Innovation Forum Podcast

Joining Innovation Forum's Toby Webb are Jon Entine from the Genetic Literacy Project, Perry Hackett from Recombinetics and Kevin Folta from the University of Florida. They discuss gene editing, GMOs and whether biotech and organics can work together. In a world where ever-more food is required, they also debate whether the entrenched camps in food technology can become less suspicious of each other, and how a more agro-ecology approach across the board can become the focus.

Tim Gehring from the International Justice Mission gives insight to Ian Welsh into IJM’s work developing capacity to tackle modern slavery, government response to labour issues around the world, and what companies should do to leverage influence. And David Cleary from the Nature Conservancy debates with Toby Webb some trends on how commodity supply chains are going to impact deforestation. Plus OECD’s new human rights due diligence guidance, Plan A updates from Marks & Spencer, GAR developing GPS technology to track palm oil and detail on India’s zero-plastic pledge, in the news roundup. Hosted by Ian Welsh

At Innovation Forum’s sustainable apparel conference, Alison Ward, CEO CottonConnect, spoke with Ian Welsh about the state of play for sustainable apparel supply chains. Ward argues that there is significant brand-led progress – with stretching commitments on fibres – and positive impacts at farm level. The challenge is to engage other parts of the supply chain to develop more transparency and better traceability.

Alexandra Channer from Verisk Maplecroft talks with Ian Welsh about how companies can make sense of human rights laws. Given the emergence of different types of legislation, Channer advises that a risk-based approach for business, mapping where the pressure points may be in operations and supply chains, is best.

This week: World Cocoa Foundation director, environment, Ethan Budiansky talks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about cocoa supply chain innovation. Budiansky outlines how the industry’s multistakeholder initiative aiming to save west Africa’s forests will measure success. Plus TFT director Hilary Thomson gives Ian Welsh a critical appraisal of the worth of auditing as a tool to uncover modern slavery in supply chains. And, news of World Environment Day’s plastic ambitions, soy sector fines in Brazil, why investors are taking sustainability more seriously and new research into agriculture commodity supply chain forced labour in the weekly roundup. Hosted by Ian Welsh

Josiah McClellan, director of food markets issues and sustainability, United Soybean Board, talks with Toby Webb about how the soy industry is driving profitability through more-sustainable practices. Soy has had a lower profile than other agricultural commodities, but McClellan argues that as the food industry demands ever-more supply chain transparency, the sector must embrace sustainability to meet that customer requirement.

This week Mars’s climate and land senior manager Ashley Allen talks with Toby Webb about commitments to climate change and how the business has developed science-based targets for its full value chain. Plus Jamie Barsimantov, chief operating officer at Supply Shift, and Ian Welsh discuss supply chain best practice trends. And, in the news roundup: new livestock sector index that demonstrates concerning lack of progress on impacts, evidence why a 1.5C global temperature limit makes real financial sense, and good news from Thailand with the quashing of human rights defender Andy Hall’s conviction relating to his work on forced labour. Hosted by Ian Welsh

Gabriel Thoumi, head of capital markets at Climate Advisers, outlines to Toby Webb the financial risks that big companies in the agricultural commodities sector, and others, are running by not dealing with environmental and social risks in supply chains properly. Thoumi names some palm oil supply chain players that have been most hit economically from deforestation.

Eleonora Pessina, group sustainability officer, Pirelli talks with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about Pirelli’s new rubber policy, and the progress the sector is making on developing more sustainable supply chains. Less high profile than other tropical commodities such as palm oil, they discuss the challenges for the rubber sector to ensure a collaborative rather than fragmented approach. Pessina stresses that capacity building for the rubber value chain needs to start at the top.

This week, Nusa Urbancic, campaigns director, Changing Markets Foundation, debates with Toby Webb the NGO’s new report investigating certification schemes in fisheries, palm oil and textiles – including RSPO and Better Cotton Initiaitve – and what they could do to achieve their aims via greater transparency and ambition. Plus new Nasa research on global water depletion, National Geographic’s campaigning on plastics, Greenpeace cutting ties with Asia Pulp & Paper over deforestation, and modern slavery in construction in the weekly news roundup

John Gummer – Lord Deben – chairman of Sancroft, outlines to Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh the main findings from recent research into modern slavery in public procurement in the UK that finds over 40% of the top 100 companies in terms of value of public contracts are non-compliant with the UK Modern Slavery Act. They debate the pros and cons of a greater due diligence approach to reporting on slavery and forced labour. They also discuss plastics pollution and what business and government must do together for best impact to help solve the problem.  

Anglo American’s Jon Samuel on what the future of sustainable mining looks like, how to set stretching targets and engage strategically with stakeholders, and what sustainability really means for an extractives sector business. Plus: why the ILO thinks climate action will lead to new jobs, how Unilever's more-sustainable brands deliver profits and HSBC declares blockchain fit for purpose, in our sustainable business news roundup. Hosted by Ian Welsh

David Cleary, director for agriculture at the Nature Conservancy, and Toby Webb reflect on the lessons from Innovation Forum’s latest business and deforestation conference. Cleary argues that the impact on forests from beef production is the “elephant in the room”, and questions why there is not more focus on the sector from activists and campaigners. He outlines how use of already cleared lands for commodity plantation can ease impact on forests and also the cerrado grasslands in Brazil.

Greenpeace forest campaigner Richard George debates with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb about what companies have and have not been doing over the past few years on tackling deforestation, and why simply having good policies and commitments really isn’t enough. Despite hundreds of commitments from companies, George argues that there has been a lack of meaningful change on the ground. The challenge remains to implement policy and work harder to preserve the forests, he says.

This week, Gabriel Thoumi, head of capital markets at Climate Advisers, outlines to Toby Webb the financial risks that big companies in the agricultural commodities sector, and others, are running by not dealing with environmental and social risks in supply chains properly. Nicole Rycroft from Canopy talks with Ian Welsh about the linkages between forest ecosystems, textile manufacturing and apparel supply chains. Plus new research that’s highly critical of certification schemes, UK consumers uninspired by food waste reduction scheme, and why Indonesia’s move to export more palm oil to China might be bad news for tropical forests, in the news roundup. Hosted by Ian Welsh.

In this podcast, Glenn Hurowitz, CEO of Mighty Earth, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about his organisation’s work on trying to break the links between agriculture and deforestation. They discuss the potential for success for the new soy manifesto in South American grasslands – and why soy sourcing has become a key risk for the international beef sector. The rubber sector is a new area of focus for Mighty Earth – Hurowitz argues that as the rubber sector companies have seen the reputational damage that palm oil sector has suffered in the past few years there is potential for NGO pressure to move the sector forward and engage on its deforestation risks. He also says that the recently announced deal on cocoa in west Africa could be a real game-changer for the sector as it brings all the relevant actors together.