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Levi Strauss & Co. launched its Wellthread Collection, which is produced with around 65% less water in the dye process and requires up to 50% less water on denim finishes, compared to conventional methods. The collection is also designed for 100% recyclability and produced at facilities that invest in the advancement of financial literacy, women's health, and family wellness. 

National Geographic released its first Sustainable Tourism Impact Report, which details the social and environmental impact initiatives at properties across its "Unique Lodges of the World" collection. In less than two years, member lodges in National Geographic's collection have achieved the following: rehabilitated and protected over 3.7 million acres of land and sea; provided over $76 million in direct contributions to historic and cultural site preservation; diverted over 3 million pounds of waste from landfills around the world; and more.

H&M's sustainable fashion collection, Conscious Exclusive, hits stores this week. The eco-fashion line is the brainchild of the Swedish retailer and eco-design think tank EVER Manifesto, whose founders, Elizabeth von Guttman and Alexia Niedzielski, model the collection alongside supermodel Amber Valletta. 

Efforts to clean up ocean waste have been stymied by the sheer size of the areas in which plastic is concentrated. Traditional cleanup methods using vessels and nets to collect plastic are too expensive and time-consuming to work. For a job as arduous as this, some disruptive innovation is needed, and 20-year-old Dutch entrepreneur Boyan Slat claims he has created just that. The Ocean Cleanup will passively collect plastic debris in the waters between Japan and South Korea. 

H&M's new Conscious Exclusive collection showcases clothing made of sustainable materials such as hemp, organic linen and organic leather.

H&M, one of the most eco-conscious fashion stores out there, has been battling against just that since 2013, and is hoping to enlist the help if its customers with a powerful new video. Entitled Bring it on, a short film shows what happens to the garments you recycle, from being turned into new fabrics for new clothes to being used as cleaning clothes. In doing this, it hopes to collect 25,000 tonnes of unwanted clothes per year by 2020. 

H&M's "Bring It On" campaign encourages customers to recycle unwanted clothing at local stores, with Londoners getting a gift voucher worth about $6.25 in exchange. The company aims to collect more than 27,500 tons of used clothing and donate the funds from the garments toward textile recycling and human rights organizations.

UK retailer Marks & Spencer has launched its first sustainable footwear collection, Footglove Earth - the latest component of the company's ongoing Plan A initiative to become the world's most sustainable retailer by 2020. Each of the shoes' components is sourced through suppliers that developed them sustainably or through the use of recycled, post-consumer waste.

Something incredible has been taking place in Sweden over the past several years, somewhat of a "recycling revolution," if you will. Currently less than one percent of the garbage produced in Swedish homes ends up in the landfill today, with the other ninety-nine percent being recycled or composted.

This week, Levi's announced the Fall 2015 launch of the Levi's Wellthread™ Collection, which touts a holistic, sustainable design approach: The line was made in 100 percent cotton for easier recyclability, by empowered workers - and includes the first garments to feature Levi's Water<Less denim finishes, which use up to 50 percent less water. 

In an effort to dye its clothes without using toxic chemicals, the green-minded apparel company is making its new Clean Color Collection with natural dyes sourced from 96 percent renewable resources.

The Forest Stewardship Council has demonstrated the power of harnessing brand affinity and the growing awareness of ethical choice. Three recent and inspiring examples in Spain, Italy and Germany illustrate their success in fostering both individual and collective action in each of these markets. 

General Motors announced plans to make engine covers, coats for the homeless, and air filters out of the 2 million discarded water bottles it has collected from Flint, Michigan residents. The project is an extension of its ongoing "Do Your Part" recycling initiative, which converts discarded water bottles into fleece.

Logging emissions is an important step in securing the transparency that China needs to solve its pollution problems, Mr. Ma argues. Among the harmful pollutants are air particles known as PM2.5, which can enter deep into the lungs and even into the bloodstream. In an interview, he talked about the considerable progress he sees in the Chinese government's approach to air pollution, but also how concerns about social unrest continued to constrain discussion of pollution's damage to public health. Before 2013, levels of PM2.5 [the finest and deadliest particulate matter] were not monitored or made public in a single city. Now it's monitored and released in more than 400 cities. China has entered an era when air quality information is released. It's much more transparent. The 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans only referred to "emission reduction targets," so local governments could play games by claiming they had reduced emissions. Now, by saying by what year the PM2.5 must be below a certain amount, it's much harder to fake. The 13th Five-Year Plan is a progressive plan because it says that the public has the right to participate, to monitor, and that it's the public's right to know.

H&M, the second-largest clothing retailer in the world, is working with German textile recycler SOEX Group on a system where previously used fibers would make up the majority of the material they use in clothing manufacturing. H&M's head of sustainability, Anna Gedda, says the company has collected 34,000 pounds of waste since the program began.

Fashion designers have long asked for a place to find materials they know are healthier for people and the planet - and now they have one. The new Fashion Positive Materials Collection includes 39 materials for fashion applications that are Cradle to Cradle Certified or have received a Material Health Certificate, which at higher levels of certification ensures safe materials suitable for circular design. READ MORE

Adidas partnered with Parley for the Oceans, a nonprofit that fights ocean plastic waste, to develop the shoe. Part of the upper is made from plastic bottles, bags, and other plastic that commonly ends up in the water.

Adidas partnered with Parley for the Oceans, a nonprofit that fights ocean plastic waste, to develop the shoe. Part of the upper is made from plastic bottles, bags, and other plastic that commonly ends up in the water. Because plastic degrades quickly in the ocean-turning into tiny particles that are hard to collect-most of the plastic was gathered on beaches.

The Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition is a business-led public-private partnership harnessing the collective expertise of over 25 companies, including 3M, Aveda, Dow Water, Ecolab, General Mills, the Great Plains Institute, and Target, to advance the next frontier of corporate sustainability - the circular economy - here in the U.S. Environmental Initiative, a local nonprofit organization, is convening and facilitating the coalition

"In its second year, The Backyard Project has scaled production nearly 15x, tapped new partners across the U.S.A. and evolved production to bring eco-preferred fashion to more consumers "

Independent charity Sustainable Shipping Initiative launched its Roadmap to 2040, which outlines 6 criteria that chart a path toward the development of a sustainable shipping industry by 2040. The criteria call on the industry to collectively create financial solutions that accelerate sustainability performance, diversify energy and fuel supply, increase transparency and accountability, and more. 

The events of 2016 have underscored just how volatile, complex and ambiguous the world is today. Drawing on insights that we have collected around the world from thousands of interviews and engagements with stakeholders and consumers, we take a look at the global shifts that will continue to shape the world for leadership organizations in 2017.