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Building the Keystone XL pipeline could lead to as much as four times more greenhouse gas emissions than the State Department has estimated for the controversial project, according to a new study published in Nature Climate Change that relies on different calculations about oil consumption. 

The Paris climate accord heralds a new era for the global economy, with a wide range of investors and industries now likely to seek ways to avoid carbon risks and adopt less carbon-intensive ways of doing business, experts say. Secretary of State John Kerry says the deal will be a net job creator and sends a powerful message to the marketplace. Nancy Pfund, managing partner of DBL Partners, agrees. "It's very hard to go backward from something like this. People are boarding this train, and it's time to hop on if you want to have a thriving, 21st-century economy," she says. 

Levi Strauss & Co. is piloting a new operating model that replaces labor-intensive manual finishing techniques with an automated digital laser-based system. Called Project Future-Led Execution or Project FLX, Levi's model shortens the time to market, and cuts chemicals from the finishing process.

Indian Power minister Piyush Goyal reportedly announced that India is considering a target to transition the country to a 100% electric vehicle fleet by 2030, according to The Times of India.

McDonald's is offering 100% organic beef hamburgers sourced from organic farms for a limited time in Germany. The company's new offering will be available from Oct. 1 to Nov. 18.

Governments have delivered the third major international climate change agreement inside 12 months, thanks to a new global deal to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Nearly 200 countries signed off on the deal to amend the existing Montreal Protocol covering ozone layer-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and extend it to apply to the powerful HFC greenhouse gases commonly used in fridges, air conditioning units and aerosol sprays.

Governments have delivered the third major international climate change agreement inside 12 months, thanks to a new global deal to phase out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). Nearly 200 countries signed off on the deal to amend the existing Montreal Protocol covering ozone layer-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and extend it to apply to the powerful HFC greenhouse gases commonly used in fridges, air conditioning units and aerosol sprays.

Unregulated carbon pollution from aviation is the fastest-growing source of the greenhouse gas emissions driving global climate change. In fact, if the entire aviation sector were a country, it would be one of the top 10 carbon-polluting nations on the planet. The good news is that we now have a process in place to curb international aviation's skyrocketing emissions. For the first time ever, the United Nations' civil aviation body agreed last week to put a cap on the emissions for an international sector rather than a country. International aviation already accounts for over 2% of global carbon emissions. But this number will soar as demand for air travel continues to rises. In 2010, the aviation industry carried 2.4 billion passengers; in 2050, the number is forecast to rise to 16 billion.

Machine washing of clothes is a major contributor to plastic pollution in the oceans. Every time we do laundry, garments made from synthetic fabrics such as fleece and polyester shed small plastic fibers that end up in the water and pollute rivers and oceans. So denim giant G-Star and marine pollution campaign group the Plastic Soup Foundation are joining forces to stop this process in its tracks with a battle against microfiber.

NEW DELHI - Violent protests broke out in the southern state of Karnataka on Monday after the Indian Supreme Court ordered the state to release water to the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu, the latest chapter in a longstanding dispute.

news broke of a pending decision by the RSPO Complaints Panel to lift the suspension of IOI Group's certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil certification system. If successful this move would do irreparable harm to the RSPO's credibility. Less than five months after the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) suspended Malaysian palm oil producer IOI Group's certification, that suspension has been lifted - much to the dismay of NGO campaigners. While the RSPO's Complaints Panel has said it is "satisfied that IOI has met the conditions set out in its letter to IOI," Greenpeace Indonesia and the Center for International Policy says they have yet to see any real action on the ground. This was the second time a suspension has been placed on an IOI subsidiary. A coalition of NGOs has rapidly issued an appeal, urging the RSPO to maintain its suspension of IOI Group stating that it is far too premature to lift the suspension given that the company has not come into full compliance with the RSPO Certification Systems nor resolved outstanding complaints. There are fears that any change at this stage would seriously hinder the resolution process between the complainant and the company.

Today, Walmart is taking the next step in its 11-year sustainability journey, as CEO Doug McMillon announces a series of 2025 goals. For the first time, the company is putting some hard targets and timetables on what had previously been largely aspirational goals. It's a big step forward.

Bordering Myanmar on the southeast and the Indian states of Tripura on the north and Mizoram on the east, the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) is one of these areas. Characterized by semi-evergreen forest that is considered part of the highly endangered Indo-Burma Biodiversity Hotspot, CHT is a refuge for at least 26 globally threatened species, making it a critical conservation priority. But conservation efforts in the region have historically been challenged by the very remoteness and political instability that have helped protect it from deforestation seen in other parts of Bangladesh. That protection is now disappearing with the influx of settlers from other regions who are increasingly clearing forests for agriculture, logging trees for timber and firewood, and hunting wildlife. In other words, time is running out for Bangladesh's last rainforest and its traditional tribes.

The UN released a report finding that a transformational change in global aviation's efforts to promote economic growth and combat climate change could deliver industry savings up to $70 trillion by 2050. Nancy Young, vice president of Airlines for America, said biofuels can help reduce carbon emissions over time by the commercial airline industry.

The American electorate just picked one of the most powerful climate change deniers on the planet as the steward of U.S. environmental strategy for at least the next four years. The good news is that sustainable business leaders have more clarity about what to expect from the next administration. It's now time to prioritize what comes next.

Oslo, Norway has a much more ambitious plan than most when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The city plans to cut its emissions in half compared to 1990 levels, in only four years - faster than any city or country has made changes in the past. At the same time, if we want to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, it's the pace we need.

Patagonia saw an astounding $10 million in Black Friday sales  ― five times its own expectations ― and, as promised, will donate every cent toward helping save the environment. The high-end outdoor apparel and gear retailer announced the record-breaking haul Monday, saying the "enormous love" its customers showed to the planet will benefit hundreds of grassroots environmental organizations around the world.

Since Google declared its 100 percent commitment to renewables back in 2012, it has signed contracts that will help add almost 2.6 gigawatts of wind- and solar-generated electricity to the grid by the time all the projects are completely. While each of those installations has its own timetable for completion, at least 900 megawatts of those projects should come online within the next four to six weeks alone, according to one of Google's energy strategy executives. Over the course of next year, all the clean power that Google is adding to the grid will offset what it's using in aggregate. And moving forward, Google wants to ensure that more of the electricity it actually uses can be traced to renewable generating sources.

Deforestation in the world's largest rainforest jumped 29 percent over last year, representing a sharp increase over the historically low deforestation rate seen just five years ago and the highest level recorded in the region since 2008, reports the Brazilian government. The numbers, released by Brazil's National Space Research Institute INPE on Monday, show that 7,989 square kilometers of rainforest were destroyed between August 2015 and July 2016. The loss is equivalent to an area 135 times the size of Manhattan or the combined land mass of the American states of Connecticut and Delaware.

The current case claims that the government has done both too little to solve the problem of climate change and too much to worsen it-even while knowing of the risks it poses to citizens. There is little dispute that at least some parts of the government have been aware of the causes and costs of climate change for a very long time. 

Agribusiness giant Olam International has for the first time published a list of the firms it buys palm oil from, part of the company's response to allegations that it is driving forest destruction in Southeast Asia and, more dangerously, perhaps, in West Africa. Almost all of the world's palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, but as those countries run out of available land, companies like Olam are turning to Africa to expand. In defending itself against the NGOs' allegations, Olam points to the "right to develop" of nations like Gabon, where a third of people live below the poverty line and a fifth are unemployed.