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HP became the first high-tech company to set specific greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction goals across its suppliers and business partners and an aggressive one at that: 20 percent by 2020, compared with 2010 levels.

HP has committed to powering its global operations with 100 percent renewable energy - and says it plans to reach the 40 percent renewable electricity mark by 2020 - because, as Nate Hurst, HP's chief sustainability and social impact officer says, "both cost-effective and low carbon sources of energy are essential to the future and the growth of HP's business."

Hewlett-Packard, Johnson & Johnson, Coca Cola and twp other global corporations have made new commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and cut energy use.

Hewlett-Packard is the latest in a slew of tech companies to bet big on renewable energy - a long-term play still fraught with short term complications.

Gap, HP and Dr Pepper Snapple Group are among the S&P 500 companies facing climate change related risks and costs, according to a CDP report.

Google, Apple, Bank of America, Best Buy, HP and Microsoft are among those giving financial incentives based on sustainability metrics a shot, according to a round up of corporate disclosure documents released this week by the environmental nonprofit CDP.

BSR launched the Sustainable Fuel Buyers' Principles, a guiding framework created by the members of BSR's Future of Fuels initiative to "build the market for low-carbon fuels, ensure progress toward a sustainable set of fuel options, and create opportunities for partnership and collaboration." The inaugural corporate signatories include Amazon, HP, IKEA, PepsiCo, UPS, and Walmart.

Environmentalists would prefer that everyone drank tap water -- but with consumers still clamoring for bottled beverages, water companies are trying to find ways to make their products more eco-friendly. Just Water uses bottles made from "green" plant-derived plastics, while other companies offer water in cardboard or easy-to-recycle aluminum packaging.

President Barack Obama announced a new ban on offshore oil and natural gas drilling across broad areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, using part of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that would make it hard for his successor to reverse the decision. "They'll be arguing about this for years in the courts," said environmental lawyer Patrick Parenteau.

John D. Rockefeller built a vast fortune on oil. Now his heirs are abandoning fossil fuels. The family whose legendary wealth flowed from Standard Oil is planning to announce on Monday that its $860 million philanthropic organization, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, is joining the divestment movement that began a couple years ago on college campuses.

Climate change is already hitting America hard, according to a new study, leading to water shortages in dry regions, heavy rains in wet regions, more frequent and severe heat waves, worse wildfires, and forests die-offs. "Climate change, once considered an issue for a distant future, has moved firmly into the present," the National Climate Assessment warns

A huge swath of the Antarctic ice cap is already crumbling, and preventing the thawing of the ice caps might now be impossible, a major new study suggests. The melting of the area studied alone would raise the world's sea level by nearly four feet, and total thawing could lead to up to a 12-foot surge in sea levels. Still, that probably won't happen for a century or two, since the ice is melting slowly, researchers say

Pope Francis will release a major encyclical this week calling for the world's Catholics to take a stand against climate change and environmental degradation. The letter, the first such statement by a pope, will frame environmental activism as a social justice issue. "Pope Francis is personally committed to this issue like no other pope before him. The encyclical will have a major impact," U.N. climate chief Christiana Figueres said. 

Californians aren't doing enough to reduce their water use, despite being caught up in a years-long drought, writes the editorial board of The New York Times. "The state must focus on longer-term policies that encourage people to alter their lifestyles and businesses to change how they operate," the board writes

The Paris climate accord heralds a new era for the global economy, with a wide range of investors and industries now likely to seek ways to avoid carbon risks and adopt less carbon-intensive ways of doing business, experts say. Secretary of State John Kerry says the deal will be a net job creator and sends a powerful message to the marketplace. Nancy Pfund, managing partner of DBL Partners, agrees. "It's very hard to go backward from something like this. People are boarding this train, and it's time to hop on if you want to have a thriving, 21st-century economy," she says.