Innovation Forum podcast

This week: Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh further reflects with expert participants at the sustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam. He is joined by Hasan Uz Zaman from Aldi Sud and Mauro Scalia from Euratex, and they discuss the human rights risks in the apparel sector and what’s coming up in policy terms to shake up fast fashion for the future.

Plus: Innovation Forum’s Hannah Oborne shares some final updates about the future of food and beverage conference in Amsterdam, and what attendees can expect this week.

This week: Lisa Spicka de Bevacqua, global director of sustainability consulting at auditor and certifiers NSF, talks with Ian Welsh about the trends in sustainability regulation in Europe and beyond. They discuss challenges in reporting and taking action, and how the impact differs for larger companies and SMEs.

Plus: Mike Shoemaker, CEO of farm data analysts Vayda talks with Ian about the ever-increasing importance of regenerative agriculture and what's driving this transition. Mike discusses the trend of over-focussing on carbon and how to appropriately put regenerative farming into practice.

And, Waitrose to support 2,000 UK farmers to adopt regenerative and low carbon farming practices; renewables account for30% of global electricity generation in 2023; and, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market says Verra's updated Verified Carbon Standard means the high-integrity Core Carbon Principles, in the news digest.

Kaley Roshitsh, editorial director at Cascale, formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about major apparel industry trends including challenges of compliance with incoming regulation and the regenerative transition. They discuss what companies should look out for, the opportunities they should grasp and what best practice looks like.

Cascale is the knowledge collaborator for this year’s sustainable apparel and textiles conference series. Kaley will be at the New York event on 25th-26thJune to continue the conversation.Click here for full registration details.

On 25th April, IF hosted a webinar in partnership with Yara International to discuss sustainable crop nutrition

Regenerative agriculture is an evolving, science-based and outcome-focused approach to farming, and has a significant role to play in safeguarding food security and sustainable nutrition. Central to this approach is the strategic utilisation of fertilizers. While fertilizers have historically been associated with environmental harm, when strategically integrated within regenerative practices, they can foster soil health and bolster nutrient cycles, leading to resilient yields and food security. In this webinar, we discussed:

• Which fertilizers can be employed within a regenerative farming approach, and how?
• The ecological benefits that a sustainable use of certain fertilizers can help to achieve
• The role of fertilizers in enabling sustainable crop nutrition through robust and regenerative food systems

Hear valuable insights from:

• Marina Ettl, Director for Funded Projects and Regenerative Agriculture Business Intelligence,Yara International
• Jan Willem Sepers, Senior Director Agriculture EMEA,Lamb Weston
• Paz Panunzio Moscoso, Research Scientist Sustainability and Strategic Research,Yara International

The webinar was moderated by Tanya Richard, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Stakeholder Engagement atInnovation Forum. This webinar was held in partnership withYara International.

This week: Raviv Turner, founding member of the Nature Tech Collective and member of the nature data working group at the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the dangers of being too carbon focused when thinking about impacts. They discuss how companies can move towards biodiversity and nature disclosure and, ultimately, action.

Plus: on the spot reflections from the sustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam with Kresse Wesling from recycled luxury accessories brand Elvis & Kresse. She talks about how apparel brands can best respond to the incoming regulations, particularly in the EU.

While in India, Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb spoke with CottonConnect’s CEO Alison Ward and global supply chain director Dawa Dorje about their sustainable cotton programme that focuses on delivering a supply chain with end-to-end transparency. They discuss the importance of smallholder inclusion and how they benefit from a transition to a more regenerative approach such as through reduced input costs and improved yields.

To learn more about the cotton value chain in India, watch this documentary created in partnership with CottonConnect.

Amanda Archila, executive director at Fairtrade America, and Anna Mann, associate director of responsible business at Fairtrade Foundation, discuss the food price and value gap, and highlighting the root cause of the issue from the producer's perspective. In conversation with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh, they talk about what constitutes fair pricing and how to evenly distribute costs along value chains.

Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade America will be at Innovation Forum’s future of food and beverage conference series inAmsterdam(13th-14thMay) andMinneapolis(29th-30thMay). Click for registration details to join us.

Decathlon's chief sustainability officer, Anna Turrell, reflects on the recent Innovation Forumsustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam with Ian Welsh. They discuss growing resale business models within the industry and the power of consumers in unlocking the potentialfrom circular economy models.

Plus: Innovation Forum's Natasha Bodnar shares the latest updates for the upcoming scope 3 innovation forum, taking place in person this year in Amsterdam on 12th-13th June.Click here for more information and register now to benefit from the €200 early bird discount.

This week: John Murphy, technical director for Europe at Hohenstein Laboratories, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about certification standards for the apparel sector and the supply chain reassurances they can provide. They discuss the current apparel sector's approach to material certification and what the future of the sector can look like.

Plus: Christine Goulay from Sustainabelle Advisory Services and Amy Nguyen from Sustainable & Social highlights key takeaways from this week's sustainable apparel and textiles conference with Ian. They talk about the continued significance of circularity and innovation in implementing extended producer responsibility.

Host: Ian Welsh

Niamh McCarthy, director for climate-related risk at Climate Advisers talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about what's coming up for the Brazilian cattle sector and shares some of theconclusionsfrom the latest report from Orbitas, a Climate Advisers initiative. They discuss the opportunities for farmers to increase yield and diversify revenue streams, and the risks to avoid.

We'll be discussing findings of the Orbitas research into both the cattle and soy sectors in Brazil at a virtual event on 30th April. See here for the agendaandclick here for full registration details.