EC Environmental Policy

New research on progress towards ending deforestation by 2030 shows funding is woefully short, while indigenous groups say their role as protectors of the forest is under increasing threat. Recent news that the world's tropical forests are now so degraded they have become a source rather than a sink of carbon emissions have injected new urgency into the need to achieve the goals set out in the New York Declaration on Forests four years ago.

WEF's annual state-of-play survey asks the views of a range of decision-makers and experts as to what they see as being the biggest risks facing the world today. It appears that while the types of risks have changed little in the last few years, the perceived level of risk and resulting impact has grown. Of the 1,000 respondents, 59 percent pointed to an intensification of risk; just 7 percent suggested a declining of risk.

The EU's Plastics Strategy aims to cut out non-recyclable plastics by 2030, while cutting down on single-use plastics and restricting microplastics, all by establishing a new circular economy around the material. The strategy lays out a few key steps to achieve this. The first is to introduce new rules on packaging that improve their recyclability and increase the demand for recycled plastics, thereby making recycling profitable for businesses.

McDonald's announced Tuesday that it has set two ambitious environmental goals that it wants to achieve by 2025. The fast food giant wants to have 100% of its customer packaging come from renewable, recycled, or certified sources and have recycling available in all its restaurants. Currently, 50% of its guest packaging comes from sustainable sources and only 10% of its restaurants are recycling.

The big question for 2018 is whether last year's troubling trends for environment and development - rising global carbon emissions, multiple billion-dollar natural disasters, U.S. President Donald Trump's abandonment of climate action - will continue or turn in a more positive direction. As WRI President and CEO Andrew Steer noted during the Stories to Watch event in Washington on January 10, 2018, developments across several key topics will determine the answer.

The impacts of climate change are among the environmental challenges facing Iran that helped spark protests in dozens of cities across the Islamic republic. At least 20 people have died in the uprising, driven by the sudden collapse of financial institutions, low wages and mistrust of national leaders. Rising temperatures are seen by some experts as an underlying condition for the economic hardships that led to the unrest.

This series of visualizations shows how some of Earth's key climate indicators are changing over time.

The following are five trends we expect to unfold during 2018. Yes, you could argue we're playing it safe - like the typical horoscope or fortune teller, these predictions overall are fairly broad. Nevertheless, expect to see many headlines focused on these topics in the coming year, here on 3p and elsewhere.

The story that should dominate every end of year round up from every media outlet on the planet came last month in the form of two reports released at the U.N. climate summit in Bonn. The first confirmed atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest levels in at least 800,000 years and possibly 3 million to 5 million years. As Emily Shuckburgh of the British Antarctic Survey said, the last time concentrations of greenhouse gas were as high as they are, sea levels were around 10 meters higher. Up to two meters of sea level rise this century is now entirely plausible. However, the second report was the real kicker. The Global Carbon Project predicted carbon emissions will rise this year after four years when flat emissions fuelled hopes global economic growth and carbon emissions had been decoupled

The state Air Resources Board (ARB) adopted the extensive 2017 version to outline California's climate policy path to 2030 and detail how it will fulfill its landmark legislative mandate to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Developing a strong roadmap is important not only here but across the country and beyond because of California's global leadership role as a climate policy incubator and best practice exporter.

Chances are you don't prioritize your holiday wish list based on the chemical composition of the products on it. But informed shoppers are increasingly scrutinizing the items they're bringing into their homes with an eye to whether they include chemicals harmful to human health. That's inspiring more retailers to make meaningful changes to their chemical disclosure and elimination policies, according to a new industry report card released ahead of Black Friday. 

In 2016, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts had environmental achievements that included saving 12.2 million gallons of water, recycling more than 17,000 pounds of paper for charity, and recycling over 23,000 gallons of cooking oil, according to the company's latest CSR report.

This morning, UPS announced that it has entered into an agreement to purchase up to 11.5 million gallon equivalents of renewable biogas a year well into the next decade. This gas, which is also known as renewable natural gas (RNG) or biomethane, is interchangeable with conventional natural gas, by which much of UPS' fleet has long been fueled.

According to a report issued today by CDP, deforestation is leaving as much as $941 billion in assets worldwide at risk as they are linked to commodities tied to deforestation.

Representatives from across the apparel industry recently came together at the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute of Texas Tech University, where Wrangler, Lee, the Walmart Foundation and Indigo Mill Designs unveiled a disruptive new dyeing process for producing denim. In a radical departure from water-based dyeing, IndigoZERO™ uses a foam-based process to reduce water and energy use by more than 90 percent

According to the report, rising environmental concerns and growing public awareness about eco-friendly products are expected to drive the rapid growth of sustainable packaging market over the forecast period. In particular, consumer demand for sustainable food product packaging is projected to be a large driver.

Packaging remains a considerable challenge for businesses looking to reduce their impacts, but innovators such as food-service supplier Eco-Products and Finnish startup Sulpac are helping to accelerate the transition to lower-impact models through cross-industry partnerships and sustainable packaging solutions.

The Carlsberg Group's brewery in Falkenberg, Sweden, is now using entirely renewable energy. The move comes after Carlsberg announced its goal to reach carbon-neutral status as part of its Together Towards Zero initiative earlier this year.

Latin America and the Caribbean are due for an ecological makeover. The World Resources Institute (WRI) says it already has the funding committed to restore some 131 million degraded lands across the region. The project has 16 investors so far. Another 19 investors are already hard and work funding the restoration of more than 24 million acres.