Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

Jaksot

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  Weekly podcast – How yield buffering works, and why it matters 15.09.2026 39min

  This week: Anna Pierce, chief sustainability officer at Tate & Lyle and Regrow's CEO and co-founder, Anastasia Volkova, talk with Ian Welsh about how to build properly dependable agricultural supply chains. They discuss Tate & Lyle's experiences in its Europe operations and how data can help build strong climate resilience. Plus: McKinsey's Global Farmer Insights report finds AI adoption rising among farmers but few willing to pay for it; Spain calls for an EU-wide climate adaptation fund funded by a windfall tax on fossil fuel companies; and, the Philippines opens up 9 million hectares for critical minerals exploration, raising concerns for indigenous land rights, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh
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  The 80% packaging recycling rate nobody expected 15.09.2026 18min

  Cory Connors, host of the Sustainable Packaging Podcast presented by Atlantic Packaging, and Matt Saunders, managing partner at New Earth Ventures, talk with Ian Welsh about what's actually moving the needle on packaging. They share a case study of how a brand's switch from plastic to paper blister packs doubled sales, and the potential of AI in changing packaging design and procurement. Cory and Matt will be at the Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum USA on 27-28 October in Chicago. Click here to continue the conversation in-person.
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  Weekly podcast – Can apparel brands ever understand supplier challenges? 08.09.2026 20min

  This week: Pakistan-based denim garments manufacturer Soorty Enterprises’ head of ESG, Mobeen Chughtai, talks with Niamh Campbell, Innovation Forum's head of portfolio, apparel and textiles, about some of the challenges facing sector factories and suppliers that buyers at brands need to know about. They talk about digital product passports, development of renewably powered factories and what productive relationships can look like. Plus: Amazon deforestation slows, again; New Zealand’s modern slavery regulation on track; and, who pays for climate change impacts, including Nepal’s catastrophic flooding, in the news digest.  Host: Ian Welsh
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  58% aligned: what happens when a brand audits its own circularity claims 08.09.2026 9min

  Julia Kirschner, impact and innovation director at ArmedAngels talks with Innovation Forum's Niamh Campbell about where circularity actually begins: with brands' design decisions, not raw materials. They discuss how ArmedAngels audited its 2026 collection and found 58% alignment with its own circular design principles.
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  Weekly podcast – Why supply chain shocks no longer have a recovery period 01.09.2026 22min

  This week: Charlotte Bande, managing director and global food and beverage sector lead at Quantis, talks with Ian Welsh about the mounting pressure on food supply chains from compounding climate shocks. They discuss why low-volume commodities like vanilla can carry outsized business risk, and why procurement teams still resist change when full traceability isn't in place. And, new study finds little measurable forest benefit from corporate zero-deforestation pledges; a Vietnamese cocoa processor turns waste pods into biochar and clean energy, halving drying time; and, Egypt develops a $278 million project to turn sugarcane waste into bioethanol, in the news digest with Babette Pagès. Host: Diana Kim Click here for more information on the Climate Resilience Innovation Forum (2-3 December 2026, New York City).
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  The QR code is the easy part: what digital product passports really demand 01.09.2026 20min

  Pauline God, industry and policy expert at TrusTrace, talks with Ian Welsh about the state of play on digital product passports in apparel. They discuss the gap between mandatory infrastructure and still-voluntary product obligations and the four biggest lessons from DPP pilots running since 2021. They also talk about why choosing item-level serialisation over batch-level data determines whether a brand can support resale, repair and other circular business models later.
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  Weekly podcast – Recycling is working better than you think 25.08.2026 24min

  This week: Cory Connors, host of the Sustainable Packaging Podcast presented by Atlantic Packaging, and Matt Saunders, managing partner at New Earth Ventures, talk with Ian Welsh about where sustainable packaging is actually heading. They discuss the shift to monomaterials and paper-based formats under EPR and PPWR pressure, and how AI is starting to reshape packaging design, procurement and testing. Plus: West Africa's cocoa sector struggles to meet incoming EU deforestation rules; scientists and the timber industry clash over proposed changes to the GHG Protocol's forest carbon accounting; agrofuel production is squeezing food security in northern South America; and, the US pushes for exemptions from the EU's CSRD and CSDDD, in the news digest with Babette Pagès. Host: Diana Kim Secure your place to meet in Chicago for the Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum USA (October 27-28, 2026).
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  When compliance and sustainability blur, suppliers pay the price 25.08.2026 10min

  Mobeen Chughtai, group head of ESG and corporate communications at Soorty Enterprises, talks with Innovation Forum’s Niamh Campbell about how sustainability requirements are increasingly being reframed as non-negotiable compliance. They discuss why standardised brand guidance fails to account for supplier context, and the end-of-life emissions data brands ask suppliers to report but rarely share themselves.
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  Weekly podcast – The critical minerals project finance challenge 18.08.2026 30min

  This week: Highlights of webinar panel discussion when Olga Antonovskaya from BHP, Jessica Wan from Redwheel, Societe Generale’s Marie Gerbier and Eirini Konstantinou from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, joined Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh to talk about what it takes for finance to back critical minerals at scale.  Plus: Diageo plastic bottle safety concerns in India; SE Asia’s electric grid ongoing fragility; seep IP protection tightened in China; land restoration focus at UN desertification COP; and, big brand cotton from Brazil linked with forced labour, in the news digest. If you want to listen to the full critical minerals webinar, click here.
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  Living wages: why measurement isn't the same as progress 18.08.2026 8min

  Mari-Lou Dupont, senior vice president for social compliance at the Fair Labor Association, talks with Ian Welsh at Innovation Forum's Sustainable Apparel and Textiles event in Amsterdam about worker wellbeing in the apparel sector. They discuss why low unionisation remains the biggest underlying risk to wages and working conditions and why most brands are still stuck measuring living wage gaps rather than closing them. They also discuss what it will take to build the trust needed for suppliers to share real costing data.
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  Weekly podcast: What drives circularity in apparel and packaging? 11.08.2026 24min

  This week: Innovation Forum apparel portfolio lead Niamh Campbell spoke with Julia Kirschner, impact and innovation director at fashion brand Armedangels, in New York recently about how to enable a circular approach at scale in the sector. And Ian Welsh spoke with Eduardo Alvarez, plastics and packaging expert at Dow in Amsterdam earlier this year about what can drive circularity in packaging.  Plus: UK's continued success in cutting single-use plastic bags, EU digital product passport roll-out continues, why off-shore wind farms could help develop new aquatic food supply chains, and new palm oil finance links with deforestation, in the news digest with Babette Pages.  Host: Ian Welsh
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  Farming's income problem: why one technology won't fix it 11.08.2026 9min

  Marco Rosso, global head of sustainability and corporate affairs at Syngenta Biologicals and Seed Care, talks with Ian Welsh at Innovation Forum's food and beverage conference about the shifting economics of farming. They discuss why the number of farmers in the Netherlands has halved in 25 years, and the mix of income, land access and perception driving that decline. They also talk about why no single technology can substitute for a crop-by-crop, farmer-led approach.
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  Weekly podcast – Digital product passports: from voluntary pilot to mandatory infrastructure 04.08.2026 27min

  This week: Pauline God, industry and policy expert at TrusTrace, talks with Ian Welsh about the state of play on digital product passports in apparel. They discuss the gap between mandatory infrastructure and still-voluntary product obligations, and the four biggest lessons from DPP pilots running since 2021. Plus: Plus: fossil fuel divisions surface ahead of COP31; textile manufacturing's 92,000-tonne microfibre problem; integrated project delivery reshapes critical minerals financing; Japan backs Namibian rare earth project; and, China accelerates green energy financing amid Iran-driven oil disruption, in the news digest with Babette Pagès.Host: Ian Welsh
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  Beyond the checkbox: why forced labour hides in plain sight 04.08.2026 16min

  Rachel Rigby, senior director, extended supply chains and responsible sourcing, and Quinn Kepes, senior regional lead Americas, at Verité, talk with Ian Welsh about the sharp rise in forced labour enforcement. They discuss the EU's new forced labour regulation and its reversed burden of proof, and the US Article 301 investigations threatening blanket tariffs on countries without effective import bans. They also talk about what Verité's three decades of workplace assessments reveal about how forced labour actually shows up in garment and coffee supply chains.
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  Weekly podcast – Why top-down sustainability guidance doesn't work for suppliers 28.07.2026 15min

  Mobeen Chughtai, group head of ESG and corporate communications at Soorty Enterprises, talks with Innovation Forum's Niamh Campbell about the brand-supplier relationship from the supplier's perspective. They discuss the compliance burden of conflicting regulatory frameworks and why sustainability requirements are increasingly being treated as non-negotiable mandates. Plus: EU bans destruction of unsold apparel under ESPR; Amazon deforestation falls to its lowest level since monitoring began in 1985; consumers shift away from polyester towards natural fibres; and, eight global fashion capitals launch coalition to share sustainability best practice, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh
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  Show me the money: What will it take for finance to back critical minerals at scale? 28.07.2026 56min

  The pipeline of critical minerals projects has never been longer. But the gap between a viable project and a financed one remains stubbornly wide. Capital is available, it’s just not flowing fast enough, or to the right places. Early-stage mining projects carry a risk profile that most institutional investors are not set up to absorb. Infrastructure is absent, policy frameworks are inconsistent, and the road from discovery to production stretches beyond a decade. At the same time, rising sustainability expectations are adding cost and complexity that can deter rather than attract capital. This webinar brought together financial institutions and mining companies to explore what it actually takes to move critical minerals investment from intention to action. What we discussed... The structural barriers that keep credible projects stuck at the development stage. How financial institutions are building frameworks to evaluate and de-risk critical minerals investments. The role of blended finance, development banks and public-private mechanisms in mobilising private capital. Sustainability performance as a bankability asset: how responsible sourcing credentials are factoring into investment decisions. What mining companies and project developers need to demonstrate to get deals across the line.
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  9 million pieces and counting: scaling circular fashion at Puma 27.07.2026 5min

  Cornelius Wolf, senior director development apparel at Puma, talks with Ian Welsh about the brand's progress on textile-to-textile recycling, now well beyond pilot stage at over 11% in 2025. They discuss the challenges of post-consumer feedstock, why World Cup shirts are putting circularity in the spotlight, and how Puma is managing the cost premium on recycled material.
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  Weekly podcast – The gap between measuring living wages and actually paying them 21.07.2026 13min

  This week: Mari-lou Dupont, senior vice president for social compliance at the Fair Labour Association, talks with Ian Welsh about worker wellbeing challenges in the apparel sector. They discuss from persistently low wages and weak unionisation to what brands need to do to move beyond measuring wage gaps to actually closing them. Plus: carbon-based hotel pricing nudges tourists towards greener choices; WFP launches water security project in Iraq; UK climate aid cuts threaten community-led coastal resilience; and, private equity treats climate resilience as a new value lever, in the news digest by Babette Pages. Host: Ian Welsh
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  Why the voluntary layer of sustainability reporting is quietly collapsing 21.07.2026 16min

  Danai Mangana, LCA consultant and consumer goods sector lead at SimaPro, PRé Sustainability, talks with Ian Welsh about current trends in corporate sustainability reporting. They discuss why a one-time lifecycle assessment no longer counts as substantiation, and how companies that treat sustainability data as business intelligence are building a genuine competitive edge.
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  Weekly podcast – From green premiums to real returns: what farmers actually need 14.07.2026 14min

  Marco Rosso, global head of sustainability and corporate affairs at Syngenta Biologicals and Seed Care, talks with Ian Welsh about the shifting economics of farming. They discuss the psychology putting young people off agricultural careers and why sustainability has to deliver a real return on investment for farmers to adopt it. Plus: lab-grown cocoa as a hedge against cocoa price volatility; US coffee prices double on tariffs and Red Sea disruption; China's largest US soybean purchase since 2025; and, European Commission cuts sustainability reporting requirements by 60%, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh