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Just weeks after the UN Secretary General released a report detailing sluggish progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), efforts are underway to bolster support for their widespread adoption. Gold Standard - a standard and certification body established by the WWF - has launched the Gold Standard for the Global Goals, a new standard to quantify, certify and maximize the contributions of climate and development interventions toward the Paris Climate Agreement and the SDGs

After four years of development, the first international standard for sustainable procurement was launched late last week by the International Standards Organisation (ISO). The first standard of its kind in the world, ISO 20400 aims to help companies make better purchasing choices throughout their supply chains by establishing guidelines for companies to judge suppliers on ethical and sustainability issues.

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.

Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) released a new set of standards that will guide the organization's certification practices through 2019. SFI claims that its standards include policies and guidelines that will help protect water quality, biodiversity, wildlife, endangered species and old-growth forests in the United States and Canada.

Ecolab announced that its manufacturing plant in Taicang, China became the first site in the world to be independently certified under the Alliance for Water Stewardship's (AWS) global standard for water stewardship. The AWS Standard was developed to promote sustainable freshwater use and to evaluate water stewardship practices.

The number of standards for green products has grown in recent years due to increasing market demand for environmentally-preferable products, resulting in concerns over greenwashing and a need for an international standard.

On Wednesday, The North Face announced the completion of its Responsible Down Standard, a tool that will provide a global standard through which the outdoor-gear retailer says any organization can evaluate and certify its full down supply chain.

the Global Green Growth Forum in Copenhagen, WRI announced the launch of a process to develop a global standard for measuring food loss and waste. This standard, known as the Global Food Loss and Waste Protocol, will enable countries and companies to measure and monitor the food loss and waste that occur within their boundaries and value chains in a credible, practical and consistent manner.

Leaders of the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and 16 other organizations sent an open letter urging the Green Building Initiative (GBI) to strengthen its Green Globes standard or state more explicitly that their standard is less rigorous than LEED or Living Building Challenge ones. The letter also urged GBI to stop attacking the credibility of LEED standards.

The EPA proposed strengthening 2008 air quality standards to reduce smog. The new standards would drop the limit on pollution-forming ozone from the current 75 parts per billion (ppb) to within 60-70 ppb.

APRIL Group said today it has joined the effort to set industry standards for conserving carbon-rich forests. The pulp and paper manufacturer added that it will adopt those standards in future forestry planning.

Starbucks recently updated its animal welfare standards. They include phasing out sow gestation crates and cages for chickens, eliminating the use of artificial growth hormones, and eliminating the use of fast growing practices for poultry. The standards will aso address concerns related to dehorning, tail docking, and castration, and supporting the responsible use of antibiotics.

The Sustainable Rice Platform launched the first global standard for reducing the environmental impacts of rice cultivation. The standard has 46 requirements that address biodiversity, labor rights, worker health, and more.

The EPA finalized the first set of standards to reduce methane emissions from new and existing sources in the oil and gas sector, strengthening the United States' pledge to cut methane emissions from the sector by up to 45% from 2012 levels by 2025

Researchers from Harvard University published a study that analyzes the economic and public health benefits of implementing a U.S. power plant carbon standard similar to the Clean Power Plan. The study estimates that a U.S. power plant carbon standard could bring net benefits close to $38 billion annually.

The North Face announced the completion of its Responsible Down Standard (RDS), a tool that will provide a global standard through which the outdoor-gear retailer says any organization can evaluate and certify its full down supply chain.

The Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG), as the group is known, unveiled its standards during the annual meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry's main certification body. The standards build on criteria set by the RSPO by adding stricter requirements "to ensure that there is a supply of traceable palm oil free from forest and peatland destruction and human rights abuses," according to a statement from Greenpeace, one of POIG's charter members.  Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/1118-poig-palm-oil.html#wlI8Y8ZEEyKQzKTU.99

The North Face and Patagonia have launched rival standards for animal welfare, with a particular focus on the way the ducks and geese used to produce down are treated. Now the two companies are sparring over which set of standards actually does more to protect the birds.

REI announced that it would roll out rigorous sustainability standards across its supply chain. The more than 1,000 brands that can be currently found on REI's stores or its web site, insists the co-op, will "make it easier for millions of outdoor enthusiasts to choose more sustainable products."

By the fall of 2020, REI will sever its business relationships with any of its 1,000-plus suppliers that don't meet stringent new requirements in areas including environmental impact, chemical usage, animal welfare, and labor safety and fairness. The move is among the most comprehensive efforts to advance sustainability in the retail sector. The outdoors-equipment retailer has already supplied to its vendors a 12-page document detailing the new sustainability standards. Some go into effect immediately, while others are more ambitious and aspirational and won't be mandatory for a couple of years.