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Coca-Cola, Target, DuPont, Honeywell and other major companies along with the White House have announced a series of commitments to curb emissions of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases used in refrigeration and air conditioning.

Internal carbon prices used range from $6-60 per metric ton, according to the report. In their 2013 CDP filings, the Walt Disney Company notes a price of $10-20, Google $14 and Xcel Energy $20. Other companies included in the report include: Wal-mart Stores Inc, Delta Airlines, Microsoft and PG&E Corporation.

60 percent of surveyed companies believe LEED positively impacts their return on investment (ROI).

"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. 

Designer Eileen Fisher, apparel companies Quiksilver, Prana, Patagonia, Lululemon Athletica and other global clothing brands with revenues totaling more than $4 billion have partnered with environmental organization Canopy to develop purchasing policies that aim to end the use of endangered forest fiber. The companies along with 14 eco-designers are working to craft forest-friendly purchasing policies that track which forests their rayon and viscose fabrics are from. The group also will work to eliminate controversial forest fiber from their supply chains.

Almost two-thirds of companies say water shortages could affect business operations over the next five years, according to the CDP Global Water Report. That's driving shareholders to insist that companies plan for dealing with water scarcity. "It doesn't take many shareholders, especially big ones, to ask a few questions ... about water to make a company to do something," says Stuart Orr, freshwater manager at WWF International

Private equity firm KKR announced that Del Monte, Dollar General, Sealy, and the 24 other companies in its Green Portfolio Program have collectively avoided more than 2.3 million metric tons of GHG emissions from 2008 to 2013, generating $1.2 billion in new savings and revenues. Companies in the Green Portfolio Program agree to assess, measure, and optimize their environmental performance in ways that improve their businesses.

The industry has resisted pressure for years from environmental groups to warn investors of the risks that stricter limits on carbon emissions could have on their businesses, although that appears to be changing. Energy experts said prosecutors may decide to investigate companies that chose to fund or join organizations that questioned climate science or policies designed to address the problem, such as the Global Climate Coalition and the American Legislative Exchange Council, to see if discrepancies exist between the companies' public and private statements.

The American Business Act on Climate Pledge has been signed by a number of leaders in the biofuel industry, including Abengoa Bioenergy, DSM North America, Novozymes, Pacific Ethanol and Poet. A total of 81 companies, of which at least 11 have biofuel industry connections, signed the document to show their dedication to the fight against climate change. Other biofuel companies that signed the pledge were Aemetis, Cargill, Fulcrum BioEnergy, Schneider Electric, Siemens and Syngenta/Quad County Corn Processors

As the UN climate talks in Paris near, 68 additional companies have joined the White House-led American Business Act on Climate Pledge.

Supermarket chain Albertsons Companies has pledged to source 100% of its eggs from cage-free operations by 2025.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and China's Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs released the 2018 Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index, which ranks companies across 15 industries on their supply chain transparency, compliance, energy conservation, and environmental protection practices. The top-3 ranked companies were Apple, Dell, and Levi Strauss & Company.

As the annual Climate Week NYC launches today, more companies are announcing their commitment to carbon emissions reduction targets. And they are doing so through using the guidelines set by the Science Based Targets initiative, which provides a framework that its supporters say can help companies stay competitive while doing their part to mitigate climate change.

According to new research by Accenture, CDP and Hermes Investment Management, over 40% of global companies may still not be seeing the forest for the trees: Four in 10 telecomm and consumer goods companies reporting to CDP are failing to capture or report any financial value from strong environmental performance. The largest emitters in the global economy account for a cumulative $447bn opportunity from climate change, yet 42% of these companies have not yet quantified the potential value.

VF Corporation adopted its first Animal Derived Materials Policy, which sets guidelines for the company to eliminate the use of fur, angora, and exotic leather in all VF brand products. The company developed the policy in partnership with The Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society International.

The Hershey Company has introduced Sourcemap, an online supply chain transparency platform that allows consumers to explore where and how companies source their product ingredients. Consumers can now explore the origin of ingredients used in two Hershey's products: Hershey's Milk Chocolate with Almonds and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

Unilever goal aims at ending illegal deforestation. Unilever and other companies "made a commitment not to sell anything anymore from illegal deforestation by the year 2020 -- soy, paper, pulp, beef, palm oil.

Despite all of the hubbub and calls to action from business leaders around Climate Week NYC and the release of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), corporate minds at large may not be drinking the Kool-Aid: Survey results released this week reveal that even in companies with sustainability commitments, about one-third of business leaders believe that a new agreement from COP21 in December will have little to no significance for their business, and only one-third believe their company will use the SDGs to set goals.

Corporations interested in sustainability have become a major driver in the renewable energy industry, said experts at the North American Energy Markets Association meeting in Florida last month. "There is about 15 GW of latent demand for renewables that wants to be built by 2020 in order to meet the targets of Fortune 500 companies that have committed to some degree of renewable energy in their supply portfolios," said Invenergy Vice President of Sales and Marketing Craig Gordon. 3M, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are among the companies seeking power purchase agreements with renewables in the US.

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.