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Thirteen nature conservation organizations are urging world leaders to back a plan to protect 30 percent of the world's surface and oceans by 2030.

Hershey Co. is spending $500 million in the hopes of producing its iconic chocolate Kisses from more sustainable cocoa. Through its so-called Cocoa for Good program, the company will invest the funds through 2030 to support four key areas: nourishing children, empowering youth, building prosperous communities and preserving natural ecosystems.

The EU's Plastics Strategy aims to cut out non-recyclable plastics by 2030, while cutting down on single-use plastics and restricting microplastics, all by establishing a new circular economy around the material. The strategy lays out a few key steps to achieve this. The first is to introduce new rules on packaging that improve their recyclability and increase the demand for recycled plastics, thereby making recycling profitable for businesses.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed into law a statewide goal to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030.

The World Wildlife Fund has published a new report, Eating for 2 Degrees - New and Updated Livewell Plates, which outlines how simple steps, such as reducing red meat consumption, could help to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The report shares the minimal dietary changes needed to meet the Paris Agreement commitment to keep global warming below 2°C.

The Madhya Pradesh government in India spearheaded an environmental campaign last weekend in which some 1.5 million volunteers planted 66 million trees in 12 hours along the banks of the Narmada River. India, the world's third-largest generator of carbon emissions, has committed under the Paris Agreement to increase its forests by 12% by 2030.

New research on progress towards ending deforestation by 2030 shows funding is woefully short, while indigenous groups say their role as protectors of the forest is under increasing threat. Recent news that the world's tropical forests are now so degraded they have become a source rather than a sink of carbon emissions have injected new urgency into the need to achieve the goals set out in the New York Declaration on Forests four years ago.

An alliance of 27 countries and states - including the UK, Canada, and Mexico - have pledged to phase out coal power generation by 2030. The alliance has plans to grow to at least 50 members by late-2018.

India is facing its "worst-ever" water crisis, according to a report from a government think tank issued last week. Around 200,000 Indians die each year due to lack of water access, the report finds, and demand will be twice as much as supply by 2030.

NRG Energy introduced additional sustainability goals, which build on its science-based absolute GHG reduction goals set in 2014. The goals include: reducing water use 40% by 2030, reducing supply chain carbon and water intensity 25% by 2025, increasing recycling rate of coal combustion residuals 30% by 2022, and helping customers avoid 120 million metric tons of CO2-equivalent emissions by 2020.

Two Asian nations are on track to exceed their climate goals by 2030, according to the Climate Action Tracker, an analysis produced by a consortium of nonprofits and consulting groups. China and India both have made renewable energy investments and have committed to burning less coal.

Walmart has saved over $1 billion in fuel costs by upgrading its fleet, and plans to continue to cut consumption and emissions through an effort called Project Gigaton. The plan, announced in conjunction with the World Wildlife Fund, will reduce emissions from Walmart suppliers by a gigaton by 2030.

The state Air Resources Board (ARB) adopted the extensive 2017 version to outline California's climate policy path to 2030 and detail how it will fulfill its landmark legislative mandate to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developing a strong roadmap is important not only here but across the country and beyond because of California's global leadership role as a climate policy incubator and best practice exporter.

The Obama administration's rule leans heavily on renewable energy to meet its goal to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 32 percent by 2030, which is an increase of 2 percentage points from the draft it released in the summer of 2014. While states have two additional years until they must begin cutting emissions - 2022 instead of 2020 - they are expected to start devising ways to improve their environments, which will focus on shifting to cleaner burning fuels and away from carbon-heavy ones. "The trend we are on will get us there," says Rob Gramlich, senior vice president for government affairs at the American Wind Energy Association, in a phone interview. "As the nation moves from coal to gas, and as it adds more wind, solar and energy efficiency, we will reach that 32 percent target."

The Obama administration's Clean Power Plan rule will require states to begin cutting carbon emissions by 2022. "The trend we are on will get us there. As the nation moves from coal to gas, and as it adds more wind, solar and energy efficiency, we will reach that 32% target," said Rob Gramlich of the American Wind Energy Association. To comply, states can choose among options including boosting renewables, improving heat rates for coal-fired steam generators, and using more nuclear energy and lower-emitting natural gas. Forbes (8/4)