Innovation Forum Podcast

Alan Kroeger, head of supply chains and natural climate solutions at Satelligence, and Ian Welsh talk about the open dialogue that can lead to the cooperation required for companies to tackle their emissions at pace and scale. Kroeger argues for better incentives for companies to act quickly – government and multilateral finance can help growers deliver so their buyer clients can themselves meet targets. They discuss the role of radical solutions such as scaling carbon credits using remote sensing data to leverage funding for forest communities worldwide. Satelligence was a sponsor of Innovation Forum's future of food conference series.

This week: Stephen Donofrio, co-author of the new State of the Voluntary Carbon Markets 2021 report, and director of Forest Trends’ Ecosystem Marketplace project, talks about why the voluntary carbon markets are set to top $1bn in 2021, and the drivers for this. Primarily these are corporate awareness of emissions and desire to set in place how to achieve a net zero footprint. Donofrio also argues that it is a “myth” that businesses are engaging in offsetting without decarbonising operations and supply chains concurrently.   Plus: Mars, McDonald’s and Marks & Spencer announce new and challenging decarbonising targets; why palm oil buyers may have inadvertent timber deforestation risks, says Aidenvironment; and, embedded sustainability management practices leads to better overall company performance, according to Accenture and the World Economic Forum, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh

With discussion on how companies can build a market-driven solution to finance forest and wildlife conservation, benefit local communities and meet SDGs, this webinar was broadcast live from the Wildlife Works Kasigau Corridor REDD+ Project in Kenya. The project protects over 200,000 hectares of dryland forest, an important ecosystem with rich biodiversity. Located between the Tsavo East and Tsavo West National Parks, the region serves as a vital corridor for more than 300 species of wildlife, including 2,000 wild elephants.  The emerging marketplace for REDD+ carbon offsets provides funds for the project to support social programmes that impact around 120,000 local people. Long-term jobs for local communities have replaced unsustainable and destructive sources of income such as poaching, subsistence agriculture and illegal tree harvesting.  In 2011, the project was successfully validated and verified under the Verified Carbon Standard and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard. It was then the worl

This week: Oliver Hurrey, founder of the scope 3 peer group and the sustainable procurement pledge, and Ian Welsh discuss some of the talking points from Innovation Forum’s climate action conference. While tackling the climate crisis is clearly daunting, there is a sense of urgency and positivity, with business beginning to get to grips with tough scope 3 emissions. And big brands are increasingly requiring their suppliers to have clear decarbonising plans in place – getting to net zero is going to be a necessary license to trade. Plus: all the latest about the upcoming future of plastic event from Innovation Forum’s Natasha Bodnar.  

Xavier Roussel, sustainability and marketing director at Dole Foods, and Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb discuss how augmented reality experiences from QR codes and other technology solutions can help brands use sustainability messages to market products. Roussel explains how the next steps will involve providing consumers information to calculate carbon footprints – many customers are now engaged with the full story behind the products they buy.  

Avedis Seferian, CEO of global social compliance non-profit WRAP, talks with Peter Stanbury, co-author of Innovation Forum’s new Sustainable Apparel Barometer 2021, about the report’s key themes. Among their discussion points: the pros and cons of second versus third party auditing; the explosion in the number of audit standards and the subsequent challenges of compliance for factories; the on-going need to accept that there is no one-size-fits all solution; and, why some brands still need to think about actually achieving social compliance rather than being seen to do it.    WRAP was a research partner for the Sustainable Apparel Barometer.

This week: Oliver Tichit, director of sustainable supply chain at Musim Mas, talks about what he wants to see from the COP26 meetings, and the challenges of translating outcomes from government level meetings to on-the-ground challenges. He also discusses how the pandemic has highlighted resilience in the palm oil industry, and some solutions that can help smallholder farmers gain access to mainstream sources of finance – a long term problem for a sector characterised by having growers in remote places. Plus, Innovation Forum’s Hanna Halmari outlines some highlights from the upcoming climate action conference. And: PepsiCo’s new sustainability framework; Carbon Tracker and Climate Accounting Project report says top corporate emitters are not fully disclosing risks; and, Gambia is the only country on track for 1.5C according to Climate Action Tracker, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh Sign up here for the free carbon solutions webinar, live from Kenya’s Kasigau Corridor REDD+ project on 30th September at 2p

Paloma López and Sean Ansett, co-founders of Future Fit Foods talk with Toby Webb about their vision for convenience foods that are healthy and efficient to transport. They discuss the benefits of using the latest freeze-drying techniques that preserve flavour and retain nutrients – and mean that the cost and footprints of transporting the water to consumers are eliminated.

Jodie Roussell, senior public affairs manager for packaging and sustainability at Nestlé, talks with Ian Welsh about evolution in use of plastics in packaging, shifting to different materials, and the growth of reuse and refill models. They discuss how these change shopping habits and, crucially, the importance of addressing consumer concerns over packaging performance.   

This week: Alan Kroeger, head of supply chains and natural climate solutions at Satelligence, talks about eliminating emissions from forest commodity supply chains, the role of nature-based solutions in achieving this, and how companies can navigate their way through the challenges using the right data. And, RSPO’s Victor Tamanjong discusses the state of play for sustainable palm oil in Africa. Plus: European Union pledges another €8bn for developing world climate action; new air carbon capture and storage plant opens in Iceland; and, the rapid growth of the voluntary carbon markets in new report from Ecosystem Marketplace, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh  

The Carbon Trust’s director for implementation and e-mobility Myles McCarthy talks with Ian Welsh about some of the positive solutions emerging that can deliver decarbonisation at the rate necessary. They discuss some of the detail to look for from the outcomes of the COP26 meetings, how companies are becoming more sophisticated in how they are working to cut their emissions across scopes 1, 2 and 3, and the positive impact of science based targets. The Carbon Trust was a sponsor of Innovation Forum's future of climate action conference.

Launching the Sustainable Apparel Barometer 2021, this webinar features discussion of the challenges and opportunities in viscose production, how transparency in the cotton sector is evolving and what needs to be done to drive greater social compliance within apparel supply chains. An expert panel lay out the findings of the new research and share some common themes and conclusions that can be applied across the apparel sector. Don’t “keep it simple”: Avoid broad brush approaches and communicate complexity in an open, honest and credible manner Collaborate, collaborate, collaborate: The urgent need for more, better collaboration, especially between the corporate sector and government agencies, and vertically within industry Business model transformation: How sustainability can and must be placed at the centre of decision-making Towards a stronger sustainability strategy: The key lessons across the three chapters that can be applied to develop stronger sustainability strategies Panel: La Rhea Pepper, CEO, Tex

This week: Xavier Roussel, sustainability and marketing director at Dole Foods, talks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about how technology is changing how brands can engage with their consumers. Virtual reality and interactivity are to the fore as consumers become better informed, and increasingly expect to know where products come from and how they’re grown. Plus an update about the upcoming sustainable commodities and landscapes conference. And, many COP26 delegates yet to get their UK government covid-19 vaccinations; palm oil’s stranded assets; Europe’s banks too slow on decarbonising, says ShareAction; and, Mondelez International’s new €2bn green bond, in the news digest.   Host: Ian Welsh

Jason Glaser, co-founder and CEO of La Isla Network talks with Ian Welsh about the real dangers for outdoor workers, including in agricultural supply chains, from increased heat stress while in the field or on construction sites. They discuss the potential impacts of climate change and how these risks are spreading to previously temperate latitudes. Glaser argues why companies must take this seriously, not least because of the reputational risks around “sleepwalking into a scandal” allowing workers producing basic commodities to come to harm.  

This week: La Rhea Pepper, Claire Bergkamp and Morgan Stoneburner from Textile Exchange talk with Toby Webb about developing more sustainable polyester for the apparel sector, the rise of chemical recycling and other transitions in infrastructure necessary to grow the market for recycled material at scale.     And, news about the launch of Innovation Forum’s Sustainable Apparel Barometer 2021 and some of the report’s conclusions. Plus: why net zero might not be enough for 1.5C pathway says Climate Crisis Advisory Group; Singapore-listed companies climate disclosure mandates; WWF and others call for new UK supply chain deforestation rules to be tightened; and, up to 50% of the world’s tree species under threat according to State of the World’s Trees report from Botanic Gardens Conservation International, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh Click here to sign up to the free Sustainable Apparel Barometer webinar on Thursday 9th September at 1pm UK time.

At the recent Innovation Forum Future of Food conference, Nicko Debenham, vice president and head of sustainability at Barry Callebaut, and Taco Terheijden, director, cocoa sustainability at Cargill and talked about supply chain traceability and use of data with Toby Webb. They discussed the importance of getting quality data about smallholder farmers without disrupting farm activities, and why it the process is frequently expensive and labour intensive. And then, ensuring that the data is used effectively is equally important and just as challenging.  The discussion includes the merits of data sharing to help alleviate farmer survey fatigue and to enhance sector transparency.

This week: Nestlé’s Jodie Roussell, senior public affairs manager for packaging and sustainability, talks about challenges developing lower-impact packaging and thinking about how to encourage re-use and refill solutions, and the dangers of unintended consequences of simply switching away from using plastic. Plus, an update from Innovation Forum’s Hanna Halmari about the upcoming climate action conference. And, big US food companies failing to address scope 3 emissions; Swiss mandatory climate reporting rules; Glasgow city venues denied for climate damaging companies at COP26; new CDP water resources tool; and, John Lewis and Waitrose partner on wool, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh

Daniel Baertschi, food and agriculture sector lead at Quantis, argues the case for developing a whole-system approach to developing food supply that is less impactful. Talking with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh, he points out some practical steps in product diversification and ingredient sourcing that can make a big difference, including thinking more strategically around shortening supply chains and leveraging existing value chain relationships. Part of the solution is thinking about traditional farming practices while using the latest technology to preserve and enhance soil health and improve yields. Quantis was a sponsor of Innovation Forum’s recent Future of Food conference series.

This week: Myles McCarthy, director for implementation and e-mobility at the Carbon Trust, talks about the big climate challenges for business in the run-up to COP26. He argues that while there are some big step-change targets being set across industries, the challenge now is in making the progress necessary at scale and pace, and developing the technology and models that will be required. And, Toby Webb and Peter Stanbury discuss the next steps in Innovation Forum’s action research project into smallholder farmer resilience. Plus: implications of IPCC’s latest report; New York pension fund reviewing fossil fuel assets; Lidl UK to be carbon neutral by 2022; Barry Callebout, Nestlé and Proforest develop sustainable coconut supply chain scorecard; and, new apparel transparency pilot involving Next, New Look and H+M Group, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh For an extended conversation between Toby Webb and Peter Stanbury on Innovation Forum’s smallholder resilience research, click here.

Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb and Peter Stanbury talk about why entire value chains have to be sustainable and that a narrow focus just on smallholder farmers in isolation is not the best approach. They discuss some of the factors that encourage more resilient rural development and farm income encompassing market forces – including a necessary move from just a “don’t cut down the forest” conversation to one encompassing ecosystem services and carbon sequestration, for example. The Innovation Accelerator: Building resilient smallholder supply chains report can be downloaded here.