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A few basic (and often profitable) changes in a factory's manufacturing process can go a long way in cutting down pollution. That's the takeaway from Clean by Design, a new alliance between NRDC, major clothing brands-including Target, Levi's, Gap, and H&M-and Chinese textile manufacturing experts.

The 17 Global Goals (also known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs) launched late last month by the United Nations (UN) aim to achieve three main objectives in the next 15 years: end extreme poverty; fight inequality and injustice; and tackle climate change. Since the launch, various companies and leaders have pledged to do their part to achieve the goals; now, the latest push is to build worldwide public awareness of the goals through various efforts to "tell everyone" (#TellEveryone), including support from scores of celebrities:

The Ford Foundation, together with the Climate and Land Use Alliance, will host a meeting among major corporate, indigenous and government leaders for a conversation about what it will take to slow deforestation, reduce conflict over forests and stem global climate change.

2014 was an exciting year for clean energy. And we're not just talking about Rocky Mountain Institute and Carbon War Room merging in strategic alliance. Sure, that was exciting news, but there were many other remarkable clean energy developments that are helping bring us closer to a clean, prosperous, and secure energy future. Based on an informal poll of the RMI staff we list our top 10:

Up to 14 percent of the world's cocoa and tea supply is grown sustainably. We are no longer "niche" but we are nowhere near there yet, says Tensie Whelan.

Rainforest Alliance today released its first independent evaluation of Asia Pulp and Paper's progress on implementing its Forest Conservation Policy, launched in 2013. RA's SVP of Forestry, Richard Donovan, and APP's managing director of sustainability, Aida Greenbury, discussed the company's progress - which RA described as 'moderate' - in a webinar on Wednesday.

By 2015, Unilever aims to have the tea in all Lipton tea bags sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified™ estates. By 2020, 100 percent of Unilever's tea will be sustainably sourced. This video shows some of the work done in partnership with regional plantation companies and smallholder farmer-based private factories in Turkey in an effort to attain sustainable agriculture practices.

A soy moratorium imposed by a private sector alliance has been more effective at stopping deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon than government regulation

Ice cream brand Breyers committed to sourcing 100% of its vanilla from sustainable sources in Madagascar, in partnership with the Rainforest Alliance. The company built on this commitment by creating a policy that restricts the use of milk and cream from cows treated with artificial growth hormones in its products.

The Food Waste Reduction Alliance has released an updated guide. The 2015 Best Practices and Emerging Solutions Guide offers practical steps and examples to help food manufacturers, retailers, and restaurants cut food waste. More than 30 member companies across the food industry contributed insights and case studies, including The Campbell Soup Company and Sodexo. 

Sporting brands, venues and franchises are increasingly making sustainability part of their mission, saying they're uniquely well-placed to change people's views and behavior. "Nothing is as influential as sports in changing people's mindset. It reaches billions of people," said Allen Hershkowitz, president of the Green Sports Alliance. 

Dow Chemical and the Ocean Conservancy explain why they have formed an unlikely alliance to prevent plastic from choking the world's oceans.

Sports organizations are increasingly rallying together to promote environmental causes, reduce their climate impacts and try to persuade their fans to go green. "There is a global recognition now of the power of sports to advance environmental messaging," said Green Sports Alliance director Allen Hershkowitz.

LA-based Skysource/Skywater Alliance took first prize. Its range of deployable machines pull moisture from the air, condense it and then filter it into fresh water, with outputs ranging from 30 gal (113 L) to 300 gal (1,135 L) per day.

The Governors of California, New York, and Washington have formed the United States Climate Alliance-a bipartisan coalition of nine states committed to upholding the Paris Agreement despite President Trump's decision to end U.S. participation. The nine states - California, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Oregon, and Hawaii - represent nearly a third of U.S. annual GDP.

Timberland and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance have partnered to provide Haitian farmers with a sustainable economy and to reduce deforestation. SFA will give the farmers who plant trees free cotton seeds, training and tools, while Timberland says it will purchase a certain amount of its global cotton supply from Haiti.

Convenience retailer 7-Eleven, citing a 2016 study which found that sustainably sourced coffee is recognized by almost half of Millennials as an important attribute when making their selection, is swapping the Colombian coffee now served at its stories for a new Rainforest Alliance Certified, single-origin Colombian coffee.

Google has partnered with The Common Ground Alliance - a group of the world's largest advertisers - to launch the Common Future Project, a global YouTube-based campaign that aims to engage "Generation Z" (aged 15 to 24) around the Sustainable Development Goals. Google will provide a grant to support and amplify the campaign.

The report ranks 171 nations in terms of their risk. It has two components: the exposure they face from extreme events like typhoons, drought and earthquakes, and their ability to deal with those catastrophes, or their vulnerability. Sea-level rise is a key driver of the assessment. Many of the top 10 nations facing high risks are located along coastlines.

Texas ranchers have forged an unlikely partnership with environmental activists to protest the 143-mile Trans-Pecos pipeline, which if completed would carry natural gas from West Texas to the Mexican border. "We all agree that the land needs to be regarded a little more highly," said Joel Nelson, manager of the Anchor cattle ranch