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A new study reveals that consumers' demand for product transparency is on the rise - overall, they desire more product information and are inclined to be more loyal to brands that provide more detailed insights. About 40 percent say they would switch to a new brand if it offered full product transparency, and 81 percent say they would consider a brand's entire portfolio of products if they switched to that brand as a result of increased transparency.

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.

Fashionistas now, for the first time, can see beyond clothing labels with the Fair Trace Tool developed by my company, fair trade fashion retailer INDIGENOUS along with Worldways Social Media. This new tool, a QR code on hang-tags, offers transparency throughout the garment's supply chain, including a glimpse of the artisans who actually made it and insight into the product's social impact. The content is delivered in text, video and animated map format.

At this years, annual Greenbuild, the U.S. Green Building Council's gathering dedicated to green bulding in the world, one this was clear. The momentum around materials transparency and health in tthe built environment is becoming more important then ever.

Consumers often are left unaware of the use and destination of their recyclables. Although many are donated, much of the material is sold to for-profit companies for resale around the globe. The lack of transparency has led to misunderstanding among consumers, communities and retailers. This push toward greater transparency is yet another reason to embrace The Reuse Movement.

Mondelez International, Inc. is further pushing for its goal of 100 percent sustainability and complete transparency in its palm oil supply chain, challenging suppliers to commit to concession mapping and act faster to eliminate deforestation, according to the CPG company.

Non-profit Fashion Revolution has released the 2017 Fashion Transparency Index, which rates the supply chain practices and social and environmental impact of 100 global fashion and apparel brands and retailers. The Index gave the highest ratings to H&M, Inditex, and Levi Strauss & Co.

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.

Unilever and the World Resources Institute are partnering to increase transparency in agricultural commodity supply chains with the goal of ending tropical deforestation. The partnership will enable Unilever and its suppliers to use the Global Forest Watch Commodities platform to monitor forest cover change around commodity supply areas and processing facilities such as palm oil mills.

The Natural Resources Defense Council and China's Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs released the 2018 Green Supply Chain Corporate Information Transparency Index, which ranks companies across 15 industries on their supply chain transparency, compliance, energy conservation, and environmental protection practices. The top-3 ranked companies were Apple, Dell, and Levi Strauss & Company.

The Fashion Transparency Index 2019 reviews and ranks 200 of the biggest global fashion and apparel brands and retailers according to how much information they disclose about their suppliers, supply chain policies and practices, and social and environmental impact.

Starting this year, Unilever is voluntarily disclosing online the fragrance ingredients included in individual products sold in the U.S. and Europe, down to 0.01 percent of the product formulation, along with details of the scent the fragrance ingredients bring to the product. The project is to be completed by 2018.

Collaboration on rainforest protection can improve transparency, empower communities and boost regulation standards

Wal-Mart, Target and other major retailers have discovered that greener chemicals and concerned citizens create a potent formula for change.

Wal-Mart, Target and other major retailers have discovered that greener chemicals and concerned citizens create a potent formula for change

In an effort to expand the transparency of its products, SC Johnson announced this week that it will disclose product-specific ingredients of its fragrances, beginning with Glade®. Other SC Johnson brands including Pledge®, Windex®, Shout® and Scrubbing Bubbles® will follow. 

Unilever partnered with the World Resources Institute (WRI) to expand access to the Global Forest Watch Commodities platform, which enables companies to monitor changes in forest cover associated with their supply chains. Unilever and its suppliers will begin using the platform and working with WRI to improve it.

Supply chain data gaps have inspired numerous industry-led initiatives dedicated to massive supply chain data-gathering and sharing projects, such as the Sustainable Apparel Coalition (SAC), and it has inspired dozens of cloud services specializing in traceability, ranging from EcoVadis to SourceMap. And barely one month into 2018, several of these tools are attaining new levels of maturity and transparency.

A new radar and satellite system will give brands greater forest commodity sourcing transparency Companies that source commodities from areas potentially at risk of deforestation will have a new weapon in their armoury from the start of 2017. Starling is a high-resolution satellite auditing service that can be used to check forest management practices, in particular in source countries for palm oil, such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

In the spirit of preservation at the heart of the National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park is setting an example and promoting sustainable building practices. The park's Living Building Challenge and LEEDv4 Platinum-certified project focus on transparency in choosing building products with labels that gauge a product's environmental and material impacts.