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The Palm Oil Innovation Group (POIG), as the group is known, unveiled its standards during the annual meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the industry's main certification body. The standards build on criteria set by the RSPO by adding stricter requirements "to ensure that there is a supply of traceable palm oil free from forest and peatland destruction and human rights abuses," according to a statement from Greenpeace, one of POIG's charter members.  Read more at http://news.mongabay.com/2013/1118-poig-palm-oil.html#wlI8Y8ZEEyKQzKTU.99

Global warming is "unequivocal" and humans are turning up the heat - but more slowly since 1998, according to a report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released today.

activists with Rainforest Action Network (RAN) delivered a set of demands to local food giant PepsiCo, Inc. regarding the company's use of the controversial food additive palm oil in its products. RAN recently announced a new national campaign to remove "Conflict Palm Oil" responsible for rainforest destruction, human rights violations and carbon pollution from America's snack foods.

Atmospheric carbon levels have reached 402 parts per million, the highest level in about 800,000 years, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association. "Humans have caused carbon dioxide concentrations to rise 120 ppm since preindustrial times, with over 90% of that in the past century alone," said James Butler, director of NOAA's Global Monitoring Division

BMW, Ford, GM, Honda and 10 other leading automakers have agreed a set of expectations for suppliers, relating to the environment, working conditions, human rights and business ethics.

A new product could help people in remote, parched places gain easy access to clean drinking water. The Warka Water, a 30-foot-tall tower shaped like a vase, uses a straw mesh and a nylon net to capture airborne humidity in the form of dew, which it then collects for human use. The device can reportedly gather more than 25 gallons of potable water in a single day, even in desert conditions

For the first time in human history and likely for the first time in at least 800,000 years, the average level of carbon dioxide (CO2) in Earth's atmosphere topped 400 parts per million for an entire month.

IF HUMANITY is to avoid dangerous climate change, we need to capture hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. But what to do with it all? There is no shortage of places to bury it (see "Trailblazing power plant is first to bury its carbon"), but we can at least put some of it to good use. A few start-up companies view CO2 as a resource rather than a waste product. They are using CO2 as the raw material for making products including superglue and fertiliser.

The world needs "immediate and substantial" reductions in carbon emissions to avoid huge and irreversible damage to the planet's oceans and fisheries, researchers say. "The oceans are closely tied to human systems, and we're putting communities at high risk," said fisheries researcher Rashid Sumaila

Large palm oil companies that have promised to act ethically have been accused of land grabbing, ignoring human rights and exploiting labour in their African and Asian plantations.

For thousands of years, sea level has remained relatively stable and human communities have settled along the planet's coastlines. But now Earth's seas are rising. Globally, sea level has risen about eight inches (20 centimeters) since the beginning of the 20th century and more than two inches (5 centimeters) in the last 20 years alone. All signs suggest that this rise is accelerating.

In this Yale Environment 360 video, we present the first of a two-part e360 series, "Wasted," on the vexing global problem of food waste. Filmmaker Karim Chrobog visits two cities - Washington, D.C., and Seoul, South Korea - to examine why so much food goes to waste and what can be done about it. Washington, and the U.S. as a whole, has taken only minor steps to reduce this enormous waste and its related human and environmental costs. By contrast, Seoul has adopted innovative programs to minimize the amount of food that ends up going to landfills to rot. 

Fast food restaurant chain Wendy's is reportedly piloting the sale of chicken that does not contain antibiotics "medically important to humans" in select Missouri, Texas, and Florida markets, according to CNBC.

An Apple supplier in China making iPhone and iPad parts violated a number of health and safety, environmental and human rights laws, according to a report released by China Labor Watch and Green America.

Fast-food giant McDonald's today is announcing new standards for the chicken supplied to its 14,000 U.S. restaurants. While the company isn't going antibiotic-free, McDonald's plans within two years to sell only chicken "raised without antibiotics that are important to human medicine," according to a statement provided to GreenBiz.

Thanks to a study published today in the journal Science, we finally have an estimate. Are you sitting down? Humans release between 5.3 million and 14 million tons of plastic into the ocean annually.

H&M, Eddie Bauer, The North Face, Marmot, Mammut, Helly Hansen, Outdoor Research, DownLinens, Down & Feather Co. and other leading international fashion, bedding and outdoor brands have adopted the Textile Exchange's Responsible Down Standard, a third-party certification standard that can be applied to any waterfowl-based supply chain to help ensure humane treatment of animals from gosling to end product.

Out of Fashion campaign for forest-friendly fabrics - led by the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) - is calling on the "Fashion 15" group of companies - to take responsibility for their supply chains and develop strong, time bound commitments to protect forests and human rights.

In a recent report, NASA pointed out that our world is running on the brink of a freshwater shortage.    When faced with a crisis, history shows us that humanity has an amazing ability to conquer it resourcefully. And that's exactly what many environmental innovators are seeking to do

Whether or not you believe that GMOs are safe for human consumption, the majority of American consumers support the labeling of GMO foods. Genetically engineered crops might be here to stay, but even so, it may be in the industry's best interest to label products that contain them. So said Campbell Soup President and CEO Denise Morrison in a big announcement: Campbell will disclose the presence of GMOs on product labels across its portfolio and strongly supports federal legislation to make GMO labeling mandatory.