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"Green Game-Changers: Insights for Mainstreaming Business Innovation" (World Wildlife Fund and Verdantix) features 16 case studies that demonstrate how sustainable business innovations are flowing between regions of the globe. The report also details the types of green innovations that could potentially disrupt established companies.

The global market for green chemistry is expected to boom from $11 billion in 2015 to about $100 billion by 2020, according to data from the American Sustainable Business Council and the Green Chemistry and Commerce Council. While challenges remain -- notably around building a consensus about what "green" chemistry really means -- consumers are increasingly demanding safer and more sustainable products. "In a nutshell, the green chemistry market is poised for takeoff," writes Libby Bernick. GreenBiz.com (5/6)  

Conducting due diligence on the environmental and social practices of small and growing agricultural businesses yields financial benefits to lenders that partially or fully offset the costs involved, according to nonprofit agriculture lender Root Capital.

In a recent GreenBiz webcast, a panel of experts - including strategists from General MIlls, Kering and McDonald's - explained why going big on sustainability goals is increasingly a smart business strategy, as well as a good stewardship policy. They discussed the intersection of today's major frameworks, such as science-driven goal setting, the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTI), planetary boundaries, Sustainable Development Goals, and more, and provided concrete business cases from several organizations on how they are conducting this transition.

After new chemistry policies from the like of Target, Walmart and Kaiser Permanente, the economics of green alternatives are increasingly favorable.

Most recently, social responsibility has become an issue as reports of labor abuses and unethical manufacturing practices have come to light. With growing consumer awareness of all of these issues, finding a path to sustainability is becoming increasingly important.

A new BSR report makes the triple-bottom-line business case for investing in nature, including numerous examples from leading companies. 

Unilever has worked hard to be a sustainable, environmentally conscious business, but whether the $170 billion conglomerate can turn that into profits in today's competitive market remains to be seen, according to this analysis. "Too many companies are running their business into the ground, I would argue, by being myopically short-term focused on the shareholder," said CEO Paul Polman.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is the first to receive the US Zero Waste Business Council's platinum certification - the highest possible rating - for successfully diverting 99.8 percent of its waste.

Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. is the first to receive the US Zero Waste Business Council's platinum certification - the highest possible rating - for successfully diverting 99.8 percent of its waste.

After months of consultation with stakeholders, the Natural Capital Coalition has published the first draft of a suggested framework to help businesses account for the value of natural resources such as water, soil, forests and even clean air in strategic decision-making.

Norpac Fisheries Export is one of several companies that has found it profitable -- as well as environmentally helpful -- to track seafood catches along their entire supply chain and make sure they were not caught using illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) practices. Norpac's tracking system "actually saves us time and money," Managing Director Thomas Kraft said.

For Dow, this natural treatment decision in Seadrift led to some $39 million in initial capital savings and ultimately translated into some $282 million of Net Present Value benefits and counting.

Conopco, a Unilever subsidiary and the consumer goods company's US business, has agreed to settle two cases and pay $362,500 for air pollution violations related to the sale of hair styling products in California.

Investing in natural capital such as water, soils and biodiversity limits risk and can drive profitability, leading companies say.

Timberland knows the value of products that can be called sustainable, says Margaret Morey-Reuner, director of strategic partnerships and business development. One challenge is ensuring proper sourcing of materials, which the company has tried to address through a third-party certification process.

There's a new twist on crowdfunding solar projects. SolarCity and Mosaic are engaging businesses and consumers

Coca-Cola said in its recently released 2016 sustainability report that while it has made progress toward its "grow the business, not the carbon," gemissions reduction goals, it is off track due in part to volume growth outpacing emission ratio improvements and insourcing of external manufacturing processes.

As an ever-expanding group of U.S. businesses commit to using more renewable energy to power their operations, a new study has found that for many companies, cost savings is the single most important reason for doing so. This is according to results of the first major survey of large electricity users since President Donald Trump announced his decision to pull the U.S. out of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, conducted by SED Research. The Sept. 13 report, "Post-Paris: the State of Corporate Renewable Energy Sourcing," analyzes responses from executives at 94 companies and institutions, more than 40 of which are in the Fortune 500.

India is delaying a decision on asking for a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organisation against domestic content regulations in renewable energy programmes run by eight states in the US as it is hoping to work out a "mutually beneficial'' solution with the new regime under Republican leader Donald Trump. "New Delhi is still hopeful that it could work out a compromise with Washington on the flexible implementation of the WTO verdict against it in the solar power programme dispute. It may decide not to ask for a panel against US renewable energy programmes if it gets an assurance from the Trump administration on leniency in the solar case," a government official told BusinessLine.