The Science Based Targets initiative is celebrating a major milestone: over 100 companies have turned their commitments into targets and are now working towards emission reductions in line with what climate science says is necessary to limit warming to below 2°C.

It's been almost exactly one year since the world's most valuable technology company declared its intention to make future iPhones and MacBooks entirely out of recycled materials. And behold: Just in time for Earth Day 2018, Apple is introducing the latest manufacturing innovation that it believes will help the company automate its way toward that goal.

The Procter & Gamble Company today announced it has achieved many of its 2020 environmental sustainability goals, has plans in place to meet the rest and has established new, broad-reaching goals for 2030. With "Ambition 2030," P&G aims to enable and inspire positive impact on the environment and society while creating value for the Company and consumers

By the fall of 2020, REI will sever its business relationships with any of its 1,000-plus suppliers that don't meet stringent new requirements in areas including environmental impact, chemical usage, animal welfare, and labor safety and fairness. The move is among the most comprehensive efforts to advance sustainability in the retail sector. The outdoors-equipment retailer has already supplied to its vendors a 12-page document detailing the new sustainability standards. Some go into effect immediately, while others are more ambitious and aspirational and won't be mandatory for a couple of years.

P&G has pledged to embrace recycling and reclamation processes for about 5 billion liters of the water it uses annually for manufacturing, which amounts to about 10 percent of current consumption. The company is also ramping up its plans to tackle another area for which there are few solutions today: developing and scaling the recycling infrastructure for soiled disposable baby diapers, feminine sanitary napkins and adult incontinence napkins.

REI announced that it would roll out rigorous sustainability standards across its supply chain. The more than 1,000 brands that can be currently found on REI's stores or its web site, insists the co-op, will "make it easier for millions of outdoor enthusiasts to choose more sustainable products."

Hershey Co. is spending $500 million in the hopes of producing its iconic chocolate Kisses from more sustainable cocoa. Through its so-called Cocoa for Good program, the company will invest the funds through 2030 to support four key areas: nourishing children, empowering youth, building prosperous communities and preserving natural ecosystems.

PG&E has reached California's 2020 renewable energy goal three years ahead of schedule, and now delivers nearly 80 percent of its electricity from greenhouse gas-free resources.

Great Adventure is joining large and small amusement parks around the world in what industry officials say is a budding solar trend in response to the demands of a young and environmentally-conscious clientele that loves both the planet and thrill rides, and wants to feel good about the fun they're having.

Following 10 months of pressure, G-Star joined the Detox campaign in early 2013, committing to eliminating all uses of hazardous chemicals from its supply chain and products by 2020. Now, as Forbes' Rebecca Suhrawardi reports, the company is launching "the most sustainable denim ever."

China has sent 60,000 soldiers to plant trees. China plans to grow 6.66 million hectares of new forest this year, having already created 33.8 million hectares (338,000 square kilometres) of forest in the past five years, says Zhang Jianlong, head of the State Forestry Administration, in a report from Reuters. The country wants to increase the area of land covered by woodlands from 21.7% in 2016 to 23% by 2020, according to China Daily.

The deforestation consequences of ever-expanding agriculture is well understood. New research suggests that what is less well known is the impact from other industrial practices, including mining, particularly in the Amazon region. In a push for development and growth, governments have been scrambling to reap the economic benefits of extracting large amounts of metal ores, with the deforestation associated with such development in areas of ancient virgin forest more serious than previous thinking suggested, according to a new study.

A new study calculates that the island of Borneo lost nearly 150,000 orangutans in the period between 1999 and 2015, largely as a result of deforestation and killing. There were an estimated 104,700 of the critically endangered apes left as of 2012. The study also warns that another 45,000 orangutans are doomed by 2050 under the business-as-usual scenario, where forests are cleared for logging, palm oil, mining and pulpwood leases. Orangutans are also disappearing from intact forests, most likely being killed, the researchers say.

India's booming population and rapidly expanding urban areas have exacted a huge toll on its rivers, which are badly polluted and choked by development. But in cities across India, activists are heading to court to force municipalities and states to take action.

A number of biologists have recently made the argument that extinction is part of evolution and that saving species need not be a conservation priority. But this revisionist thinking shows a lack of understanding of evolution and an ignorance of the natural world.

There are several long-term threats to the global chocolate industry, not the least of which is climate change. Concerns over human rights have also convinced more consumers to be discerning about the choices they make when purchasing chocolate. Companies have responded in kind, as many have started to partner with nonprofits on projects ranging from mapping tools to supply chain transparency.

Drilling has been so intense near Fox Creek that its been linked to a series of earthquakes. One tremor measured 4.6 in magnitude, one of the two biggest human-induced seismic event in Canada's history.

Climate risk has arrived as a business issue to be reckoned with. Over the last year, the investment community sent a clear message that they are focused on environmental sustainability and expect companies in which they invest to do the same.

Novo Nordisk, a global healthcare company specialising in diabetes, obesity and other serious chronic diseases, published its Annual Report 2017 online today at novonordisk.com/annualreport. It is the company's fourteenth integrated annual report accounting for the company's financial, social and environmental performance.

On Day Zero, about three months from now, Cape Town will shut off its spigots, an almost unfathomable step for a major city of 4 million people. And it might presage something bleaker for other regions that are grappling with the challenges of strained infrastructure and the effects of rising temperatures.