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Beauty brands Coty, L'Oreal, Groupe Clarins and Groupe Rocher have partnered on an initiative to increase sustainability in the beauty supply chain. The Responsible Beauty Initiative will be overseen by supply chain sustainability ratings agency EcoVadis and will encourage businesses to enhance and share sustainable practices.

Unprecedented momentum is being delivered by over 600 companies committed to bold climate action, through the We Mean Business coalition's Take Action campaign. The campaign brings together strategic climate commitments, facilitated by the We Mean Business coalition partners, which are collectively helping these companies tackle some 2.31 gigatons of Scope 1+2 emissions - equivalent to the total annual emissions of Russia. These initiatives are also helping companies to harness climate action as a driver of innovation, competitiveness, risk management and growth.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development has partnered with the Climate Bonds Initiative to help scale up the corporate green bond market.

A group of organizations - including C&A Foundation, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, McDonough Innovation, and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition - have launched the Fashion For Good initiative, which aims to help set the apparel industry on a more sustainable path using a Cradle to Cradle-inspired, circular approach to product development. The initiative will engage key players from across the fashion industry and will support the "scale up of technologies, methodologies, and business models with the potential to wholly transform the industry."

California's new environmental rules, which will mean much tougher efficiency standards for buildings and greater use of renewable energy, are good news for the state's businesses, some experts say. Many large new-energy and infrastructure projects will be needed to meet the mandates, and that means money and jobs. "The most important thing the businesses need is a market signal," said Steve Chadima, director of California initiatives for Advanced Energy Economy

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.

Business leaders from the global non-profit initiative The B Team issued a call to action urging world leaders to formally commit to a global goal of net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. The B Team leaders include Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group), Dr. Mo Ibrahim (Celtel), Guilherme Leal (Natura), François-Henri Pinault (Kering), Paul Polman (Unilever), and Ratan Tata (Tata Group).

When it comes to the private sector's efforts to curb climate change, the rubber hit the road at New York Climate Week. Companies and their nonprofit partners announced numerous milestones and hosted discussions throughout the city to translate lofty goals into action. Meanwhile, new initiatives were launched to deepen collaboration among the private sector, governments and civil society.

When it comes to the private sector's efforts to curb climate change, the rubber hit the road at New York Climate Week. Companies and their nonprofit partners announced numerous milestones and hosted discussions throughout the city to translate lofty goals into action. Meanwhile, new initiatives were launched to deepen collaboration among the private sector, governments and civil society.

The company became the first within the toy industry to adopt such an 'environmentally friendly' stance towards their packaging, which took approximately six years to develop. Adam Gendell, Sustainable Packaging Coalition Associate Director told Toy & Hobby Retailer, "Disney is rising to the challenge by reinventing its long-standing practices to set a new standard across its industry that is not only more sustainable but that will inform what generations of children will expect of packaging and its environmental impact."

The Better Buildings Challenge says businesses that have participated in its initiative have reduced energy use 2% annually for a total savings of $1.3 billion. The goal is to make buildings 20% more efficient within 10 years. In total, 34,000 buildings and facilities have been part of the effort.

A Haitian initiative supported by apparel company Timberland has given way to a more ambitious goal to farm sustainable cotton on the island

Leaders of eight major seafood companies and fish feed organizations signed a pledge for ocean sustainability after a kickoff meeting of the Seafood Business for Ocean Stewardship last month in the Maldives. Signatories agreed to improve transparency in their own operations, build on and share best practices, engage in science-based efforts to improve fisheries management and productivity, work toward pollution reduction goals, and support the development of new sustainability technology and initiatives.

The Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition is a business-led public-private partnership harnessing the collective expertise of over 25 companies, including 3M, Aveda, Dow Water, Ecolab, General Mills, the Great Plains Institute, and Target, to advance the next frontier of corporate sustainability - the circular economy - here in the U.S. Environmental Initiative, a local nonprofit organization, is convening and facilitating the coalition

Sky promises to source 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2020 where available, while Bloomberg promises to purchase all green electricity by 2025 Two of the world's largest media firms have pledged to get all their electricity from renewable sources as part of the RE100 initiative, which encourages businesses to source 100 per cent renewable power.

"Just 14% of plastic packaging is collected for recycling globally, one third ends up in the natural environment and if current trends continue, by 2050 our oceans could contain more plastics than fish, by weight," says Rob Opsomer, lead of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's new plastics economy initiative. "We need to fundamentally rethink the way we produce, use and recover plastics, redesign plastic packaging and adopt common standards."

Starwood Hotels & Resorts plans to save more than $1 billion over the next 10 years through energy-efficiency initiatives and other environmental programs. The effort will include employees at all levels of the company, says sustainability chief Andrea Pinabell. "Small actions taken by our more than 180,000 associates worldwide have the ability to make a profound impact on our hotels, communities and business," she 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.

I:CO launched its first ever I:CO City initiative with the city of San Francisco earlier this year. The launch creates a public, private and nonprofit infrastructure to make it convenient and rewarding for residents and businesses to recycle textile related items. In alignment with San Francisco's goal of zero waste by 2020, I:CO will serve as the lead textile collection and processing partner to divert waste from landfill and give it new life.