Speaking in the forests on the east coast of Sumatra, APRIL’s deputy head of conservation Brad Sanders explains to Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb what the pulp and paper giant does to protect areas of pristine forest and restore degraded ecosystems in Indonesia.

Sanders explains the importance of water management to keep the forest moist and prevent the peat from drying out. And they discuss some of the social issues relevant to forest preservation – including working with local indigenous peoples to enable sustainable use of the forest lands and river systems.

This week: a panel of millenial consumers from the University of Michigan and Columbia University join Meghann Jones, senior vice-president, Ipsos, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh to discuss where they find information about brands, and how company policies and engagement on sustainability issues affect their buying choices. Making up the panel: Anya Shapiro, Mayur Bandekar, Connor Larkin and Caitlin Brooke Harris.

And another chance to hear from David Cleary, director for agriculture at the Nature Conservancy debating deforestation and farming with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb.

Plus: Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and PepsiCo cutting virgin plastic use, Carlsberg’s paper bottle, and RSPO’s new plan to insist brands buy sustainable palm oil.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

This week: a panel of millenial consumers from the University of Michigan and Columbia University join Meghann Jones, senior vice-president, Ipsos, and Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh to discuss where they find information about brands, and how company policies and engagement on sustainability issues affect their buying choices. Making up the panel: Anya Shapiro, Mayur Bandekar, Connor Larkin and Caitlin Brooke Harris.

And another chance to hear from David Cleary, director for agriculture at the Nature Conservancy debating deforestation and farming with Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb.

Plus: Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and PepsiCo cutting virgin plastic use, Carlsberg’s paper bottle, and RSPO’s new plan to insist brands buy sustainable palm oil.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Ronald Guendal, Bayer Crop Science’s global head of food security and advocacy, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the trends in use of farming techniques and agriculture inputs – including fertilisers and pesticides and the development of new seeds – that are designed to sustainably boost productivity.

A particular focus for Bayer is to help the agriculture sector produce more food that is climate resilient. As Guendal points out, farming is both a driver, and a victim, of climate change.

Ronald Guendal, Bayer Crop Science’s global head of food security and advocacy, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about the trends in use of farming techniques and agriculture inputs – including fertilisers and pesticides and the development of new seeds – that are designed to sustainably boost productivity.

A particular focus for Bayer is to help the agriculture sector produce more food that is climate resilient. As Guendal points out, farming is both a driver, and a victim, of climate change.

This week: Telva McGruder, director, workplace engineering and operations solutions at General Motors talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about how environmental impacts have been embedded into GM’s business plans. They debate why use of business language is how to have internal conversations about sustainability, and to engage externally with investors and other stakeholders. And they talk about the reasons why companies will typically make strong commitments on impact only when they can see a route to delivering them.

Plus, news about Innovation Forum’s upcoming plastics, sustainable landscapes and apparel supply chain events.

This week: APRIL’s Brad Sanders explains to Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb what the pulp and paper giant does to protect areas of pristine forest and restore degraded ecosystems in Indonesia. And Greenpeace’s Louise Edge on the challenges around effectively tackling plastic pollution, and what business should do about it.

Plus: Nestlé and P&G to fall short of 2020 goals, big brands linked to deforestation palm oil (again), and US acts on modern slavery teeth, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

This week: APRIL’s Brad Sanders explains to Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb what the pulp and paper giant does to protect areas of pristine forest and restore degraded ecosystems in Indonesia. And Greenpeace’s Louise Edge on the challenges around effectively tackling plastic pollution, and what business should do about it.

Plus: Nestlé and P&G to fall short of 2020 goals, big brands linked to deforestation palm oil (again), and US acts on modern slavery teeth, in the news digest.

Hosted by Ian Welsh

Peter Stanbury-Davis, principal of Frontier Practice, talks with Toby Webb about how thinking about political economy can help business engage with the motivations of local peoples in areas of deforestation and landuse-change risk.

In this context, they discuss why the Indonesian palm oil pledge – IPOP – ceased working, and some of the underlying misunderstandings that may have led to its demise. Using a political economy analysis approach may well eliminate some of the unintended consequences of actions, however well-meaning they may be.