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BSR and Forum for the Future launched the Net Positive Project, a coalition to clearly define what it means to be net Positive and build a framework on how to scope, measure, and communicate net Positive outcomes. Founding company members include Dell, The Dow Chemical Company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Kimberly-Clark, and others.

As the COP21 climate change summit starts in Paris today, Unilever has announced it will become "carbon positive" in its operations by 2030.

Five fashion companies -- Eileen Fisher, H&M, Kering, Zero + Maria Cornejo and Loomstate -- now belong to the Fashion Positive PLUS initiative and will help develop "circular solutions" for clothing materials that can be used and reused. The goal of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute's initiative is to improve commonly used materials, including dyes and yarns, so they have Positive health impacts while also promoting change in the industry.

According to a new Pure Strategies study, over $8 billion was earned in 2015 from the sustainability efforts of 153 survey respondents, signaling a new way of defining sources of business value. Taking inspiration from sustainability's positive performance, companies should position their programs to generate the greatest business benefits and to measure and celebrate the gains.

60 percent of surveyed companies believe LEED positively impacts their return on investment (ROI).

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has released a new report highlighting the positive impact certification can have in delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The MSC Global Impacts Report 2017 details more than a thousand examples of positive change being made by certified fisheries to safeguard fish stocks and marine habitats.

Marriott International launched Serve 360, a sustainability and social impact platform designed to "guide the company's commitment and deliver positive results" across four priority areas: communities, responsible operations, workplace readiness and access to opportunity, and human rights. As part of Serve 360, the company announced new 2025 sustainability and social impact commitments including targets to reduce water use by 15%, carbon by 30%, waste by 45%, food waste by 50%, and more.

Global chocolate and cocoa supplier Barry Callebaut launched its new sustainability strategy "Forever Chocolate," which sets out four targets for the company to achieve by 2025. The targets include eradicating child labor from its supply chain, becoming carbon and forest positive, lifting more than 500,000 cocoa farmers out of poverty, and using 100% sustainable ingredients in all of its products.

Corporate sustainability is evolving. In its early days, sustainability was tantamount to reducing harm by making products and processes "less bad." With a glimpse of the competitive advantage that could be achieved, companies began to embed sustainability principles at the core of decision-making. Sustainability today goes beyond the walls of the organization - it's now about using brand, purchasing and political power to influence stakeholders and create positive change.

The fashion and textile industries continue to make strides towards circular models with the emergence of new resources and technologies that make a sustainable shift easier than ever before. The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute's Fashion Positive Initiative has unveiled a set of online resources designed to rapidly increase environmental and social outcomes in the fashion industry, while the H&M Foundation and The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel have uncovered a new hydrothermal process that fully separates and recycles fabric blends that can then be reused directly without any quality loss.

The wool-which The North Face is using in a new beanie with the tagline, "Warm your dome, not the globe"-is produced in a way that allows the ranchers to sequester large amounts of carbon as they raise sheep. In a year, Bare Ranch's methods will sequester around 4,000 metric tons of CO2, offsetting the emissions from roughly 850 cars.

In the spirit of preservation at the heart of the National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park is setting an example and promoting sustainable building practices. The park's Living Building Challenge and LEEDv4 Platinum-certified project focus on transparency in choosing building products with labels that gauge a product's environmental and material impacts.

Large quantities of fish are consumed in India on a daily basis, which generates a huge amount of fish "biowaste" materials. In an attempt to do something positive with this biowaste, a team of researchers at Jadavpur University in Koltata, India explored recycling the fish byproducts into an energy harvester for self-powered electronics

New York cements its position as a national renewable energy leader today with a New York Public Service Commission (PSC) order requiring that 50 percent of the state's electricity must from clean, renewable sources like solar and wind power by 2030.

Conservationists got a mixed bag of news following an international group overseeing the world's species protection initiatives meeting this weekend. On the positive side, officials decided to officially take the giant panda off of the endangered species list, citing steady successes in preserving the bears' natural habitats. But though this is certainly a small victory, pandas are far from out of the woods when it comes to their species' long-term survival.

Seventy percent of registered voters have a positive impression of wind development. "Candidates running for office on both sides of the aisle in this important election year should take note: The more wind farms we build, the stronger support from US voters grows," said American Wind Energy Association CEO Tom Kiernan.

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

Las Vegas Sands (NYSE: LVS) has been ranked as one of the greenest large companies in the world in the 2016 Newsweek Green Rankings, released today. LVS holds the #39 spot on the U.S. 500 list and the #74 position on the Global 500 list, while the company's subsidiary in Macao, Sands China Ltd., has been listed #62. This accomplishment makes Las Vegas Sands and Sands China Ltd. the highest ranked hospitality companies in the U.S., as well as in the world.

A company created by Stanford University is developing a self-sustaining community in the Netherlands. The 25-home neighborhood will produce its own energy from biogas, solar and geothermal sources and will grow its own food. ReGen Villages describes its focus as "[d]esirable, off-grid-capable neighborhoods comprised of power positive homes, renewable energy, water management, and waste-to-resource systems that are based upon on-going resiliency research -- for thriving families and reduced burdens on local and national governments."

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.