Innovation Forum Podcast

Nathalie Walker, director for tropical forests and agriculture at the National Wildlife Federation, talks with Ian Welsh about the new legislation that is going to require companies to take a tougher approach to environmental and human rights issues when sourcing. She welcomes the positive approach from the new Biden administration in the US, particularly around fossil fuel divestment and encouraging investment in new low emission technology. Listeners please note that this interview was recorded in late December. National Wildlife Federation was a sponsor of the recent sustainable landscapes and commodities conference.

Ying Xuen Hoe, project manager, Proforest Southeast Asia, Rashyid Redza bin Anwarudin, head, group sustainability, Sime Darby Plantation, and Olivier Tichit, director sustainable supply chains, Musim Mas, discuss the use of the Accountability Framework initiative to engage the challenges in palm oil supply chains. They highlight the need for multistakeholder collaboration at landscape scale. Plus: UK food import standards threatened; Unilever’s new supply chain living wage pledge; PepsiCo’s 2040 net zero commitments; and, the US returns to the Paris accord, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh  

Victoria Crawford, manager of the Investment Partnership Network at Just Rural Transition, and from the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, talks with Ian Welsh about some of the steps necessary to unlock potential investment opportunities in sustainable commodity sourcing. There are key roles for public and private capital, and focused collaboration is essential, Crawford argues.

Niels Wielaard founder and CEO of Satelligence talks with Ian Welsh about initiatives that are developing to transfer the lessons learned in one commodity supply chain to others, and to enable the real traceability buyers increasingly demand. Wielaard also reflects on how the rise of true science-based approaches is an enabler that help brands meet their no peat, deforestation and exploitation goals.   Satelligence was a sponsor of the recent Innovation Forum sustainable landscapes and commodities conference.

This week: Eleanor Spencer, palm oil specialist at ZSL, on the latest SPOTT survey assessment on the strength of deforestation and conservation commitments at the top 100 palm oil companies. Scores are up, but progress remains disappointing, Spencer argues.   Plus: ExxonMobil’s scope 3 emissions disclosure; plastic risks ignored by investors; M&S boycotting China’s Xinjiang province because of forced labour abuses; and, protein grown from the air, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh  

Peter Stanbury, senior associate at Innovation Forum, talks with Ian Welsh about new research into how business can help develop really sustainable and robust smallholder farming communities. Stanbury argues that all in commodity value chains need to accept that systemic change is required, and only real cooperation can bring this about. For more information about Innovation Forum’s Innovation Accelerator initiative, click here.

David Horlock, managing director for global food and retail supply chains at BSI talks with Ian Welsh about why beef and red meat production has attracted criticism and how the sector can be sustainable. The problem, Horlock argues, is not red meat itself, rather how it is produced.

This week: Nathalie Walker, director for tropical forests and agriculture at the National Wildlife Federation, discusses how the changing legislative landscape is leading to more of a due diligence approach for companies on deforestation. She analyses how international collaboration on climate change will develop during 2021. Plus: BlackRock says that sustainable investment will accelerate; WWF says two-thirds of SE Asian banks don’t recognise biodiversity risks; 60m potential climate refugees in south Asia; and, one billion fewer pieces of plastic at Tesco, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh

Marianne Marinet, programmes director for the Earthworm Foundation, Emily Kunen, global responsible sourcing lead for palm oil and seafood at Nestlé, and Sandra Doig, head of sustainability at Grupo Palmas discuss at the recent Innovation Forum sustainable landscapes conference how they have collaborated on developing a sustainable cocoa and palm oil producing landscape in Tocache, Peru. Moderated by Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb.

This week: Niels Wielaard founder and CEO of Satelligence talks about how greater traceability can help brands and traders take the lessons learned in one supply chain and apply it across commodities, and how the barriers to tracking from farm to mill to finished product are changing. Plus, in the news digest: serious human rights risks for Chinese cotton; big brands call for traders to do more to stop sourcing Cerrado soy with deforestation risks; Marks & Spencer to relaunch Plan A; and, is the EU 55% carbon cut commitment enough? Host: Ian Welsh

Low famer incomes, human rights abuses and environmental degradation still plague smallholder-based supply chains of soft commodities and other agricultural products. For the past nine months, Innovation Forum’s Innovation Accelerator project has been running an action research project to understand why. This webinar was held to launch the initial findings of the research, which has explored a wide range of supply chains, including cotton, fruit and vegetables, dairy, coffee, soy, palm oil and maize. As well as bringing together cross-sector experience, the project sought insights from political science and development economics to explore the wider societal dynamics of communities and countries in which supply chains exist. Panel: Ariana Constant, director, Clinton Development Initiative Alison Ward, CEO, CottonConnect Anita Neville, senior vice-president, group corporate communications, Golden Agri-Resources Thilo Liedlbauer, advisor, sustainable agricultural supply chains and standards programme, GIZ Yann

This week: Victoria Crawford, manager of the Investment Partnership Network at Just Rural Transition, discusses some of the steps necessary to enable investment in sustainable commodity supply chains, why collaboration is essential and how blended finance involving public and private funding can help. Plus: Nestlé’s big plans for net zero; Sweden tops sustainable competitivity index (again); new UNEP report highlights spiralling emissions crisis; and, CDP highlights top performers, in the news digest.   Host: Ian Welsh

Ying Xuen Hoe, project manager, Proforest Southeast Asia, Rashyid Redza bin Anwarudin, head, group sustainability, Sime Darby Plantation, and Olivier Tichit, director sustainable supply chains, Musim Mas, discuss with Ian Welsh how the Accountability Framework initiative is helping the palm oil sector in southeast Asia. They talk about why a number of tools are necessary to achieve sustainability commitments – around for example ‘no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation’ – and highlight the characteristics of the collaboration necessary.   This is the latest in a series of podcasts sponsored by the Accountability Framework initiative. Click here for an introduction to the initiative, here for a webinar discussion about ensuring secure supply chains during the pandemic and here for discussion on deforestation-free supply chains in South America.

Collection and recycling of material plays a vital part in enabling a circular economy and is an inherently complex challenge to tackle. The problem is particularly acute in developing countries where lack of proper infrastructure and waste management processes stall the progress. This webinar brought together a diverse group of stakeholders to shed some light on the challenges and the solutions that they are currently implementing or that can be implemented in the future. The discussion includes exchange of knowledge, experiences and ideas on how to support or transform the collection and recycling of plastics and composite materials to accelerate the transition to circular economy in packaging. Panel: Cynthia Shih, director of knowledge, rethinking recycling, McKinsey.org Jasper Munier, business development manager NWE, Clariter Francesca Priora, global collection programmes director, Tetra Pak Michel Steinecke, R&D sustainable packaging manager, Britvic Host: Ian Welsh, publishing director, Innovation

Olivier Tichit, director for sustainable supply chains at integrated palm oil business Musim Mas, talks with Ian Welsh about the characteristics of successful landscape approaches that work for the palm oil sector. Tichit argues that key elements are to have everyone involved, strong commitment from all stakeholders and an acceptance that time is necessary for the challenges to be met.     Musim Mas was a sponsor of the recent Innovation Forum sustainable landscapes and commodities conference.  

This week: David Horlock from the British Standards Institute talks about how to develop sustainability standards for red meat. He argues that, despite the sector’s reputation, red meat can be part a sustainable food production system, but it depends on how it’s produced. And, a preview of the results of Innovation Forum’s research into developing resilience in smallholder farming communities with Peter Stanbury. Plus: the latest Climate Action Tracker; UNEP’s post pandemic concerns; Amazon deforestation hits a 12-year high; and, will Swiss companies have extended liability for human rights and environmental damage?   Host: Ian Welsh

Tato Bigio, CEO of UBQ Materials Israel, talks with Ian Welsh about UBQ’s process that creates material – that can be used as a substitute for plastic made from petrochemicals – from household waste destined for landfill. UBQ’s material currently is used in the production of durable plastic materials in the automotive, construction and retail sectors. Bigio argues that it competes well with traditional plastics on full lifecycle analysis impacts, and can be part of regular recycling streams.   UBQ Materials was a sponsor of Innovation Forum’s recent future for plastics conference.

This week: Emily Kunen, global responsible sourcing lead for palm oil and seafood at Nestlé, Sandra Doig, head of sustainability at Grupo Palmas and Marianne Marinet, programmes director for the Earthworm Foundation, talk with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about how they have collaborated to create a more sustainable landscape in Peru. Plus: new food sector report from CDP; Vodafone tightens net-zero timeline; Malaysia’s rubber gloves sector forced labour risks; and, why infrastructure megaprojects are pushing forests to dangerous tipping points, in the news roundup. Host: Ian Welsh

Joe Franses, vice-president sustainability, Coca-Cola European Partners talks with Ian Welsh about the company’s plastics targets, the challenges getting to real scale, and the need for better collection infrastructure. Franses highlights the difficulties of finding recycled feedstock of the right quality and then turning that into food-grade materials, particularly when there are economic incentives to use cheap virgin plastics.  And he argues the case for deposit return schemes as the only viable route to real circularity in plastic value chains.  

This week: Tato Bigio, CEO of UBQ Materials Israel, explains how waste destined for landfill can be converted into new thermoplastic material that can take the place of traditional plastics in potentially thousands of products. He says that the thermoplastic is competitive on price, significantly cuts emissions and outperforms traditional plastic on a full lifecycle analysis basis. Plus, in the news digest: Unilever pledges to halve food waste and boost non-meat products; UK’s ten-point green recovery plan; slow corporate progress according to new human rights benchmark; and, how RSPO certification can help farmer community incomes – but additional resources often required.   Host: Ian Welsh