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While 2016 lacked the drama of Indonesia's 2015 fire and haze crisis, surging deforestation in Earth's largest rainforest and ongoing destruction of forests for industrial plantations meant that it was far from a quiet year for the planet's rainforests. So what's ahead for 2017? Here are eight things we'll be closely watching in the new year.

The State of Green Business, 2017 Here are the 10 trends defining sustainable business, with data for a deep dive about how corporations are taking action on energy, emissions and more.

The EPA announced the winners of its 2017 Climate Leadership Awards, which recognize companies, organizations, and individuals for their leadership in reducing GHG emissions

End-of-life electronics worldwide are expected to increase 33 percent in just five years, reaching 65.5 million metric tons annually by 2017, according to data from Solving the E-Waste Problem (StEP) Initiative, a UN-backed alliance

Tyson Foods announced plans to eliminate the use of human antibiotics from its U.S. broiler chicken flocks by September 2017.

By 2017, the global volume of discarded refrigerators, TVs, cellphones, computers, monitors and other electronic waste will weigh almost as much as 200 Empire State Buildings, a new report predicts.

According to new data, tropical countries lost 158,000 square kilometers (39 million acres) of tree cover in 2017 - an area the size of Bangladesh.

In the midst of the second-worst year for tropical tree cover loss in 2017, Indonesia saw an encouraging sign: a 60 percent drop in tree cover loss in primary forests compared with 2016.

Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company specialising in diabetes, obesity and other serious chronic diseases, published its Annual Report 2017 online today at novonordisk.com/annualreport. It is the company's fourteenth integrated annual report accounting for the company's financial, social and environmental performance.

Non-profit Fashion Revolution has released the 2017 Fashion Transparency Index, which rates the supply chain practices and social and environmental impact of 100 global fashion and apparel brands and retailers. The Index gave the highest ratings to H&M, Inditex, and Levi Strauss & Co.

Announced today at Climate Week NYC 2017 in New York, global financial institutions Citi and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have joined The Climate Group's RE100 campaign with CDP, committing to source 100% renewable power across their global operations by 2020. Other companies joining the RE100 initiative are one of the fastest-growing beverage companies, Califia Farms, and UK investment management company Jupiter Asset Management. The announcements follow news last week that The Estée Lauder Companies, Kellogg Company, DBS Bank and Clif Bar & Company have also joined RE100. 110 of the world's most influential companies are now generating demand for over 150 TWh renewable energy annually - more than enough to power New York State.

The World Economic Forum's (WEF) flagship annual report surveyed 750 experts to identify the most significant global concerns. Here are the top five:

Future 500's Report on the Top 10 Stakeholder Engagement Trends of 2017. This is our sixth annual report. Each year, our team pools their expertise and perspective to identify ten social, environmental or economic trends that will shape engagement between corporations and external stakeholders in the coming year and beyond.

Four representatives recently introduced a bill called the Food Donation Act of 2017 (H.R. 952), which addresses some of the greatest barriers that restaurants and food service companies face when they want to give away their excess edible food. This bill clarifies and enhances the coverage areas of the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, the legislation that made the donation of excess food from businesses to people in need legally protected.

6 MARCH 2017 | GENEVA - More than 1 in 4 deaths of children under 5 years of age are attributable to unhealthy environments. Every year, environmental risks - such as indoor and outdoor air pollution, second-hand smoke, unsafe water, lack of sanitation, and inadequate hygiene - take the lives of 1.7 million children under 5 years, say two new WHO reports.

Corporate spending on sustainability and circular economy initiatives is on the rise - and yielding increased sales and cost savings, according to consulting firm Pure Strategies, which says its latest survey found more than 80 percent of companies expect a sustainability budget increase from 2016 to 2017 with a third anticipating double-digit growth.

According to the International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV), an industry group that supports research and development of wine and other grape-based products, 2017 will prove to be a rough year for vinters worldwide. The worst harvest since 1961, largely due to extremes in hot and cold temperatures in leading wine-producing countries such as France and Italy, have led to lower yields at harvest time.

In its 2017 Annual Report, the Chemical Footprint Project - an initiative driving the effective management of chemicals in product supply chains - demonstrates how chemical footprinting is increasingly moving towards the mainstream. The report shares how businesses from across industries stack up against four pillars - management strategy, chemical inventory, footprint measurement and public disclosure and verification - and provides investors and purchasers with data that enables them to benchmark firms on their progress.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Better Building Challenge partners have reduced their cumulative energy use by 240 trillion BTUs and saved $1.9 billion through energy efficiency measures since the launch of the program in 2011, according to the Better Building Challenge's 2017 progress report.