EC Environmental Policy

A giant solar receiver in California's agricultural region may offer some hope for farmers who have been denied water in a record-setting drought. Conservation policies to protect endangered fish species have have contributed as well.

Nearly two-thirds of corporations worldwide will increase environmental spending this year with about half of that group expanding their budgets by double-digits.

Consumer demand, advances in material technology and legislation will push sustainable packaging to a $244 billion market by 2018, according to report by Smithers Para. The "Future of Sustainable Packaging to 2018" report found awareness among consumers is driving demand for sustainability, particularly packaging that has a smaller environmental footprint.

Financial executives should become more involved in their company's sustainability reporting efforts, according to a new report. The report, from Grant Thornton and the Financial Executives Research Foundation, found that financial executives are not as involved in corporate social responsibility matters and reporting as they should be, even though the finance function's involvement in sustainability reporting adds credibility and confidence in the measurement, data collection and analysis processes.

GreenBiz NGO report assed 30 of the largets environmental NGOs on tehir credibility and influenced. More than 200 companies and their sustainability exccutives reviewed the NGOs.

Microsoft became the first company to purchase carbon credits generated by the Makira conservation project in Madagascar, which intends to preserve 320,000 hectares of forests and prevent 32.5 million metric tons of carbon emissions.

Kellogg has promised to buy palm oil that has been verified for environmental quality starting in 2016. Suppliers will need to ensure independent verification of palm oil they source, said Diane Holdorf, chief sustainability officer at Kellogg.

Tiffany & Co., Target and Helzberg Diamonds have committed to more sustainable gold and metals mining.

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.

Chick-fil-A announced this week that it will stop using meat from chickens raised with antibiotics within five years. The chain said consumer demands sparked the change; Chipotle and Panera Bread have taken similar measures recently. "This ... surfaced as the No. 1 issue for our customers," said Tim Tassopoulos, Chick-fil-A's executive vice president of operations.

Cox Enterprises seeks to send zero waste to landfills in seven to 10 years and become carbon and water neutral in the next 25 to 30 years.

Hotel chains and casinos are adding low-energy lighting to guest rooms, putting solar panels on roofs and using hotel limousines powered by compressed natural gas, but these sustainable practices could be bolstered by the use of third-party standards that measure hotels against one another, writes Marc Gunther. "[I]ndustry executives cite three reasons why they have begun to take action on the sustainability front: to save money, attract and motivate their employees, and respond to demand from business and leisure travelers," Gunther writes

Walmart is one of the companies diverting tons of excess food to farmers in southwestern Pennsylvania who are turning it into usable compost in their fields. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports

In response to cries of animal mistreatment, some winter-wear companies have sworn off live-plucked, force-fed down, while others have dropped it completely.

In the Delhi region alone, Indian project partners of the Sustainable Water Resources Management project implemented 85 different "low-hanging fruit" recommendations resulting in a 765 percent return on investment in one year and an average payback time of 11 days per project, SIWI says.

The Rainforest Alliance will evaluate the progress of Asia Pulp and Paper's forest conservation policy and commitments, including its pledge last year to stop clearing natural forests across it supply chains in Indonesia, the company announced in its one-year report.

DuPont Fabros Technology's Ashburn Corporate Campus (ACC) now uses reclaimed water for the four data centers with evaporative cooling plants.

Wal-Mart, Target and other major retailers have discovered that greener chemicals and concerned citizens create a potent formula for change

Necker Island, a small Caribbean island owned by business icon Richard Branson, has signed a contract to slash its diesel fuel use by building a renewable energy-powered microgrid.

Wendy's began requiring its suppliers to submit quarterly progress reports detailing the percentage of gestation-crate-free pork they have provided. The company has set a goal of eliminating the use of gestation crates from its supply chain by the end of 2022