World Resources Institute Podcasts Plus WRI's Big Ideas Into Action podcast

The approach that many corporations take with their supply chains passes the environmental and monetary costs down to the small businesses and workers that rely on them. These workers are far more vulnerable to supply chain disruptions – which are becoming more frequent and more destructive as climate impacts worsen.

In part two of this three-part series, we discuss the ways that large companies and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can establish partnerships founded on trust and transparency. The ripple effects of strong partnerships could improve supply chains and working conditions for workers around the globe.

Modern supply chains are global, complex, and touch nearly everyone in some way — you’re either part of the production process for a given commodity, a consumer of that product or service, or both. However, current supply chain practices fail to properly value our natural resources and the people working within them.

Over the course of three episodes, you'll hear from a dozen experts who will explain why centering people is an effective strategy for large corporations to meet their supply chain sustainability goals. This first episode is focused on a key missing ingredient in most corporate plans: the voices of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their workers.

Across any global supply chain, workers upstream and the small businesses they work for typically share one thing; a lack of representation and decision-making power when it comes to the buyers furthest downstream setting sustainability targets for the whole value chain.

In fact, as Dan Viederman from the Working Capital Fund points out, there are more than 1,000,000,000 workers who don't make enough money from their jobs to support their livelihoods. While supply chains are increasingly more complex, a simple solution to improve them is by treating the most vulnerable workers better.

This series — hosted, produced and edited by Daniel Baker — is funded by the Ares Charitable Foundation as part of their CREST Initiative; a 5-year career preparation and reskilling project that aims to close the gap between the demand for a skilled workforce for green jobs and the number of people prepared for these opportunities to build an equitable, low-carbon economy.

Episode 2 premiers on Wednesday, April 24. Episode 3 premiers on Wednesday, May 1. Make sure to subscribe to WRI's Big Ideas Into Action podcast to hear the rest of the series.

Episode 1 Featured Guests:
Adel Guitouni | Associate Professor of Business, University of Victoria
Andrew Olah | Founder, Ethical Denim Council
Becca Coughlan | Senior Advocacy Manager, Remake
Brian Lipinski | 10x20x30 Initiative Project Manager, WRI
Dan Viederman | Partner, Working Capital Fund 
Jacques Leslie | Yale Environment 360 & LA Times Writer
Jason Judd | Executive Director, Global Labor Institute & Professor, Cornell University
Lydia Elliott | Deputy Director of Supply Chain Decarbonization, We Mean Business Coalition's SME Climate Hub
Namit Agarwal | Social Transformation Lead, World Benchmarking Alliance
Rene Zamora | Restoration Policy Senior Manager, WRI
Sheri Hinish | Global Sustainable Supply Chain Leader, Ernst & Young (EY) & Podcast Host, Supply Chain Revolution
Taj Eldridge | Managing Director for Climate Innovations, Jobs for the Future (JFF) Labs

What do climate-vulnerable countries want from the forthcoming COP28 conference? In this podcast Nicholas Walton talks to Mark Bynoe and Maria Laura Rojas, two members of the ACT2025 grouping, a coalition amplifying the voices of vulnerable countries in the climate negotiations. What are they hoping for, what are their concerns, and how optimistic are they ahead of COP28?

Carbon Dioxide Removal promises to be an important tool in fighting climate change, but how can countries best use it as they reduce their emissions? WRI recently published a working paper on the challenges and questions surrounding carbon dioxide removal, such as equity, its role in mitigation, and how its use can be monitored. In this WRI podcast Nicholas Walton asks the authors - Katie Lebling, Clea Schumer and Danielle Riedl - about their findings and recommendations.

What are the big stories to watch for 2023? In this World Resources Institute podcast Ani Dasgupta and Nicholas Walton discuss four: the longer term impact of Russian's invasion of Ukraine on energy; what the re-election of President Lula in Brazil means for tropical forests; why 2023 is a big year for climate finance; and how is the Inflation Reduction Act affecting the US and beyond?

You can see Ani's full presentation of Stories To Watch 2023 at https://www.wri.org/events/2023/1/stories-watch-2023

What is being done to stop marine biodiversity loss? Marine ecosystems are essential for all life on earth, providing benefits ranging from food to economic and recreational opportunities and more – with 3 billion people depending directly on marine and coastal biodiversity for their livelihoods. However, it is being lost at an alarming rate.

COP15 in Montreal saw governments from around the world take a step towards addressing this threat to nature by agreeing ‘30 by 30’, effective conservation and management of at least 30% of the world’s lands, inland waters, coastal areas and oceans by 2030.

In this podcast, we learn about the cost of marine biodiversity loss in Mexico, a megadiverse country and home to almost 70% of the world’s diversity of species. We hear how Mexico are working to go above and beyond ‘30 by 30’, to manage 100% of the ocean under national jurisdictions, as part of their role on the High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy.

Global Director of WRI’s Ocean Program, Kristian Teleki sat down with Martha Delgado and Andrew Rhodes from the government of Mexico during COP15, to discuss what these targets mean and what happens next for the future of our ocean.