Sustainable Business Podcast by Innovation Forum

This week: Don Sparaco, president US and Canada for Corrugated Packaging at Smurfit Westrock, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh at the recent Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum in Chicago. They discuss how a flat packaging market is pushing brands to compete on innovation, and why Sparaco separates cost from value when making the case for sustainable packaging. He also explains how time-limited co-creation sessions with customers help teams choose an improved solution now over a perfect one later. And, Niamh Campbell, portfolio lead for apparel and textile at Innovation Forum, looks ahead to 2027 in apparel and textiles, including the pressure on sustainability teams to prove a business case, the contractual gaps in brand-supplier relationships and the risk of AI accelerating overconsumption. Plus: COP31 opens in Antalya with just transition and finance gaps; the European Commission formally withdraws the green claims directive; Norrøna and Uluu develop a seaweed-based performance fibre; and Patagonia brings Worn Wear resale onto its main website, in the news digest by Innovation Forum's Babette Pagès. Host: Ian Welsh Check out our Sustainable Apparel and Textiles Conference: Europe

James Stokes, director of business development at Lestari Capital, talks with Innovation Forum’s Ian Welsh about why private capital remains a small share of nature finance. They discuss UNEP findings that around 30 times more money flows into activities harming nature than protecting it, with roughly 90% of nature-positive funding still coming from public sources. They also explore how consistent measurement and a positive return on investment case could put nature on a par with other asset classes.

This week: Bert van Son, founder of MUD Jeans, talks with Innovation Forum’s Niamh Campbell, portfolio lead for apparel and textiles, about relaunching the circular denim brand under new owners weeks after it went bankrupt. They discuss why MUD is now putting profitability ahead of growth, and a planned deposit scheme that would let customers reclaim money on their jeans a decade after buying them. Plus: AI data centres could cancel out 15 years of US power sector emissions cuts; Norway debates the rise of data centres; Lego switches to e-methanol for more than 90 elements; heat stress harms garment workers supplying global brands in Pakistan; and, insects’ long history in human diets, in the news digest with Babette Pagès. Host: Ian Welsh Find out more about the 2027 Sustainable Apparel and Textiles Forum, 21-22 April in Amsterdam.

This week: Mauricio Voivodic, executive director of WWF Brazil, talks with Innovation Forum’s Tanya Richard immediately after Lula da Silva’s re-election. They discuss what a fourth term means for deforestation and the zero deforestation target, the outlook for soy and beef supply chains, and the concerns raised by the new Congress. Plus: Heske Verberg, managing director of Solidaridad Europe, on turning scope 3 commitments into action, and Hanna Halmari on Innovation Forum’s 2027 events. And, emissions must fall 6% a year to reverse overshoot; Shein outscores Australian retailers in ethics report; and, $10 million for renewable agriculture startups, in the news digest with Babette Pagès. Host: Ian Welsh Check out all of our 2027 conferences here.

Tori Hoffmeister of Colgate-Palmolive, Matthias Maase of BASF, Francesco Davila Alotto of Givaudan and Alexandra Florea of Medik8 talk with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about how the cosmetics and personal care sector is tackling scope 3 emissions. They discuss why full life-cycle assessments aren’t always necessary to make progress, how mass balance accounting is becoming a more workable path to real reductions, and why BASF estimates a 24 million tonne gap between its customers’ near-term targets and where they currently stand.

This week: Pia Lindqvist, head of supplier sustainability, raw material procurement at Finish metals business Outokumpu, talks with Ian Welsh at the Critical Mineral Innovation Forum in London. They discuss how upstream value chain due diligence checkpoints can help transparency and ease audit fatigue. Plus: Ian talks with Hanna Halmari, Innovation Forum’s head of conferences, about the key trends in packaging, from compliance under PPWR's incomplete framework, alongside the impact of EPR’s roll out, to the contrast between refill and reuse models in Europe and recycling-led innovation in the US.  And, banks funding deforestation risks continue; priorities for European competitiveness to 2040; a UN programme to cut harmful pesticides and farm plastics expands to 15 countries; car battery supply chains linked to deforestation in Indonesia; and, waste app Too Good To Go expands beyond food, in the news digest with Babette Pagès. Host: Ian Welsh   For more information about the 2027 Sustainable Packaging Innovation Forum in Amsterdam, click here.  For last minute details of the conference in Chicago on October 27th-28th click here. 

As regulatory pressure mounts and supply chain scrutiny intensifies, leading brands in food, beverage, and apparel are uncovering the business value by looking beyond high-level carbon inventories to understand and act on granular, product-level emissions data measurement. At the same time, overlapping standards and fragmented data are leaving many sustainability teams unsure where to start and how to prioritise action. This webinar unpacked what 'product footprinting at scale' really means in practice: how companies are overcoming data and methodology challenges, how different sectors are approaching standard-setting and data exchange, and what business value organisations are unlocking in moving from pilot programmes to enterprise-wide implementation. We discussed: How evolving product footprint frameworks and customer requirements are reshaping expectations for teams in sustainability, product, and procurement The practical bottlenecks: navigating uncertainty, making the business case, and systematising and scaling product-level emissions data and tools What’s needed in terms of governance, tools, and internal alignment to move from LCA and PCF pilots to portfolio‑wide implementation How companies are turning product-level emissions data into action – from PCF, and Scope 3 decarbonisation to regulatory readiness and product innovation.

Andrew Coburn, founder and chair at Risilience, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the coming super El Niño and agricultural and financial shocks it can bring to global food supply chains. They discuss latest findings on case studies, such as crop losses at $39-375 billion, with rice, wheat, coffee and palm oil all exposed. 

This week: James Stokes, director of business development at Lestari Capital, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about financing nature-based solutions and ecosystem services. They discuss why nature-based investment cases lean on risk prevention rather than a positive return story, and why shifting that imbalance depends on making nature as investable as any other asset class.   And, food systems exploit more workers than any other sector globally; PepsiCo's farmers protect its potato supply; major fashion coalition to fund textile waste management in Ghana; and, Australia’s high court blocks coal mine expansion, in the news digest with Babette Pagès.   Host: Ian Welsh

This week: Tory Hoffmeister, senior manager, sustainable sourcing, climate and water lead, Colgate-Palmolive, Matthias Maase, director global sustainability care chemicals, BASF, Francesco Davila Alotto, global environmental sustainability senior manager, Givaudan and Alexandra Florea, head of sustainability, Medik8, join Ian Welsh in an extract from a recent Innovation Forum webinar to talk about how the personal care sector is focusing on supply chain scope 3 emissions.   Plus: critical minerals’ governance gaps; Türkiye’s climate COP31 ambitions; recycled polyester commitments from Primark; and, new UK food waste standards, in the news digest with Babette Pagès.  Host: Ian Welsh   For the full scope 3 webinar recording click here.