-telling in communications with consumers leads to more engagement and points out the benefits of actually introducing a brand board director to the company’s supplier-farmers.

How Nestlé links social and environmental supply chain goals

Anna Turrell, head of sustainability for UK and Ireland at Nestlé, talks with Ian Welsh about the challenges in tackling modern slavery issues, and why the business’s first step was to align, as far as possible, with the UN guiding principles on business and human rights. They discuss why different supply chains, including palm oil and cocoa, can require very specific approaches – and that a holistic approach encompassing environmental and social goals is typically what works best.

Turrell also outlines what Nestlé is doing to develop better packaging, reducing plastic use where feasible while working to encourage the sort of sector-wide innovation necessary to radically increase reuse and recycling rates.