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This week: Lisa Spicka de Bevacqua, global director of sustainability consulting at auditor and certifiers NSF, talks with Ian Welsh about the trends in sustainability regulation in Europe and beyond. They discuss challenges in reporting and taking action, and how the impact differs for larger companies and SMEs.
 
Plus: Mike Shoemaker, CEO of farm data analysts Vayda talks with Ian about the ever-increasing importance of regenerative agriculture and what's driving this transition. Mike discusses the trend of over-focussing on carbon and how to appropriately put regenerative farming into practice.
 
And, Waitrose to support 2,000 UK farmers to adopt regenerative and low carbon farming practices; renewables account for 30% of global electricity generation in 2023; and, the Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market says Verra's updated Verified Carbon Standard means the high-integrity Core Carbon Principles, in the news digest.

Kaley Roshitsh, editorial director at Cascale, formerly known as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about major apparel industry trends including challenges of compliance with incoming regulation and the regenerative transition. They discuss what companies should look out for, the opportunities they should grasp and what best practice looks like.
 
Cascale is the knowledge collaborator for this year’s sustainable apparel and textiles conference series. Kaley will be at the New York event on 25th-26th June to continue the conversation. Click here for full registration details.

On 25th April, IF hosted a webinar in partnership with Yara International to discuss sustainable crop nutrition

Regenerative agriculture is an evolving, science-based and outcome-focused approach to farming, and has a significant role to play in safeguarding food security and sustainable nutrition. Central to this approach is the strategic utilisation of fertilizers. While fertilizers have historically been associated with environmental harm, when strategically integrated within regenerative practices, they can foster soil health and bolster nutrient cycles, leading to resilient yields and food security.In this webinar, we discussed: 
Which fertilizers can be employed within a regenerative farming approach, and how? 
The ecological benefits that a sustainable use of certain fertilizers can help to achieve 
The role of fertilizers in enabling sustainable crop nutrition through robust and regenerative food systems 
Hear valuable insights from: 
Marina Ettl, Director for Funded Projects and Regenerative Agriculture Business Intelligence, Yara International 
Jan Willem Sepers, Senior Director Agriculture EMEA, Lamb Weston 
Paz Panunzio Moscoso, Research Scientist Sustainability and Strategic Research, Yara International  
The webinar was moderated by Tanya Richard, Chief Operating Officer and Head of Stakeholder Engagement at Innovation Forum. 
This webinar was held in partnership with Yara International.

This week: Raviv Turner, founding member of the Nature Tech Collective and member of the nature data working group at the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures, talks with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh about the dangers of being too carbon focused when thinking about impacts. They discuss how companies can move towards biodiversity and nature disclosure and, ultimately, action.
 
Plus: on the spot reflections from the sustainable apparel and textiles conference in Amsterdam with Kresse Wesling from recycled luxury accessories brand Elvis & Kresse. She talks about how apparel brands can best respond to the incoming regulations, particularly in the EU.

While in India, Innovation Forum’s Toby Webb spoke with CottonConnect’s CEO Alison Ward and global supply chain director Dawa Dorje about their sustainable cotton programme that focuses on delivering a supply chain with end-to-end transparency. They discuss the importance of smallholder inclusion and how they benefit from a transition to a more regenerative approach such as through reduced input costs and improved yields.
To learn more about the cotton value chain in India, watch this documentary created in partnership with CottonConnect.

Amanda Archila, executive director at Fairtrade America, and Anna Mann, associate director of responsible business at Fairtrade Foundation, discuss the food price and value gap, and highlighting the root cause of the issue from the producer's perspective. In conversation with Innovation Forum's Ian Welsh, they talk about what constitutes fair pricing and how to evenly distribute costs along value chains.
 
Fairtrade Foundation and Fairtrade America will be at Innovation Forum’s future of food and beverage conference series in Amsterdam (13th-14th May) and Minneapolis (29th-30th May). Click for registration details to join us.