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From materiality to conflict minerals disclosure, here are the top trends in corporate reporting, plus tips on how to refine your approach.

Hilton Worldwide will cease serving shark fin and stop accepting new orders for shark fin dishes by April 1, 2014. The ban covers all restaurants and facilities operated by its 96 owned and managed properties across Asia Pacific.

London/Rotterdam, 9 April 2014. Unilever announced today that all its factories across Europe have joined those in North America in achieving zero non-hazardous waste to landfill. With similar achievements in countries from Argentina to Indonesia, it means more than three-quarters of the company's global factory network no longer sends such waste to landfill, up from 20% just three years ago.

Mondelez International exceeded its goal to reduce manufacturing waste by 15 percent per metric ton of production by 2015, according to the company's most recent sustainability report. Through 2014, the snacking company achieved a 57 percent reduction - four times the original goal.

With December 2013 ending without rainfall, California's driest year on record is hurting crops and cattle and will likely cause more water rationing in 2014.

Soccer merchandise produced by adidas, Nike and Puma ahead of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil has been found to contain hazardous chemicals, according to an investigation by Greenpeace Germany.

The world's largest publishing companies have adopted policies that significantly curtail use of paper sourced from rainforest destruction and social conflict, finds a new assessment published by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN).  Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0518-ran-publishing-industry.html#20O30qvTrE8O6zAr.99

Don't leave 2014 without realizing there have been notable - often underreported - big capital market breakthroughs on climate change, water protection and other sustainability fronts.

Amazon Web Services says it will source 100 percent renewable energy for its global infrastructure. The company doesn't give a timeframe for achieving this goal. Read more: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2014/11/21/amazon-commits-to-100-renewable-energy/#ixzz3LXdAxhVd

Each year, Future 500 releases a Top 10 list of what we view are the most pressing and timely stakeholder issues of the year ahead. Check out our video this year to learn more about these key stakeholder concerns that impact both the corporate sector and activist community.

Chipotle set a goal of sourcing over 20 million pounds of produce from local farms in 2014-up from 15 million pounds in 2013. The company will serve food from 45 farms located within 350 miles of its restaurants.

The Hershey Company has announced that 30%of its globally sourced cocoa was independently certified and verified in 2014 - this reflects an accelerated pace for achieving its goal of sourcing 100% of its cocoa supply from certified and sustainable cocoa farms by 2020.

The potential for new laws governing the use of forest resources this year in Cameroon promises an opportunity to stem the rapid loss of forest in the biologically diverse country. But the changes may ultimately not be what's needed to save Cameroon's forests. Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0625-gfrn-cannon-cameroon.html#w6L2jPe1cgOgqGYr.99

The 2014 drought has cost California's economy $2.2 billion, according to a report from the University of California, Davis.

General Motors began composting food scraps at its global headquarters, working with a local company to transform the waste into gardening soil. The company expects to collect 51,000 tons of food scraps by the end of 2014.

Tetra Pak has launched what it says is the industry's first carton made entirely from plant based, renewable packaging materials. Read more: http://www.environmentalleader.com/2014/10/20/tetra-pak-carton-uses-100-plant-based-materials/#ixzz3GjhXCo1m

Since 2014, oil companies reported that they used more than 20 million pounds and 2 million gallons of chemicals in their operations, including at least 16 chemicals the state of California classifies as carcinogens or reproductive toxicants under the state's Proposition 65 law. That recycled wastewater was then sold to irrigation districts largely in Kern County. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has allowed the practice for at least four decades and only recently required the oil companies and water districts to disclose the details. EWG detailed its findings in a report released Wednesday, two days before a public meeting of an expert panel convened to study the practice's safety. Although scientists don't know whether using oil field wastewater to grow crops poses a health risk to people who eat the food, the water board has refused to halt the practice until the expert panel releases its findings.

The country may be the world's largest carbon emitter, but China has the potential to become a clean energy leader. China is now the largest producer of renewable energy, generating 325 million tons of oil equivalent in 2013. Although renewables represented only 11 percent of the country's total energy production in 2014, this shift indicates the Chinese government's effort to transition its energy production mix.

US energy-related carbon emissions dropped 12 percent last year, compared with 2005 levels, after increasing in 2013 and 2014, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Reduced energy-sector C02 emissions in 2015 are largely due to a decreased use of coal and increased use of natural gas in the electricity mix, the EIA says. Such fuel-use changes have accounted for 68 percent of total energy-related CO2 reductions from 2005 to 2015.

Zion Research says the market for green building materials will reach $255 billion by 2020, about twice what it was in 2014. North American and Europe are the largest consumers of the environmentally friendly materials.