Welcome to the first episode of the Sustainable Commodities Podcast for 2026! After a short break, hosts Barnaby Patchett and Judith Murdoch are back to tackle the pressing question facing businesses this year: What comes next?

With the 2025 deforestation targets now in the rearview mirror, companies are under increasing pressure to demonstrate not just ambition, but tangible results. To help navigate this shifting landscape, we are joined by Dr. Jeff Milder, Director of the Accountability Framework Initiative (AFi).
In this episode, Jeff walks us through the AFi’s recently published Operational Guidance on Commitments and Progress Pathways – a new roadmap for setting, achieving, and reporting on goals to eliminate deforestation, conversion, and human rights abuses in agricultural/forestry supply chains.
We explore what new guidance means for your business and how it can help you at every step of the journey – from making high-level pledges to ongoing monitoring.

Key topics discussed:

The "Why Now": Understanding the new AFi guidance released in December and why it’s so useful for businesses in 2026.
Commitments vs. Reality: How to set credible time-bound targets and what to do if you’ve missed them.
Engagement vs. Exclusion: How to handle non-compliance in the supply chain—is it better to cut them loose or help them improve?
The Regulatory Landscape: How the AFi framework aligns with and supports compliance for major regulations like the EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation).
Building Trust: Avoiding "greenwashing" and the danger of "greenhushing" by communicating your progress (and failures) transparently. Whether you are struggling with traceability, worried about compliance, or just trying to set your next set of sustainability goals, Dr. Milder explains how AFi can provide the practical roadmap you need.

Useful Links:
The Guidance - Operational Guidance: Commitments and Progress Pathways
Accountability Framework initiative
One Nine Nine
Murdoch Associates

The New Roadmap for Responsible Supply Chains - Dr. Jeff Milder (AFi)