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The following are five trends we expect to unfold during 2018. Yes, you could argue we're playing it safe - like the typical horoscope or fortune teller, these predictions overall are fairly broad. Nevertheless, expect to see many headlines focused on these topics in the coming year, here on 3p and elsewhere.

As we close out 2014, here are Silicon Valley Community Foundation's predictions for what's ahead for CSR in the coming year:

While 2014 ushered in big breakthroughs in fields from solar energy to smart cities, 2015 will present a crossroads for larger-scale sustainability progress.

Each year, Future 500 releases a report of what we predict will be the most critical social and environmental issues driving corporate-stakeholder engagement in the coming year. This year, we anticipate that corporations will be challenged to go even further than last year, using their economic influence on policy and politicians while being asked to take a bigger stand on global issues.

In 2016, we predict that stakeholders will continue to organize around issues like chemicals, water scarcity and local control of resources, challenging the private sector to drive change in their supply chains, make more time bound commitments and be more transparent. We anticipate increased focus on women impacting the global economy and concern around global ocean health, an issue moving to the forefront of our list.

Coal production is not just declining. It's falling off a cliff - and it's barely a third of what it was just six years ago, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA). The worst is yet to come, as the EIA predicts 2016 will be the biggest year-on decline for coal … ever.

Global cloud patterns have changed since the 1980s, and scientists have found these shifts are consistent with predictions from climate model simulations.

Global oil demand will continue to grow into the 2040s even as electrical vehicle fleets expand and the low-carbon energy transition gains traction around the world, BP revealed in its annual Energy Outlook, an industry benchmark report forecasting long-term trends and informs the company's internal strategy. The predictions come as other oil companies such as Royal Dutch Shell prepare for demand to peak by the early 2030s and countries make the shift to cleaner forms of energy.

"Conscious brands" that are aware of their societal and environmental impact will move into the mainstream in 2014, predicts FutureBrand strategy chief Tom Adams. "No more hair shirts or specialist brands, just products and services across categories that work with the grain of human nature, take sustainability for granted and position themselves around it," he writes

Europe is on track to reduce its carbon emissions by 44% by 2050 -- well below the 80% to 95% reduction that experts say is needed to avert catastrophic climate change. That shows the need for long-term planning and more ambitious targets, campaigners say. "This trend shows the nonsense of pursuing only a business-as-usual scenario and underlines the need for coherent long-term policy development," says Adrian Joyce of EuroACE

The automaker uses climate science predictions to project production levels that will help meet its fuel efficiency targets.

Materials market for energy efficient buildings, construction chemicals and flexible packaging will be the key growth areas in 2014 and beyond, according to Frost & Sullivan's predictions for the global chemical, materials and food industry.

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.

Every year, the world produces more than two billion tons of waste - enough to fill a fleet of trash trucks to circle the world 24 times, according to sustainability project the World Counts. The World Bank estimates the yearly global cost of dealing with waste is more than $200 billion and predicts annual waste will exceed 11 million tons per day by 2100 if current trends continue.  But where does it all go? Whether it's an island built as a landfill or the outskirts of historic monuments, the world's waste is piling up with no end in sight. The following images offer an acute reminder of the seriousness of waste management and the desperate need to address it. It's simply not sustainable.

On July 20th, James Hansen, the former NASA climatologist who brought climate change to the public's attention in the summer of 1988, issued a bombshell: He and a team of climate scientists had identified a newly important feedback mechanism off the coast of Antarctica that suggests mean sea levels could rise 10 times faster than previously predicted: 10 feet by 2065. The authors included this chilling warning: If emissions aren't cut, "We conclude that multi-meter sea-level rise would become practically unavoidable. Social disruption and economic consequences of such large sea-level rise could be devastating. It is not difficult to imagine that conflicts arising from forced migrations and economic collapse might make the planet ungovernable, threatening the fabric of civilization."

By 2017, the global volume of discarded refrigerators, TVs, cellphones, computers, monitors and other electronic waste will weigh almost as much as 200 Empire State Buildings, a new report predicts.

Each year, Future 500 releases a Top 10 report of what they predict will be the most critical issues driving stakeholder engagement in the coming year. Watch their video breaking down the Top 10 issues in just 2 minutes.

This new scenario modeling system helps planners in Latin America and the Caribbean make more informed infrastructure investments.

Clean Edge predicts more companies moving to 100 percent renewables for electricity and that low oil prices could affect the market for clean transportation. Find out what else.

580+ groups, businesses call for extension of clean energy tax credits  Over 580 organizations and businesses, including the American Wind Energy Association, have written a letter to Congress calling for the extension of tax credits relating to clean energy. "Businesses and investors need stable, predictable federal tax policy to create jobs, invest capital, and deploy pollution-reducing energy technologies," they wrote.