This week: Marco Albani, co-founder and CEO of Chloris Geospatial talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the trends in impact measurement and carbon accounting. They discuss the shift from an area-based approach to carbon accounting and share some unexpected carbon-positive impacts.

And, report reveals UK's lack of urgency on deforestation; EU Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive agreement reached; and, tackling inequality crucial for net zero, according to Nature Climate Change journal, in the news digest by Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson.

Host: Ian Welsh

This week: another chance to hear our three most popular podcast interviews of 2023.

Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh talks with Rejane Souza, senior vice-president for global innovation at Norway-based fertiliser company Yara International, about the rise and rise of regenerative agriculture. They discuss the role of companies across the value chain in enabling technology and innovation, and the importance of taking a farmer-centric approach.

Ian also talks with Charlotte Bande, global food and beverage sector lead at Quantis, about how to improve the weak points in mainstream corporate sustainability decision making within the food and agriculture sector. They discuss the continued importance in peer-to-peer collaboration and share guidance on what a good just transition could look like.

And, IDH's regional director for Asia landscapes, Chi Tran, and senior programme manager for coffee, Tessa Meulensteen, discuss with Ian what the incoming EU's deforestation regulation will mean for the coffee sector. They discuss the opportunities and challenges to this regulation, including potential smallholder farmer exclusion and diversity loss in supply chains.

Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson has spoken to several farmers from across geographies and commodities, to find out how climate change is impacting their crops and their livelihoods.

During Innovation Forum's recent climate action on scope 3 emissions conference in Washington DC, Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson spoke with some of the participants to reflect on the key topics and conversations over the two days. These discussions focused in particular on shifting policy and guidance landscapes, and how companies are performing and communicating on scope 3 climate targets.

Hear from Invariant's Adam Tarr, former senior advisor to the secretary of agriculture, Ashley Allen from Oatly, Terryn Lawrence from Rabobank, Altruistiq's Saif Hameed, Ashlie Burkhart from Germin8 Ventures and Geoff Brighty from Mura Technology.

In the final briefing of the year, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson take a look ahead to the key focal points for sustainable business in 2024. They discuss the legislation moving corporate climate disclosure from voluntary to mandatory, expected progress on supply chain due diligence, and the ever-increasing spotlight on nature and biodiversity strategy.

This week: Francis Gassert, strategy and impact lead at Vizzuality, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about measuring impact and how to ensure credibility when doing so. They discuss the importance of companies considering their land, carbon and biodiversity impacts and incoming regulatory changes driving this action.

And, at COP28, United Arab Emirates' $100m game changing loss and reparation pledge; Civil Society Equity Review's report estimates developing countries require $209bn yearly for renewable energy transition; global methane pledge to cut atmospheric methane by 30% by 2030; and, new research by data and monitoring provider Space Intelligence finds major flaws in earlier research scrutinising voluntary carbon markets and REDD+ projects, in the news digest.

Host: Ian Welsh

Rodrigue Kreilmann, corporate sustainability governance manager at Mars, and Veronique Bovee, deputy director for responsible sourcing at Proforest, talk with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about Proforest and Tropical Forest Alliance's latest research on driving progress on nature, climate and social targets at a landscape level. They discuss how companies' landscape-scale actions fit into leading climate frameworks and effective solutions for corporate action.

To read Tropical Forest Alliance's latest report, click here.

Speaking live from COP28 in Dubai, Owen Bethell, environmental impact lead, global public affairs, at Nestlé shares on-the-spot reflections with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the increasing focus on the global stocktake and lack of progress of agreement on fossil fuel phase-out. They discuss some progress so far, such as on food systems and methane, as ongoing negotiations take place.

In this week's briefing, Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh and Bea Stevenson talk about the latest at COP28 in Dubai, as final negotiations take place. They discuss the progress in fossil fuel phase-out and concerns in lack of progress in other areas such as nature and food systems. They also talk about potential updates from the European Commission on the EU deforestation regulation.

Plus: Bea Stevenson shares information about the upcoming Innovation Forum webinar on EUDR, the next in the "big debate" series, taking place on 18th January at 1pm CET. Click here to register.

And, Innovation Forum's Emily Heslop introduces the future of food conference on 29th-30th May 2024 held in Minneapolis. $500 discount early-bird registrations are open.

This week: Dominik Klauser, director of regenerative agriculture at SAI Platform, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the key risks and opportunities generated by the current shift towards regenerative agriculture. They discuss the growing importance of traceability and transparency in supply chains and share what best practice looks like in achieving these.

Plus: COP28’s Emirates Declaration highlights the importance of food system resilience; six global dairy companies join alliance to cut methane; several nations make new commitments on oil, gas and coal; EU agreement on ecodesign for sustainable products regulation, in the news digest with Innovation Forum's Bea Stevenson.

Host: Ian Welsh