EC Environmental Policy

Palm oil continues to proliferate in everything from ice cream to shampoo but sustainable palm oil has failed to catch on, as a punchy short film by the environment group, WWF, ... But there are more fundamental issues at play.

Last year saw more clean energy milestones than we could fit on one page, but here are 13 of the key breakthroughs that happened this year.

Chevron and Southwest Gas have been fined about $1 million for violating California's mandatory greenhouse gas emissions reporting rule in 2011.

Sales of organic produce have been steadily rising, and farmers worldwide have stepped up to provide a year-round supply of certified organic fruits and vegetables, experts say. Nearly all items in the produce section are available in organic, with prices fluctuating based on supply, says Claris Ritter of Alfalfa's Market in Colorado. "Price is really a function of supply, and we're still having greater demand than supply," Ritter said. "We'll have to see, if we ever do catch up to the demand, what happens with the price

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is responsible for handling America's response to extreme weather events such as wildfires and floods, but some experts say the agency isn't adequately factoring climate issues into its strategic planning processes.

Foodservice management company Compass Group North America is the newest hospitality partner in sustainable and local produce initiative Greener Fields Together.

The Winter X Games in Aspen produces a big carbon footprint, the Aspen Times reports, but Aspen Skiing Company (Skico), which produces the games that ended Sunday, is taking measures to make the annual event more sustainable. Snowmaking is the biggest greenhouse gas emitter. Schendler estimates this accounts for 5 percent of Skico's overall annual GHG emissions. But by replacing older snowmaking guns with more efficient models, Skico is shrinking the event's carbon footprint, the paper reports.

L'Oréal has pledged to use only renewable raw materials by the start of next decade as part of a "zero deforestation" strategy that will affect its sourcing of palm oil and other resources.

The North Face announced the completion of its Responsible Down Standard (RDS), a tool that will provide a global standard through which the outdoor-gear retailer says any organization can evaluate and certify its full down supply chain.

Critics of genetically modified crops protested at Monsanto Co's annual shareholders meeting on Tuesday, calling for the world's largest seed company to provide a report on contamination in non-GMO crops and to stop fighting mandatory labels on foods containing GMO ingredients.

Baby products company gDiapers has made false or misleading claims about how its diapers and wipes decompose, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Coca-Cola and Nike are among the global companies that have acknowledged that climate change is a major threat to commerce and adapted their business practices as a result, the New York Times reports.

New CO2 Fuels has completed stage 1 testing for its proof-of-concept system for technology that converts CO2 into fuel using solar energy.

Procter & Gamble plans to end the use of phosphates in all of its laundry detergents in the next two years, a move that will have the greatest impact on developing countries, the Guardian reports.

Chipotle in February will launch "Farmed and Dangerous," a Web series lampooning the factory-farming industry. The show, which will run on Hulu, stars a character named Chip but otherwise has little obvious connection to Chipotle's brand or products, Noam Cohen writes

Guangdong, the province in southern China, has posted a plan to reduce dependence on coal and oil from 73% of energy use in 2010 to 60.6% next year. The move is part of the region's effort to reduce its carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by almost a fifth from 2010 levels by 2015

Coca-Cola and other corporations are starting to see global warming as an economically disruptive force affecting commodity costs and supply chains.

At the kick-off of the Berlin Fashion Week, World Wide Fund For Nature Germany and Welthungerhilfe invited leading textile companies to Berlin. The goal was to provide information about the use of sustainable cotton fundamental for a responsible clothing industry and to discuss possibilities to increase transparency in the textile supply chain.

The new Center for Sustainable Shale Development recognizes companies that go beyond regulatory minimums to protect communities and the environment.