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Collaboration on rainforest protection can improve transparency, empower communities and boost regulation standards

Based on the Wikipedia model, MIT started Climate CoLab, a collaborative online community centred around a series of annual contests that seek out promising ideas for fighting climate change. P

Ford and H.J. Heinz are working to incorporate bioplastics made from dried tomato skins into various vehicle components. The plant-based materials are expected to replace traditional plastics derived from petroleum.

"Water is the ultimate shared resource," according to WWF's Lindsay Bass, and collaborative solutions to its depletion are crucial. WWF is working with companies to manage their water use through its Water Risk Filter tool and its strategic alliances with the private sector. I spoke with Bass about the opportunities for companies to improve their water management and become "positive actors" in shared watersheds. 

Hilton Worldwide launched a 3-year commitment to develop a water stewardship strategy, expand its global sustainable seafood efforts, reduce food waste within its operations and supply chain, and accelerate the integration of renewable energy. The company has partnered with the World Wildlife Fund to help facilitate this commitment.

(Ethical Corporation) analyzes responses from 415 members in Ethical Corporation's global network to identify prominent supply chain sustainability trends. The analysis finds that around 24% of the respondent group cited industry collaboration as the most significant opportunity to advance supply chain sustainability; 16% cited the circular economy as the most significant opportunity in coming years.

Industry collaboration and traceability are among the top supply chain sustainability trends, according to an Ethical Corporation whitepaper.

At the height of the Roman Empire, Rome's water management infrastructure was the envy of civilizations the world over. Today, while the city still enjoys abundant high-quality water sources, rainstorms of increasing intensity cause flooding that can hinder the city's ability to function. Exploring holistic, systems-based approaches to urban water challenges is an essential component of Resilient Rome's strategy process.

A group of companies united in the Roundtable for Product Social Metrics today announces the publication of the Handbook for Product Social Impact Assessment, a practical tool for assessing a product's social impacts throughout its life cycle. The handbook is the result of a unique collaborative effort of market leaders including AkzoNobel, BASF, L'Oréal, Marks & Spencer and Philips.

After almost two years of research and collaboration with a variety of partners, social enterprise Fairphone is pleased to announce it has successfully established the first pilot supply chain for Fairtrade-certified gold for the electronics industry. Fairphone is now the world's first Fairtrade-licensed consumer electronics manufacturer to support responsible gold mining in Peru with the production of the Fairphone 2.

Stand For Trees, a collaboration led by non-profit CodeREDD, is running a first-of-its kind consumer campaign that enables everyone - as opposed to just companies - to purchase verified carbon offsets. What's most remarkable about this is the unprecedented success of the main engagement tool the campaign is relying on - a video by social media celebrity Prince Ea, entitled Dear Future Generations: Sorry. It broke the record for most viral environmental campaign to date with more than 20 million views in its first 24 hours and over 50 million views in the first week. There could hardly be a better example of mainstreaming an important sustainability message. 

It will take a firm carbon-pricing system and plenty of teamwork to resolve the climate crisis, says Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg. That will mean both business leaders and government players doing their parts. "As with a traditional dugnad, we all have different roles to play," Solberg said, using the Norwegian word for unpaid, collaborative community work. 

The Coca-Cola Company, The Dow Chemical Company, and Kering are among 10 companies to begin testing and refining the new Natural Capital Protocol, in collaboration with the Natural Capital Coalition and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. The participating companies will use the Protocol to assess water use opportunities and risks in site-specific locations, explore methods for aligning strategic business decisions with natural capital assessment results, and more.

The Chinese and Israeli governments plan to partner on "Water City" in Shouguang, China, where Israeli-developed water technologies will be implemented to rehabilitate polluted aquifers and provide clean water, sewage treatment, desalination and irrigation. The city could become a model for how to bring such tech to large areas. 

Adidas collaborated with Stella McCartney to launch an apparel and footwear line that aims to promote the importance of environmentally friendly fashion. The apparel and footwear line incorporates fabrics such as recycled polyester, organic cotton, and recycled ocean plastic.

When it comes to the private sector's efforts to curb climate change, the rubber hit the road at New York Climate Week. Companies and their nonprofit partners announced numerous milestones and hosted discussions throughout the city to translate lofty goals into action. Meanwhile, new initiatives were launched to deepen collaboration among the private sector, governments and civil society.

Dell continues to make headway on its plans to dramatically increase the amount of repurposed and reclaimed content in its supply chain, with a goal of 100 million pounds of reused materials in its products by 2020 (double its original goal of 50 million, which it achieved in 2017). Its model could provide the entire industry with methods, practices and - through collaboration - opportunities to reduce the growing global e-waste problem and shift towards a more circular economy in the electronics sector.

Many groups define the circular economy in terms of the types of activities and concepts associated with it: the use of new business models, such as leasing; collaboration across supply chains, or using waste as a resource. However, these characterizations ultimately don't tell us what the circular economy actually is because they don't describe its end state: what will the world actually look like when it is "circular"?

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.