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According to new research by Accenture, CDP and Hermes Investment Management, over 40% of global companies may still not be seeing the forest for the trees: Four in 10 telecomm and consumer goods companies reporting to CDP are failing to capture or report any financial value from strong environmental performance. The largest emitters in the global economy account for a cumulative $447bn opportunity from climate change, yet 42% of these companies have not yet quantified the potential value.

This week, scientists from The Nature Conservancy and The Dow Chemical Company, with research support from Colorado State University and Duke University, published Finding solutions to water scarcity: Incorporating ecosystem service values into business planning at The Dow Chemical Company's Freeport, Texas facility, which addresses challenges businesses face to accurately estimate the value of water resources and address future scarcity threats. 

Companies that switch to green buildings save 14% in operational costs over five years, according to the World Green Building Trends 2016 SmartMarket report. The report found that companies that either build green offices or renovate to be more sustainable add 7% in asset value to the company.

Global carbon markets' value will rise 15 percent this year to 46 billion euros ($63 billion), Bloomberg New Energy Finance forecasts.

Panera Bread has been using antibiotic-free meat for a decade, but unlike rival Chipotle, it's struggled to effectively communicate its green credentials to consumers. writes Andrew Marder. The company is introducing a communications strategy touting its produce, donations and community cafes for low-income families. "[T]here's a lot of value in the work that Panera is doing, and it just takes a few good ad campaigns to bring that value to bear on the bottom line," Marder writes.

The Dow Chemical Company today announced new sustainability goals, to be accomplished by 2025, which include creating products that offset three times more carbon dioxide than they emit throughout their life cycle and delivering $1 billion in cost savings or new cash flow by valuing nature in business decisions.

 cracks are beginning to appear in the shareholder value edifice and are leading to a renewed examination of the factors that should shape investor decisions. Three factors are driving this re-assessment.

According to a new Pure Strategies study, over $8 billion was earned in 2015 from the sustainability efforts of 153 survey respondents, signaling a new way of defining sources of business value. Taking inspiration from sustainability's positive performance, companies should position their programs to generate the greatest business benefits and to measure and celebrate the gains.

Carnegie has been on a seven-year journey to create the world's first bio-based interior textile that doesn't compromise performance, value or aesthetics.

Novelis' latest sustainability report shows the aluminum rolling and recycling giant making significant investments and strides to advance the circular economy and increase the sustainability of its business, the aluminum industry and its value chain. The report details the company's efforts to increase its recycling capacity and the recycled content of its products to 80% by 2020.

Our live chat explored what value consumers place on the sustainability of the products they buy. Here are 10 things we learned

A new peer-reviewed study shows that widespread use of algae in animal feed could help limit the rise in global temperature to 2°C by 2100 and possibly even turn back the clock, bringing atmospheric carbon concentrations down to pre-industrial levels by the end of the century. Algae-based feeds have proven to be equal to or better than other feedstocks in nutritional value and digestibility, and could free large swaths of arable land and simultaneously address food security issues in an era of rising demand for animal proteins.

The ocean's value has been estimated as high as $24 trillion, yet despite its inherent connections to the health and well-being of wildlife, humans, and the global economy, it continues to be overexploited and polluted. Plastic pollution and shark killing are two major problems that could be - at least in part - alleviated by new materials: a seaweed-based biodegradable plastic packaging, and a sugarcane-based alternative to a widely used moisturizer normally derived from shark liver oil.

Net zero energy (NZE) buildings-responsible for the production of as much (or more) clean energy as they use annually-have been gaining global momentum. In our newly released Insight Brief, RMI presents an innovative business model for developing net zero energy or ultra-low energy districts in a way that creates significant business value. Net zero energy business models are financially attractive to investors because the large capital investments in solar PV, district heating and cooling, and energy efficiency are repaid over time on utility bills, generating a steady return that benefits from enhanced credit because of the utility-customer relationship.

Cleantech company Mainstream Renewable Power will reportedly build and operate nearly 1 GW of wind power capacity in Chile by 2021. The 7 wind power projects have a combined investment value of more than $1.5 billion.

EUROPEN and 35 other associations representing major consumer goods brands, packaging producers, material producers and extended producer responsibility organizations are calling for a long-term, ambitious EU policy framework that enables and facilitates sustainable resource use from a full life-cycle perspective, incentivizes economies of scale and takes into account value chains at all levels, each with their different functional needs, supply and demand realities.

(World Green Building Council) showcases the actions businesses are taking to improve their workspaces and highlights the business value created from providing healthy, green office space for employees.

Four mechanical engineering students from Nashik have invented a device which is an indicator for the vehicle driver about excessive pollutant levels, while driving. When the engine of the vehicle starts, the sensor fitted in the silencer will sense the exhaust particles and check the limit value. If it exceeds the prescribed limit then a red light will blink as the first indicator, for two hours. Even after the first warning, if there is no change in the limit then there are two more indicators that will blink within a gap of two hours after which the engine will automatically turn off. According to the four inventors, the device will help in tackling the pollution issue, especially in densely-populated and polluted areas.

Cotton is planted on 2.4 percent of the world's crop land and yet it accounts for 24 percent and 11 percent of the global sales of insecticide and pesticides, respectively. Organic cotton represents less than 1 percent of the global total annual crop, but National Geographic, international clothing brand C&A, and activist and filmmaker Alexandra Cousteau believe that needs to change. A new 60-minute documentary, For the Love of Fashion, emphasizes "the need for a paradigm shift in the cotton value chain."

The Natural Capital Coalition launched the Natural Capital Protocol, a framework for harmonizing natural capital valuation across business sectors. The framework was developed over the last two years with input from more than 450 organizations and has been piloted by companies including The Coca-Cola Company, Dow Chemical, Nestlé, and others.