EC Environmental Policy

Timberland knows the value of products that can be called sustainable, says Margaret Morey-Reuner, director of strategic partnerships and business development. One challenge is ensuring proper sourcing of materials, which the company has tried to address through a third-party certification process.

HSBC is launching an investigation into Noble Plantations, an Indonesian company, after claims that the company plans to clear 69.5 square miles of rainforest in Papua, Indonesia. The investigation comes after Greenpeace and the Environmental Investigation Agency presented evidence of the company's plans to clear the land for palm oil plantations.

Two counties and a city in California have filed separate Superior Court lawsuits against 37 oil and coal companies seeking damages related to fossil fuel development, which the communities allege has resulted in climate-related problems in their areas. Their lawsuits are "a first-of-its-kind challenge that some liken to the high-stakes litigation of the tobacco industry in the 1990s," writes Kurtis Alexander.

Two counties and a city in California have filed separate Superior Court lawsuits against 37 oil and coal companies seeking damages related to fossil fuel development, which the communities allege has resulted in climate-related problems in their areas. Their lawsuits are "a first-of-its-kind challenge that some liken to the high-stakes litigation of the tobacco industry in the 1990s," writes Kurtis Alexander.

2017 Sustainability Leaders Survey" (GlobeScan, SustainAbility, and Sustainable Brands) asked more than 1,000 experts to list companies that are leaders in integrating sustainability into their business strategy. The most frequently cited companies included the following: * Unilever * Patagonia * Interface * IKEA * Marks and Spencer (M&S) * Natura * Tesla * Nestlé * BASF * General Electric * Nike

The Climate Group- and CDP-led RE100 initiative now has 100 corporate members. The companies involved in the initiative are creating around 146 terawatt-hours in demand for renewable electricity annually.

Electric vehicles are projected to represent 54% of new car sales by 2040, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance report. Electric vehicles are also projected to displace 8 million barrels of transport fuel per day and add 5% to global electricity consumption by 2040.

California Governor Jerry Brown joined forces with Michael Bloomberg to launch America's Pledge, an initiative aimed at tracking and reporting progress made by U.S. states, cities, and businesses on reducing GHG emissions in line with the Paris Agreement.

Apple announced plans to build a new $921 million data center in Denmark that runs on 100% renewable energy.

Two years after Greenpeace launched a campaign demanding Thai Union, the world's largest tuna company, take action to eliminate exploitative and unsustainable practices from its supply chains, the two organizations have finally put their long-running conflict to rest.

Just weeks after the UN Secretary General released a report detailing sluggish progress on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), efforts are underway to bolster support for their widespread adoption. Gold Standard - a standard and certification body established by the WWF - has launched the Gold Standard for the Global Goals, a new standard to quantify, certify and maximize the contributions of climate and development interventions toward the Paris Climate Agreement and the SDGs

According to these goals, by the year 2022, Target will: source its own brand paper-based packaging from sustainably managed forests, eliminate expanded polystyrene from its brand packaging, add the How2Recycle label to its packaging, and create more demand for recycled packaging. Additionally, Target has partnered with The Recycling Partnership to fund improved recycling operations and education in cities and towns across the country. To date, more than 30 companies are behind The Recycling Partnership's work to improve recycling in more than 250 communities. Target is the organization's first retail partner.

The British retailer Tesco announced a commitment to immediately start removing hazardous chemicals from the supply chain of its F&F clothing and footwear label. Tesco recently signed onto the Greenpeace Detox Campaign, agreeing to eliminate chemicals such as phthalates, heavy metals, and chlorinated solvents by 2020. The retailer joins 80 other brands and suppliers that have agreed to the campaign since it began in 2011.

Italian meat processor and producer Inalca SpA's projects to reduce water and energy use at its plant in Rieti, Italy, resulted in annual savings of 3.7 million gallons of water and more than $72,000.

Convenience retailer 7-Eleven, citing a 2016 study which found that sustainably sourced coffee is recognized by almost half of Millennials as an important attribute when making their selection, is swapping the Colombian coffee now served at its stories for a new Rainforest Alliance Certified, single-origin Colombian coffee.

Coca-Cola European Partners will increase the amount of recycled PET in its bottles from 25% to 50% over the next three years as part of a new initiative to boost sustainability. The strategy also includes an effort to encourage recycling by promoting reforms to Great Britain's recycling programs.

Nearly 50 of the 103 new electric car models expected to debut around the world by 2020 will come from Chinese automakers, an AlixPartners report says. The US consulting firm also forecasts that the sale of cars and light trucks in America will suffer a cyclical drop during the next few years.

European lawmakers want the European Union to take steps to promote more durable and more easily repairable consumer products, in order to reduce waste and conserve resources.

Major established companies from AT&T to Walmart are finding financial gain in offering eco-friendly products. "Consumers are looking for companies to be more and more environmentally and socially conscious," said Roman Smith, AT&T's director of sustainability integration.

The Madhya Pradesh government in India spearheaded an environmental campaign last weekend in which some 1.5 million volunteers planted 66 million trees in 12 hours along the banks of the Narmada River. India, the world's third-largest generator of carbon emissions, has committed under the Paris Agreement to increase its forests by 12% by 2030.