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The world's leading certification body for ethically sourced palm oil has ordered a total ban on deforestation by its members, amid growing pressure from both companies and consumers.

This month BNP Paribas, the world's seventh-largest financial institution, announced a new palm oil policy that sets responsible palm oil production as a pre-condition for financing. The policy requires that companies receiving financing protect forests and indigenous people. It also requires companies to adhere to strict human rights and labor standards, end the use of hazardous pesticides, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, among other significant measures. The move charts a new path for responsible financing that all major financial institutions should follow - or else face the growing consumer backlash against environmentally destructive institutions.

Shanghai, with its chic cafes, glitzy shopping malls and organic health food shops, is emblematic of improving quality of life for China's urban middle class. Yet while the city's veil of smog has lifted slightly in recent years, its water pollution crisis continues unabated - 85% of the water in the city's major rivers was undrinkable in 2015, according to official standards, and 56.4% was unfit for any purpose.

Existing buildings in New York will now face higher standards for the emissions of greenhouse gases by upgrading water heaters, boilers and roofs, among other changes. The goal is to cut greenhouse gas emissions in the city by 7% by 2035.

"Sell by," "Use by," "Display until" and "Best before" food labels intended to inform consumers about food quality and safety frequently come under fire for their lack of clarity and confusing terminology that contributes significantly to the colossal food waste problem - one that costs families up to $29 billion annually in the United States alone. However, little concrete action has been taken to address the problem. Now, the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) - a network of 400 of the biggest consumer goods companies across 70 countries - along with Champions 12.3 has approved a Call to Action to standardize food date labels worldwide by 2020.

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.

A group of eight companies - including the Campbell Soup Company, Henkel, PepsiCo, and Unilever -have adopted the How2Recycle labeling system, a standardized labeling system for product packaging that communicates recycling instructions to U.S. consumers. The How2Recycle label is now featured on thousands of products from more than 60 companies.

In June, C&A, the international Dutch chain of retail clothing stores, launched a line of T-shirts certified to the Cradle to Cradle standard, meaning that they were designed and manufactured in a way that is benign to the environment and human health, and whose materials can be recirculated safely back into industrial materials or composted into the soil.

Paris-based Kering, which owns luxury brands Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga and Alexander McQueen, among many others, is working on a 10-year sustainability plan that includes specific green standards for its supply chains. "When you are in the luxury sector, you have a responsibility because you set the trends," said Marie-Claire Daveu, Kering's chief sustainability officer.

The World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report 2013 placed water scarcity among the top four global risks, in terms of likelihood and greatest impact - ranking ahead of issues such as food shortages, terrorism and climate change! And water scarcity is already constraining the growth plans of many companies that desire to expand in emerging markets.

Hotels develop a Hotel Carbon Measurement Initiative and Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Consortium.

Chines courts are allowed to hand down the death penalty for serisous cases of pollution

Starbucks new store in Downtown Disney West Side at Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

Philips provided the government of Madrid, Spain with 225,000 LEDs and other energy efficient lights to help the city upgrade 100% of its existing street lighting. The project is the world's largest street lighting retrofit and will reportedly result in energy savings of 44%.

California could ditch fossil fuels altogether by midcentury at a cost of $1.1 trillion, and would earn back most or all of that price tag through climate benefits and fuel savings, a new report suggests. Going 100% renewable would also save 10,000 lives and $100 billion in health care costs due to reduced pollution, the report found

Sports organizations are increasingly rallying together to promote environmental causes, reduce their climate impacts and try to persuade their fans to go green. "There is a global recognition now of the power of sports to advance environmental messaging," said Green Sports Alliance director Allen Hershkowitz.

On Tuesday, the Humane Society of the United States introduced a ballot initiative called the Prevention of Cruelty to Farm Animals Act, which calls for a requirement that all pork and veal sold in California be produced without restrictive crates, and that all eggs produced and sold in the state be cage-free. It would make California the only state other than Massachusetts, which passed similar legislation last year, to have such regulations on farm animal welfare.