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Despite a recent auction that left many emissions permits unsold, the California cap and trade system has been a big success, helping the state reduce emissions back to just about 1990 levels while growing its economy.

Polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, are chemicals used in nonstick cooking products and firefighting material and are known to cause health risks. Researchers found that 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in about 36 states had detectable levels of the chemicals, but most water treatment plants don't have the technology to remove it, putting millions of people at risk.

President Barack Obama officially committed the US to the goals of the Paris climate accord on Saturday. Under the deal, the US has until 2025 to curb its carbon emissions by 26% to 28% below 2005 levels.

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.

Oslo, Norway has a much more ambitious plan than most when it comes to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The city plans to cut its emissions in half compared to 1990 levels, in only four years - faster than any city or country has made changes in the past. At the same time, if we want to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius, it's the pace we need.

Coral reefs around the globe already are facing unprecedented damage due to warmer and more acidic oceans. If carbon dioxide emissions continue to fuel the rise in temperature, the widespread loss of coral reefs by 2050 could have devastating consequences, according to new research published in the scientific journal PLOS. "Some of the places that have the most to lose... are also among the biggest carbon emitters," Dr Pendleton said. "They really have it in their power to bring down the levels of carbon" they emit into the atmosphere. The researchers acknowledged that further study is needed to more fully understand what is happening to coral reefs around the globe and how that will affect humans.

Microsoft has achieved the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council's Gold Level of Zero Waste Certification for its Redmond corporate campus by diverting at least 90% of onsite waste from landfills. Microsoft is the first technology company in the country to achieve this certification.

Microsoft's zero waste efforts have earned it the US Zero Waste Business Council's highest certification level at its Redmond, Washington campus, making Microsoft the first technology company to achieve zero waste facility certification.

Deforestation in the world's largest rainforest jumped 29 percent over last year, representing a sharp increase over the historically low deforestation rate seen just five years ago and the highest level recorded in the region since 2008, reports the Brazilian government. The numbers, released by Brazil's National Space Research Institute INPE on Monday, show that 7,989 square kilometers of rainforest were destroyed between August 2015 and July 2016. The loss is equivalent to an area 135 times the size of Manhattan or the combined land mass of the American states of Connecticut and Delaware.

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.

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.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise has adopted a science-based goal to cut its operational GHG emissions by 25% by 2025 from 2015 baseline levels. The goal has been verified and approved by the Science Based Target initiative. MORE »

Air pollution in London is now so severe that it has surpassed levels normally found in Beijing, a city famed for its incessant smog. After authorities issued a 'very high' air pollution alert for the first time in the capital's history on Monday, the toxic air currently blanketing the city has shown little sign of abating. London mayor Sadiq Khan has described the situation as a "health crisis," the Telegraph reports, and warnings to take caution have been displayed at various tube stations, bus stops, and roadsides across the city.

Fashion designers have long asked for a place to find materials they know are healthier for people and the planet - and now they have one. The new Fashion Positive Materials Collection includes 39 materials for fashion applications that are Cradle to Cradle Certified or have received a Material Health Certificate, which at higher levels of certification ensures safe materials suitable for circular design. READ MORE

The EPA today released final standards for new and modified municipal solid waste landfills and emission guidelines for existing landfills. Under the final rules, new, modified and existing landfills will begin capturing and controlling landfill gas emissions at levels that are one-third lower than current requirements, updating 20-year-old standards for existing landfills.

Using automatic analysis, Global Forest Watch's new PALM Risk Tool determines the level of risk that a particular mill is using palm oil from illegally deforested sources, making it a powerful platform for companies to not only better understand their supply chains, but figure out how to mitigate risk and allocate limited resources towards achieving zero-deforestation goals.

Seventh Generation has been an environmentally conscious company from the get-go. Founded in 1988, the company is named after an ancient Iroquois document that declares that "in our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." Now, the company is taking its environmental consciousness to a new level. Recently, Seventh Generation released its Corporate Consciousness 2015 Report which revealed the company is establishing an internal tax on its carbon emissions.

As signs emerge that the global energy sector is beginning to rein in what once had been unbridled levels of climate-changing pollution, new United Nations figures show pollution from farming is continuing to get worse.

The government of Quebec, Canada, has set a goal to export 60.9% of its installed renewable energy capacity to the US -- up from its current level of 46.6% -- by 2030. "With the most developed wind energy supply chain in Canada and the northeastern United States, Quebec's wind industry is in a good position to meet our continent's energy challenges," Canadian Wind Energy Association Vice President Jean-Francois Nolet said.

Companies are beginning to unleash a new generation of science-based sustainability goals, which promise to address social environmental problems at the local and global levels.