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Logging emissions is an important step in securing the transparency that China needs to solve its pollution problems, Mr. Ma argues. Among the harmful pollutants are air particles known as PM2.5, which can enter deep into the lungs and even into the bloodstream. In an interview, he talked about the considerable progress he sees in the Chinese government's approach to air pollution, but also how concerns about social unrest continued to constrain discussion of pollution's damage to public health. Before 2013, levels of PM2.5 [the finest and deadliest particulate matter] were not monitored or made public in a single city. Now it's monitored and released in more than 400 cities. China has entered an era when air quality information is released. It's much more transparent. The 11th and 12th Five-Year Plans only referred to "emission reduction targets," so local governments could play games by claiming they had reduced emissions. Now, by saying by what year the PM2.5 must be below a certain amount, it's much harder to fake. The 13th Five-Year Plan is a progressive plan because it says that the public has the right to participate, to monitor, and that it's the public's right to know.

Mounting ocean health problems -- which are threatening the primary food source for more than 1 billion people -- can be fixed, but only with public and private sectors working together to a much greater extent, according to a World Bank blue ribbon panel.

REI stepped up the fight to preserve public lands with an email blast to its customers, and it was very successful. In uncertain federal times, brands continue to take stands - and they are moving merchandise right along with policy.

A searchable website that allows the public to see which cosmetic products have been reported to contain toxic chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm is now online. Users can search the California Safe Cosmetics Program (CSCP) Product Database by product name, company name or chemical ingredient. As of November 2013, about 475 companies had submitted product information on roughly 30,000 products to the California Department of Public Health-run program.

some of the biggest public companies in the United States -- including Wal-Mart, Walt Disney Co., Microsoft and many energy giants -- recently have gone public with strategies to set an internal price on their carbon pollution.

The UN Environment Program and other partners launched the Sustainable Public Procurement Program, a project to redirect public spending towards goods and services with environmental and social benefits. The initiative is part of the UN's 10-Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production.

2014 was the year the water issues went mainstream, propelled to the forefront of challenges facing the public and private sectors. Here's what to expect in 2015:

A Brazilian Senate Commission is quickly, and surreptitiously, moving forward a constitutional amendment (PEC 65) that would end the need for environmental assessment approvals for public works projects in Brazil ranging from Amazon dams to roads and canals, and oil infrastructure.

Consumer demand has finally put green retail on the main stage, according to a report from Forrester, which states that more than 50% of U.S. online adults are "green" consumers.

Blockbuster movies have big potential to change the conversation about climate change.  with a public that holds views on climate change that largely align with political affiliation, Hollywood might offer a rare opportunity to cut across these lines with a message that is both entertaining and eye-opening. Indeed, there is already evidence that movies such as "The Day After Tomorrow" can change consumer attitudes and beliefs about climate change.

Since 2014, oil companies reported that they used more than 20 million pounds and 2 million gallons of chemicals in their operations, including at least 16 chemicals the state of California classifies as carcinogens or reproductive toxicants under the state's Proposition 65 law. That recycled wastewater was then sold to irrigation districts largely in Kern County. The Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has allowed the practice for at least four decades and only recently required the oil companies and water districts to disclose the details. EWG detailed its findings in a report released Wednesday, two days before a public meeting of an expert panel convened to study the practice's safety. Although scientists don't know whether using oil field wastewater to grow crops poses a health risk to people who eat the food, the water board has refused to halt the practice until the expert panel releases its findings.

Starbucks announced last week that it completed the underwriting of an initial public offering of senior notes, including its first-ever U.S. Corporate Sustainability Bond. The coffee giant said it will use proceeds from $500 million in 2.45% Senior Notes to help enhance the sustainability programs centered around its coffee supply chain management programs through a variety of eligible sustainability projects.

New York cements its position as a national renewable energy leader today with a New York Public Service Commission (PSC) order requiring that 50 percent of the state's electricity must from clean, renewable sources like solar and wind power by 2030.

The New York State Public Service Commission has approved a $7.6 billion clean-energy subsidy for the Ginna, FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point 1 and 2 nuclear power plants as part of the state's move to more sustainable energy. Environmental groups protested the grants, saying the production and transport of nuclear fuel release a great deal of carbon into the air.

The World Cocoa Foundation launched a public-private partnership to help build resilience for adaption to climate change in the global cocoa supply chain.

Following the Rana Plaza garment factory collapse that killed 1,134 people in 2013, Fashion Revolution and Ethical Consumer were compelled to demand more transparency from the fashion industry. To help the public learn where their clothes came from and how they were made, they began publishing the Fashion Transparency Index assessing top selling global brands. Levi's, Inditex, H&M, and adidas were among the top scorers in 2016.

More than 800,000 volunteers planted saplings in public spaces in the state of Uttar Pradesh hoping to reduce greenhouse gases and reforest the countryside

The Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition is a business-led public-private partnership harnessing the collective expertise of over 25 companies, including 3M, Aveda, Dow Water, Ecolab, General Mills, the Great Plains Institute, and Target, to advance the next frontier of corporate sustainability - the circular economy - here in the U.S. Environmental Initiative, a local nonprofit organization, is convening and facilitating the coalition

A partnership of leading international public and private organizations launched the Food Loss and Waste Accounting and Reporting Standard at the Global Green Growth Forum (3GF) 2016 Summit today in Copenhagen. The FLW Standard is the first-ever set of global definitions and reporting requirements for companies, countries and others to consistently and credibly measure, report on and manage food loss and waste. The standard comes as a growing number of governments, companies and other entities are making commitments to reduce food loss and waste.