Polls show that four-fifths of the country's registered voters support a Green New Deal - including, incredibly, two-thirds of Republican voters, which helps explain why Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made the surprise announcement on 12 February that he would allow the GND measure to come before the Senate for a vote.
Stella McCartney, long an advocate for ethical fashion, has been busy over the last several months trying to drive the industry away from a take-make-waste model; the luxury label recently announced plans to use Parley for the Oceans' recycled plastic yarn and Aquafil's ECONYL® fiber in its line of shoes, accessories and outerwear. In its latest bid to call attention to the cause, the vegetarian brand has shot its entire Autumn/Winter 2017 campaign on a landfill site on the Eastern Coast of Scotland.
New research on progress towards ending deforestation by 2030 shows funding is woefully short, while indigenous groups say their role as protectors of the forest is under increasing threat. Recent news that the world's tropical forests are now so degraded they have become a source rather than a sink of carbon emissions have injected new urgency into the need to achieve the goals set out in the New York Declaration on Forests four years ago.
After four years of development, the first international standard for sustainable procurement was launched late last week by the International Standards Organisation (ISO).
The first standard of its kind in the world, ISO 20400 aims to help companies make better purchasing choices throughout their supply chains by establishing guidelines for companies to judge suppliers on ethical and sustainability issues.
The North Face and Patagonia have launched rival standards for animal welfare, with a particular focus on the way the ducks and geese used to produce down are treated. Now the two companies are sparring over which set of standards actually does more to protect the birds.
The world's leading certification body for ethically sourced palm oil has ordered a total ban on deforestation by its members, amid growing pressure from both companies and consumers.