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A group of high-level government officials from 26 national and subnational governments - including EU Member States, U.S. States, Mexico, Canadian Provinces, and the Republic of Korea - announced their support for "renewed cooperation on carbon markets" to address climate change.

The current case claims that the government has done both too little to solve the problem of climate change and too much to worsen it-even while knowing of the risks it poses to citizens. There is little dispute that at least some parts of the government have been aware of the causes and costs of climate change for a very long time. 

Government agencies buy a lot of products and services. In some countries, up to 30 percent of GDP is due to government spending, according to the World Bank. What would happen if these agencies matched their sustainable development commitments to their actual spending?

Violent tensions over water are on the rise, from India to Iraq. The solution lies in good governance and business has a key role to play

Washington, D.C., is on track to obtain 40% of the electricity used by its city government from wind and solar sources. Part of the electricity will come from a wind farm in Pennsylvania. The city signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with the project in August. Mayor Muriel Bowser says the city will also source electricity from solar panels, with a plan to install panels at 34 government-owned sites. 

As national parks face issues with unmanaged waste during the government shutdown, Keep America Beautiful, the largest community improvement organization in the United States, and Nestlé Waters North America, one of the leading beverage companies in North America, announced today that they are teaming up to help mobilize affiliate organizations and volunteers across the country to clean up these shared public spaces.

Just a day after a group of cross-party MPs called on the UK government to ban microbeads, Greenpeace released a report outlining the science on the impact of microplastics, including microbeads, on oceans and seafood. The non-profit is also urging the UK government to ban microbeads, "both due to the damage they cause to marine life and as a precautionary measure against the risk of human consumption."

Canadian Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has pledged to power 100% of the federal government's operations using renewables by 2025. "The government needs to be a key player to support the acceleration of clean growth -- not only through policy, but by investing and showing leadership," she said.

Scotland surpassed its goal to cut GHG emissions by 42% six years ahead of schedule, according to figures published by the Scottish government. As a result, the Scottish government plans to set a new 2020 goal to further reduce GHG emissions.

On Friday, a group of children suing the government for inaction on climate change scored a major victory, as a judge ruled that the Washington State Department of Ecology must deliver an emissions reduction rule by the end of this year. That decision follows another major win in mid-April, when an Oregon judge ruled that a similar lawsuit could go forward despite opposition from the fossil fuel industry.

Corporations and governments intensified the renewable energy push last week. Six global companies joined RE100 with commitments to 100 percent renewable energy across their operations, coinciding with a government-led Corporate Sourcing of Renewables campaign that launched at the Seventh Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM7) in San Francisco.

Forest carbon-credit proponents say serious government backing is needed to develop a global market for their offsets. "Once speculators believe that government is committed to doing this, they will rush in -- it will happen overnight," predicts Jim Procanik, managing director of InfiniteEARTH.

The Indian Government will reportedly retrofit all domestic streetlights across the country with LED bulbs over the next 24 months.

A report by Frost & Sullivan found that government funding is making zero-energy buildings possible, but the idea is not widely known. "While governmental or regional funding are the main drivers of NZEB technologies, public-private funding is the most effective in sustaining the application of the NZEB concept and advancing its development globally," said Technical Insights industry analyst Jennifer Tan.

France's government has unveiled a law to ban all production and exploration of oil and natural gas by 2040 on the country's mainland and overseas territories. The move is largely symbolic, however, as France's oil and gas production represents just 1 percent of national consumption - the rest is imported. The ban, which the government claims is a world first, is part of a larger plan to wean the country's economy from fossil fuels, encourage clean energy and fulfill France's commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement to curb global warming.

A group of companies - including General Mills, The Hershey Company, and Nestlé - have committed to working with the governments of Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana to end cocoa-related deforestation, protect national parks from illegal cocoa production, and improve the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers. The initiative is led by IDH - the Sustainable Trade Initiative, the Prince of Wales's International Sustainability Unit, and the World Cocoa Foundation, in partnership with the governments of Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.

Governments have delivered the third major international climate change agreement inside 12 months, thanks to a new global deal to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Nearly 200 countries signed off on the deal to amend the existing Montreal Protocol covering ozone layer-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and extend it to apply to the powerful HFC greenhouse gases commonly used in fridges, air conditioning units and aerosol sprays.

Governments have delivered the third major international climate change agreement inside 12 months, thanks to a new global deal to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Nearly 200 countries signed off on the deal to amend the existing Montreal Protocol covering ozone layer-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and extend it to apply to the powerful HFC greenhouse gases commonly used in fridges, air conditioning units and aerosol sprays.

Communities on the frontlines of fossil fuel development are taking a stand against dangerous fossil fuel projects. Take a look at the big fight in the small town of Kalama, Washington. The Chinese government is planning to build the world's largest methanol refinery to convert fracked natural gas to liquid methanol for export to China to make plastics. From a greenhouse gas perspective, this fight is a big deal. The methanol refinery alone would use more natural gas than all industry in Washington combined. Flip it around: If we win this one battle and stop the methanol refinery, we stop the equivalent of doubling industrial natural gas usage in Washington State. While the gas industry tries to spin natural gas as clean, new science shows just the opposite. The bulk of natural gas is methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Methane leakage from gas wells and pipelines led scientists to conclude that fracked gas can be as bad coal for our climate. And it gets worse. Gas production in North America relies heavily on fracking, a process famous for polluting air and water, endangering the health of nearby residents.

Brazil's conservative National Congress has rushed to pass a wave of legislative initiatives, which taken all together, would dismantle much of the nation's body of law protecting the environment and indigenous people - an effort likely to escalate in 2017. The latest attempt occurred last week, just before the parliamentary recess. The agricultural lobby unexpectedly put forward three bills, known as Decretos Legislativos (PDCs), which are laws promulgated by the President of the Senate over which the country's President does not have the right of veto. If eventually passed, as seems likely, the bills will allow industrial waterways (requiring many dozens of new dams) to be built without the proper assessment of environmental and social impacts. The waterways would be used by agribusiness as a cheap means of exporting soy and other commodities.

Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee rejected an amendment on Tuesday that would allow the federal government to allocate funds toward the UN Green Climate Fund. "The Green Climate Fund is the only multilateral institution that supports clean, resilient development around the world," said Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., adding that the US should be leading the initiative.