Two years after Greenpeace launched a campaign demanding Thai Union, the world's largest tuna company, take action to eliminate exploitative and unsustainable practices from its supply chains, the two organizations have finally put their long-running conflict to rest.

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

According to these goals, by the year 2022, Target will: source its own brand paper-based packaging from sustainably managed forests, eliminate expanded polystyrene from its brand packaging, add the How2Recycle label to its packaging, and create more demand for recycled packaging. Additionally, Target has partnered with The Recycling Partnership to fund improved recycling operations and education in cities and towns across the country. To date, more than 30 companies are behind The Recycling Partnership's work to improve recycling in more than 250 communities. Target is the organization's first retail partner.

The British retailer Tesco announced a commitment to immediately start removing hazardous chemicals from the supply chain of its F&F clothing and footwear label. Tesco recently signed onto the Greenpeace Detox Campaign, agreeing to eliminate chemicals such as phthalates, heavy metals, and chlorinated solvents by 2020. The retailer joins 80 other brands and suppliers that have agreed to the campaign since it began in 2011.

Italian meat processor and producer Inalca SpA's projects to reduce water and energy use at its plant in Rieti, Italy, resulted in annual savings of 3.7 million gallons of water and more than $72,000.

Convenience retailer 7-Eleven, citing a 2016 study which found that sustainably sourced coffee is recognized by almost half of Millennials as an important attribute when making their selection, is swapping the Colombian coffee now served at its stories for a new Rainforest Alliance Certified, single-origin Colombian coffee.

Coca-Cola European Partners will increase the amount of recycled PET in its bottles from 25% to 50% over the next three years as part of a new initiative to boost sustainability. The strategy also includes an effort to encourage recycling by promoting reforms to Great Britain's recycling programs.

Nearly 50 of the 103 new electric car models expected to debut around the world by 2020 will come from Chinese automakers, an AlixPartners report says. The US consulting firm also forecasts that the sale of cars and light trucks in America will suffer a cyclical drop during the next few years.

European lawmakers want the European Union to take steps to promote more durable and more easily repairable consumer products, in order to reduce waste and conserve resources.

Major established companies from AT&T to Walmart are finding financial gain in offering eco-friendly products. "Consumers are looking for companies to be more and more environmentally and socially conscious," said Roman Smith, AT&T's director of sustainability integration.

The Madhya Pradesh government in India spearheaded an environmental campaign last weekend in which some 1.5 million volunteers planted 66 million trees in 12 hours along the banks of the Narmada River. India, the world's third-largest generator of carbon emissions, has committed under the Paris Agreement to increase its forests by 12% by 2030.

France yesterday unveiled plans to reduce its carbon footprint by ceasing sales of gas and diesel vehicles by 2040 and then becoming carbon neutral by 2050, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot said. France also plans to end coal-fired energy production by 2022, cut nuclear power use from 75% to 50% in eight years and halt imports of unsustainably grown palm oil and soy beans.

Shareholder pressure to phase out Styrofoam has not kept McDonald's from using foam cups in several Chicago-area restaurants this summer, though the company would not say where else it may be using them. The chain said it continues "to work with our suppliers on sustainable packaging options that reduce our sourcing footprint and positively impact the communities we serve."

Mayors of 52 of the world's megacities, representing more than 275 million citizens, have called upon G20 leaders to address climate change at the upcoming G20 Summit. In a joint statement, members of the C40 network urged the G20 to work closely with cities towards creating a more sustainable future.

The World Wildlife Fund has published a new report, Eating for 2 Degrees - New and Updated Livewell Plates, which outlines how simple steps, such as reducing red meat consumption, could help to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2030. The report shares the minimal dietary changes needed to meet the Paris Agreement commitment to keep global warming below 2°C.

A federal court ruled Monday that the methane rule adopted under the Obama administration must be upheld by the current administration. The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that the Trump administration had no right to delay the rule that limits methane emissions from gas and oil operations.

Volvo Cars on Wednesday became the first mainstream automaker to sound the death knell of the internal combustion engine, saying that all the models it introduces starting in 2019 will be either hybrids or powered solely by batteries.

Hershey has redesigned its display cases in such a way that by 2025, they will have reduced packaging material by 25 million pounds, the company says. The new display case is a one-piece design with no cover packaging. It also eliminates the center divider. With these and other changes, the cases use 32% less material, Hershey says. The cases also use about 62% less time to open and set up.

Google has partnered with The Common Ground Alliance - a group of the world's largest advertisers - to launch the Common Future Project, a global YouTube-based campaign that aims to engage "Generation Z" (aged 15 to 24) around the Sustainable Development Goals. Google will provide a grant to support and amplify the campaign.

Unilever has suspended sourcing from its palm oil supplier Sawit Sumbermas Sarana, following allegations that the supplier is involved in ongoing deforestation and peatland clearance in Indonesia.