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Cutting costs is paramount for the offshore wind industry - as well as for the climate. The cheaper it becomes, the more green offshore wind capacity will see the light of day. A record-low price on the Dutch wind farm Borssele 1+2 marks a breakthrough for offshore wind costs....

Once spurned for having too many calories, avocados have spiked in popularity throughout the U.S. and Canada due to their reputation as a "healthy fat" that also doubles as a superfood. But the growing demand, which has led produce brokers and retailers to look beyond California to Mexico. According to an Associated Press investigation, the high prices that avocados can fetch for consumers has led to the deforestation of Mexico's historic pine forests.

The sales of electric vehicles and other alternatively-powered cars are on the rise, according to several industry reports released this summer.

Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are increasingly under threat from human activities and countries must transform their agricultural practices to ensure global crop production can meet demand and avoid substantial economic losses, the United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity heard today. According to the global assessment on pollinators produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), 75 per cent of our food crops and nearly 90 per cent of wild flowering plants depend to some extent on animal pollination, which is the transfer of pollen between the male and female parts of flowers to enable fertilization and reproduction. Without pollinators, crops such as coffee, cacao and apples would drastically suffer, and changes in global crop supplies could increase prices to consumers and reduce profits to producers, resulting in a potential annual net loss of economic welfare of $160 billion to $191 billion globally.

Consolidated Edison, the utility that provides New York City's electricity, faces higher demand for power than its existing infrastructure can supply. But instead of adding a substation, which would cost $1.2 billion or more, Con Ed will deploy a mix of distributed solar, fuel cells and efficiency measures that will cost about $200 million - less than one-fifth the price of a substation, reports Inside Climate News.

Wal-Mart and Sam's Club will switch to 100% cage-free eggs by 2025, with suppliers' compliance to be checked annually by a third-party certifier. The relatively long lead time for the transition will allow the retailers to keep prices down while improving conditions for chickens, officials said.

Beth Stevens, senior VP of environmental affairs at Disney Worldwide Services, is in charge of making strides in the direction of sustainability. How does the iconic brand not only tell an engaging sustainability story but walk the talk? Disney's sustainability goals are serious. It aims to halve its emissions by 2020 from 2012 levels. It signed on to the White House American Business Act on Climate Pledge ahead of COP21 and the Paris Agreement. It even maintains an internal carbon price. Stevens sees all this as a natural expression of the company's culture.

Most cocoa farmers receive less than 5 cents for every dollar that consumers spend on chocolate, according to Oxfam, giving little incentive or funding to invest in more sustainable farming methods, writes Amy Carniol. By paying farmers a higher price, Fair Trade chocolate improves producers' quality of life and helps them ensure long-term viability, Carniol writes.

Wal-Mart has introduced a line of "all-natural," chemical-free cleaning products under its Great Value label. The products, which are priced more cheaply than brand-name eco-friendly cleaning products, use Wal-Mart's proprietary Evolve technology, which the company says allows the products to work as effectively as petroleum-based cleaners.

More businesses accept that they should account for water, fertile soil, forests, air and more. Far fewer are naming a price for these resources.

More businesses accept that they should account for water, fertile soil, forests, air and more. Far fewer are naming a price for these resources.

The world's most popular cheap cooking oil is becoming less affordable. Palm oil prices are up 10% since the start of the year, and closer to 16% since the end of January, when they dropped to $765 per tonne ($843 per ton). The stuff hasn't been this expensive since September of 2012.

Climate change could force Chipotle to temporarily stop serving guacamole, the fast-food chain warned in a recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The notification, which Chipotle described as a "routine financial disclosure," notes that climate-induced freezes and droughts can take a severe toll on food-based supply chains, leading to price spikes and product shortages

the Walt Disney Company will expand its already substantial voluntary offset purchasing program to account for indirect emissions generated by its operations, an effort to be financed by a $11 to $14 per metric ton internal carbon price the company charges its business units

According to Greenpeace, the fish that sushi restaurants rely upon for their high-priced sashimi dishes is now endangered. Sixty percent of the world's tuna stocks is now harvested from the Pacific Ocean, and bluefin prized for its delicate meat fills a substantial demand in Japan. More than 70 percent of the bluefin that is caught ends up in Japan.

Well-designed corporate social responsibility programs increase revenue by as much as 20 percent, command price premiums up to 20 percent and increase customer commitment by as much as 60 percent, according to a study commissioned by Verizon and Campbell Soup.

Well-designed corporate social responsibility programs increase revenue by as much as 20 percent, command price premiums up to 20 percent and increase customer commitment by as much as 60 percent, according to a study commissioned by Verizon and Campbell Soup.

President Barack Obama made a forceful call for climate action Monday, calling out "the cynics and the deniers" who stand in the way of carbon regulations and warning that the failure to act would "condemn our children to a world they will no longer have the capacity to repair." Obama said the price of inaction was intolerably high, while the cost of action would be less than critics claim. "On this issue, of all issues, there is such a thing as being too late. That moment is almost upon us," he said

IKEA Group is considering internal carbon pricing as a way to tackle emissions and build a "new and better" company, says CEO Peter Agnefjall. "We see sustainability as a driver of building a new and better IKEA," Agnefjall says. "It is a driver of a renewal of our business, renewal of our products and a driver of innovation of all kinds."

From historic climate change marches and bold advocacy by companies on the price of carbon to global economic volatility and heated debates on inequality, 2014 was a year of accelerated awareness and action for sustainable development. Our Ten Trends for 2015 distills SustainAbility's thinking over the past year and forecasts the issues that will shape the sustainable development agenda in 2015.