A regular blog about (un) sustainable business. A focus on practical stuff, not blue sky pretentious waffle. Around 6000 regular readers, surprisingly.
It seems to me that Anglo-Saxon capitalism and globalisation has failed millions of people. In two recent episodes (one barely needs to name them as the Brexit vote and the US election result) many of these citizens decided to vote decisively in protest, for what they hope is change. When you have little to lose, you are…
Here’s two short videos I taped a couple of years ago on the history of CSR and sustainable business. Each is about five minutes and they were the most popular ones on the online course I used to run with Mallen Baker (at least, out of the videos I taped) I have given this as a…
Does the internet REALLY need another listicle, I hear you ask? Probably not. But readers do click on stuff like this, hence the headline. I think it’s because you know it’s not going to be very long (or deep) and you might have time to get to the end. My guesswork aside, this listicle (it’s better…
At Innovation Forum we’re now helping companies understand risk in a cost effective way, that’s not just through edgy, focused conferences which get to the heart of the issues. Several companies has asked us to provide them with a quarterly, cost effective risk briefing service via PDF report, and face to face meetings. These focus…
The case of an activist being supported by a Finnish company testifying against a former supplier in Thailand shows how the progressive business landscape is changing Relationships between companies and campaigners have evolved over the last few years. Still often adversaries, multinationals and NGOs now also work together towards common sustainability goals. Now, a case…
As we move into the summer break, here are some upcoming meetings from Innovation Forum that readers might want to think about coming to later in 2016. Remember, we take away all the boring bits of conferences and emphasise the useful. So our events are all about debate, the right people in the room, focus,…
Yesterday I took part in a webinar hosted by Forest Trends / Supply Change and our company, Innovation Forum. Our brief was to discuss progress made on tacking deforestation in corporate supply chains. I made a few remarks in an attempt to offer some challenge to current thinking, and to think about where we need…
Many companies are risking their futures by not properly investigating how the shift to a low-carbon economy will affect them The bankruptcy filing in April of Peabody Energy, the world’s largest private coal company, was a warning to those that disregard the risk to their business of decarbonisation. Peabody said it would be back because…
Thai Union have been front and centre in the debate about both human rights and fishing, and seafood sustainability around the world in recent years. Greenpeace continue campaigning against the company on Tuna and fishing devices. Meanwhile the company has made significant progress on human rights issues, in a challenging operating environment. Some campaigners might…
At our most recent conference on how business can prevent deforestation, in Washington, D.C, last month, I caught up with Chris Wille. If you don’t know about Chris’s work, you should. He is a true pioneer in sustainable business, who has created models used today all over the world, during a 40 year career, 24 of…
We’ve gone a bit podcast crazy at Innovation Forum recently. Check out our podcast and webinar channel for the below and a lot more, on palm oil, pulp & paper, Krill and much more recently. All free, and no log in needed. You can also sign up on iTunes here. Lots of useful, practical podcasts…
(From the weekly Innovation Forum business brief. Sign up free, no registration needed, at: http://innovation-forum.co.uk We publish a piece like this, every week) IOI’s decision to take RSPO to court sets a dangerous precedent and brings established corporate-certification body relationships into question The hot dispute between Malaysian palm oil business IOI Group and certification body the…
Picture the scene. Your company is under attack. A campaign has happened that has cost you millions of dollars in lost business. Big brands, fearful of their reputations and their own sustainability commitments, have cut you out of the their supply chains, or will do shortly. You know that doing this is a serious shift,…
What are the need-to-know highlights for supply chains this month? Here are our top ten insights In the May issue of Supply Chain Risk & Innovation, we analyse the IOI Group’s falling out with RSPO and the latest supplier checks by Primark. We examine the latest tech innovation, looking at collaboration between the UN Food…
Here’s an in-depth excerpt from our new Supply Chain Risk & Innovation publication on modern slavery, trends, actions, and examples of how companies can tackle the issue. Click the link to check it out. We publish 250 pages a year of insight, analysis and examples of better practice, campaign trends and key stats and acts each year,…
I'm Toby Webb, founder of Innovation Forum, a sustainability focused research, publishing and events business. I've also been a lecturer on Corporate Responsibility at Kings College London and at Birkbeck, University of London for eight years. I work with large companies all over the world and sit on the sustainability advisory board for Walgreens Boots Alliance. From 2006-9 I lead the development of UK CSR policy, resulting in the Responsibility Deals framework. I can be contacted at Tobias DOT Webb AT innovation-forum.co.uk
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