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There's been a lot of talk in 2014 about the "utility death spiral" and suppositions that utilities as we know them will cease to exist. I'm not entirely sure we've seen the last of the utility industry, but I feel certain a year from now we'll look back on 2015 as the year a lot shifted in how each of us individually acquire and manage our energy consumption. Here's why.

Many food and agriculture companies have talked up sustainability for years, but the past 12 months ushered in a new sense of urgency and action. Here's my completely subjective list of five notable developments that could signal the shift from conversation to conservation.

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world contributing 9 per cent to global GDP, accounting for one in 11 jobs worldwide and for 6 per cent of global exports, the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reported today as it launched a programme aiming to catalyze a shift to more sustainable tourism.

PepsiCo is committed to working to increase the U.S. beverage recycling rate, with a goal of reaching 50 percent by 2018. Such a shift would capture billions of containers that otherwise would end up in landfill, streets, parks and waterways. PepsiCo and The Nature Conservancy forged a new initiative to "Recycle for Nature." By recycling any plastic bottle or aluminum can, consumers are directly helping support The Nature Conservancy's efforts to save and restore 1 billion gallons of water over the next five years.

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute will offer a material health certificate, a tool for manufacturers across industries to avoid chemicals of high concern, shift to safer ones in their products and encourage product and supply chain transparency.

BP's shareholders overwhelmingly supported a resolution on Thursday that would force the company to disclose some of its climate change-related risks. The shareholder vote was extraordinarily lopsided, with about 98% of shareholders approving the resolution, which had the backing of BP's chairman, Carl-Henric Svanberg. The embrace of the climate change resolution is being called a watershed event in the history of climate-related shareholder resolutions, which investors large and small have been pursuing since 1999 to try to encourage oil, coal and gas companies to inform shareholders of their climate change-related risks and shift their investments into renewable sources of energy.

Goldman Sachs has committed to investing $150 billion in clean energy technology by 2025. The bank will focus its spending on wind and solar projects as well as energy-efficiency measures. Kyung-Ah Park, Goldman's head of environmental markets, said more renewable projects would be installed this year than traditional systems, even though the economy is still in the early stages of shifting to clean energy

Uruguay is generating nearly 95% of its electricity from renewables, according to the Guardian.

The US energy landscape is swiftly transitioning away from fossil fuels in favor of renewables, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. "By the close of 2014, the United States was relying on an unprecedented amount of renewable energy from wind turbines, solar panels, and other technologies. We are bearing witness to fundamental change in the energy sector, reflecting the needs and aspirations of all who depend on it," said the report. It added that US carbon emissions have already dropped 10% below 2005 levels

Logistics is quickly emerging as a potential tipping point in the quest to improve supply chain sustainability. 

The fashion and textile industries continue to make strides towards circular models with the emergence of new resources and technologies that make a sustainable shift easier than ever before. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute's Fashion Positive Initiative has unveiled a set of online resources designed to rapidly increase environmental and social outcomes in the fashion industry, while the H&M Foundation and The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel have uncovered a new hydrothermal process that fully separates and recycles fabric blends that can then be reused directly without any quality loss.

The world's largest furniture retailer has unveiled plans to rent its products to consumers for the first time, as it strives to become a 'net-positive' business by 2030.

Dell continues to make headway on its plans to dramatically increase the amount of repurposed and reclaimed content in its supply chain, with a goal of 100 million pounds of reused materials in its products by 2020 (double its original goal of 50 million, which it achieved in 2017). Its model could provide the entire industry with methods, practices and - through collaboration - opportunities to reduce the growing global e-waste problem and shift towards a more circular economy in the electronics sector.

Amidst the madness of 2017, a bigger shift was missed than probably any other - right at the commanding heights of the economy: Natural gas fizzled out of the plan for the future.

Shifting cotton production to a more sustainable model presents a number of opportunities across the value chain, yet only 13% of cotton is grown in a sustainable manner, with only 20% of that actually being sourced by companies for their products. Leading international retailers, cotton standards, industry initiatives and stakeholders are banding together to form Cotton 2040, an initiative that seeks to make sustainable cotton a mainstream commodity rather than a niche market.

Rising temperatures and changing precipitation are taking a toll on coffee farms worldwide, including the plantations around Mount Kilimanjaro. If the world hopes to sustain its two billion cup-a-day habit, scientists say, new climate-resilient species of coffee must be developed.

Wal-Mart and Sam's Club will switch to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025, with suppliers' compliance to be checked annually by a third-party certifier. The relatively long lead time for the transition will allow the retailers to keep prices down while improving conditions for chickens, officials said.

Organic dairy producer Stonyfield Farm, Inc. announced this week that it will utilize a new tool to manage its supply chain: SupplyShift™ - a new, cloud-based, supply chain management platform focused on sustainability, but flexible enough to assess any procurement need or supply chain risks.