Niels Wiellard, managing director of Satelligence, discusses the potential of the new Radar Alerts for Detecting Deforestation initiative with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh.

Developed by Satelligence and Wageningen University, and facilitated by the World Resources Institute, RADD is designed to allow palm oil companies accurate and up-to-date information on deforestation in their supply chains. With this near real time data, the industry can be more efficient in targeting on-the-ground remediation action. Also involved in the RADD partnership are Bunge, Cargill, Golden Agri-Resources, Mondelēz International, Musim Mas, Nestlé, Pepsico, Sime Darby Plantation, Unilever and Wilmar

Satelligence was a sponsor of Innovation Forum’s sustainable landscapes and commodities conference.

This week: Airbus’s Patrick Houdry and Earthworm Foundation’s Rob McWilliam on the development and implementation of satellite remote sensing system Starling, their joint project to help improve supply chain traceability and tackle deforestation impacts. 

Plus: mixed messages from Davos bankers on climate, Coke says plastic’s here to stay, Nestlé’s market-making on recycling, and CDP’s latest A-listers, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

At the recent Innovation Forum sustainable landscapes and commodities conference in London, Ian Welsh and Tom Idle spoke to a number of expert participants to summarise some of the panel sessions and capture some key outcomes.

Hear from:

• Justin Adams, executive director of Tropical Forest Alliance

This week: Dawn Jutla from blockchain technology developers Peer Ledger on how technology is revolutionising consumer engagement with products and supply chains. And, Jo Griffiths from the British Standards Institute (BSI) on the challenges developing sustainability standards for plastic packaging.

Plus: WEF annual risks report; Blackrock doubles down on climate, again; the EU’s €1tn climate mitigation plan; UK supermarkets switch from plastic bags to higher impact alternatives; and Quorn’s carbon label plan, in the news digest.  

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Anita Neville, senior vice president for corporate communications at Golden Agri-Resources, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh talk about why the palm oil still suffers from negative publicity, despite the progress the sector has made. She outlines how the industry can achieve real traceability, and develop a robust economic model for the future.

She argues that this means ensuring that farmer incomes are improved and helped to ensure that they have options beyond simply extended farms by destroying forests. Neville also outlines how the palm oil sector can progress so that future discussion is not always centred on deforestation impacts.

Golden Agri-Resources was a sponsor of Innovation Forum’s recent sustainable landscapes conference.

Franco Costantini, managing director of Control Union UK talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about why certification can be useful for companies wanting to rationalise their use of plastic and help them satisfy consumers on product impact.

They discuss the importance of not dismissing use of plastic out of hand, and examine the drivers for greater use of product plastic-free certification when this is appropriate.

Constantini also outlines how certification can also be useful in food and agriculture value chains.

Control Union was a sponsor of the recent Innovation Forum future for plastics conference.

This week: Niels Wiellard, managing director of Satelligence, on how a new satellite monitoring initiative in the palm oil sector – known as RADD – will help the industry monitor deforestation in plantations in near real-time. And Jeff Milder, director of global programmes at the Rainforest Alliance, on his hopes for the implementation of the new multistakeholder Accountability Framework initiative.

Plus: Kroger cuts food waste, the Co-op’s recyclable packaging, the 8.4m football pitches problem, and making protein from air in Finland, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

CB Bhattacharya, professor of sustainability and ethics at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Small Actions, Big Difference, discusses with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh how companies are working hard to change how they approach sustainability and leverage greater value.

They consider case study examples – including Unilever – where companies have engaged their employees around sustainable business and reaped the business benefits, and debate why some companies still struggle to set the right goals to ensure long term survival

Emily Kunen from Nestlé, Gotz Martin from Golden Agri-Resources and Róisín Mortimer from Earthworm Foundation debate with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh how business and partner organisations can really help smallholder palm oil farmers grow incomes without clearing new land.

They discuss the challenges around developing traceability all the way to the farm level, land use planning and ownership, and indigenous land rights in particular. Involving and engaging local communities is an essential part of this.

This week: Anita Neville, senior vice president for corporate communications at Golden Agri-Resources, debates the state of play for the palm oil sector, why traceability in supply chains is vital and why the industry still attracts a bad press despite the best efforts of the most progressive companies.

Plus: COP25 flops, Apple and Google threatened with court over cobalt child labour, meat alternative labelling, and four reasons to be upbeat about 2020, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Golden Agri-Resources was a sponsor of Innovation Forum's recent sustainable landscapes and commodities conference.