This week: CB Bhattacharya, professor of sustainability and ethics at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Small Actions, Big Difference, on how companies are working hard to change how they approach sustainability and leverage greater value.

Plus Tesco’s new sustainable basket metric, how avocados with edible coatings can cut plastic use, Indian migrant workers human rights risks, ocean oxygen depletions discussed at COP25, and GRI’s new tax reporting standard, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

In the first of a new podcast series about the Accountability Framework initiative, Rainforest Alliance director of global programmes Jeff Milder talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about why the framework has been established, what it is setting out to achieve and how it can specifically help companies with taking action and monitoring progress in their commodity supply chains.

And, Ruth Nussbuam, co-founder and director of Proforest and David Cleary, director of global agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, share their hopes for what the AFi could achieve.

This podcast series is supported by Rainforest Alliance.

In the first of a new podcast series about the Accountability Framework initiative, Rainforest Alliance director of global programmes Jeff Milder talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about why the framework has been established, what it is setting out to achieve and how it can specifically help companies with taking action and monitoring progress in their commodity supply chains.

And, Ruth Nussbuam, co-founder and director of Proforest and David Cleary, director of global agriculture at The Nature Conservancy, share their hopes for what the AFi could achieve.

This podcast series is supported by Rainforest Alliance.

In this webinar panellists from QIMA, Aldo, Twinings and BAT discuss how companies and suppliers can improve auditing practices. They assess how to leverage AI and data analytics to uncover potential human rights violations and debate the extent to which audits can assist and/or complement these processes.

Panellists:

• Terri Olano, senior business development manager, QIMA

Introduced and hosted by Ian Welsh, Innovation Forum

This webinar was sponsored by QIMA.

In this webinar panellists from QIMA, Aldo, Twinings and BAT discuss how companies and suppliers can improve auditing practices. They assess how to leverage AI and data analytics to uncover potential human rights violations and debate the extent to which audits can assist and/or complement these processes.

Panellists:

• Terri Olano, senior business development manager, QIMA

Introduced and hosted by Ian Welsh, Innovation Forum

This webinar was sponsored by QIMA.

This week: Emily Kunen from Nestlé, Gotz Martin from Golden Agri-Resources and Róisín Mortimer from Earthworm Foundation debate how business and partner organisations can really help smallholder farmers grow incomes without clearing new land.

Plus: major international brands back extension of the Amazon soy moratorium, brands and climate progress, UN human rights action plans and H+M supports game-changing dyeing process, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and managing director of Mohammadi Group, talks with Ian Welsh about the challenges facing the apparel sector in Bangladesh. She highlights the progress made with the help of international cooperation, since the Rana Plaza disaster, through the building safety accord and the worker safety alliance, with the work being taken on by the Readymade Sustainability Council.

They discuss why sustaining the progress is now the sector’s challenge as it keeps up with the global market’s expectations and trends. New technology and industry 4.0 automation can help maintain a crucial industry that supports 82% of the Bangladeshi economy.

Nathan Shuler, sustainability solutions architect at Schneider Electric Energy & Sustainability Services, and Ian Welsh debate the continued rise in importance of science-based targets for progressive business.

They talk about how companies have had to change approach to switch to targets that are focused on making a proportionate difference to corporate impacts rather than just a PR-based number that looks good.