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ChargePoint, developer of the world's largest electric vehicle charging network, launched a new lease-to-purchase program that will enable companies and municipalities to purchase charging stations at no upfront cost

This month BNP Paribas, the world's seventh-largest financial institution, announced a new palm oil policy that sets responsible palm oil production as a pre-condition for financing. The policy requires that companies receiving financing protect forests and indigenous people. It also requires companies to adhere to strict human rights and labor standards, end the use of hazardous pesticides, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, among other significant measures. The move charts a new path for responsible financing that all major financial institutions should follow - or else face the growing consumer backlash against environmentally destructive institutions.

Financial executives should become more involved in their company's sustainability reporting efforts, according to a new report. The report, from Grant Thornton and the Financial Executives Research Foundation, found that financial executives are not as involved in corporate social responsibility matters and reporting as they should be, even though the finance function's involvement in sustainability reporting adds credibility and confidence in the measurement, data collection and analysis processes.

Morgan Stanley said it plans to pour $250 billion into low-carbon financing over the next 12 years, funding renewable energy and clean tech ventures and underwriting so-called sustainable bonds, which are debt for environmental projects.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. will no longer provide project financing for new coalmines worldwide or new coal fired power generation plants in high-income OECD countries.

ntifying Disney's achievements and milestones throughout the year, Yahoo Finance named The Walt Disney Company as its Company of the Year just last month. The award is based on Yahoo's evaluation of quantitative and subjective standards that cover companies' financial performance, shareholder friendliness, strategic focus and customer loyalty.

Pension funds, insurance companies and other institutional investors in France will be required to disclose how they are managing climate change risks. The announcement was made by France's finance minister Michel Sapin at the Climate Finance Day conference in Paris on May 22.

Could the U.N. climate negotiations held in Lima, Peru in December be a catalyst for financing more impactful sustainability projects in Latin America?

Levi Strauss and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank launched a new program to reward garment suppliers in developing countries based on their environmental, health, safety, and labor performance. The IFC will offer better loan terms to garment manufacturers that score higher on a supplier sustainability assessment developed by Levi Strauss.

Sustainable food startup Impossible Foods received $108 million in series D financing, which expands its total funding to $183 million. The company is developing meat and dairy alternatives from plant ingredients.

JPMorgan Chase has committed to using renewable energy to meet 100% of its global energy needs by 2020. The bank also committed to facilitating $200 billion in clean financing through 2025.

Electric vehicles are projected to represent 54% of new car sales by 2040, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report. Electric vehicles are also projected to displace 8 million barrels of transport fuel per day and add 5% to global electricity consumption by 2040.

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.

Starbucks has reportedly requested around $496 million in funding from its investors to finance projects that increase "responsibly grown" coffee purchases, establish research centers to help farmers boost production, and more.

The International Finance Corporation issued a $152 million bond to support private sector development and prevent deforestation in developing countries. The bond gives investors the option of getting repaid in either cash or a carbon-credit coupon - a move to bolster carbon-credit markets.

Poland has issued the world's first sovereign green bond. The country plans to use the proceeds to finance projects related to renewable energy, clean transportation infrastructure, and more.

For the first time, solar power is becoming the cheapest form of electricity production in the world, according to new statistics from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released Thursday. While unsubsidized solar has occasionally done better than coal and gas in individual projects, 2016 marked the first time that the renewable energy source has out-performed fossil fuels on a large scale-and new solar projects are also turning out to be cheaper than new wind power projects, BNEF reports in its new analysis, Climatescope.

WWF's Living Planet Report 2016 shows the scale of the challenges we face regarding the future of our planet - and what we can do about it. The Living Planet Index reveals that global populations of fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles declined by 58 per cent between 1970 and 2012. But if humans can change the planet so profoundly, then it's also in our power to put things right. This report provides possible solutions - including the fundamental changes required in the global food, energy and finance systems to meet the needs of current and future generations.

The U.S. Government collaborated with India and the Overseas Private Investment Corporation to launch a $20 million initiative that aims to increase funding opportunities for renewable energy projects - such as distributed solar - across India.

As one of the country's largest Canadian beef purchasers, McDonald's Canada, through the Pilot tracked the journey of nearly 9,000 head of Canadian cattle, or the equivalent of 2.4 million patties. The cattle spent their entire lives, from 'birth to burger', raised on or handled by verified sustainable operations.