In honor of the upcoming worldwide commercial-free broadcast of Before the Flood, the new documentary from Academy Award winners Leonardo DiCaprio and Fisher Stevens exploring the global effects of climate change, 21st Century Fox and National Geographic have launched a new social media campaign to drive support for the conservation of endangered wildlife and ecosystems. For every use of the hashtag #BeforeTheFlood across Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as the Before the Flood custom Snapchat filter from October 24 to November 18, 21CF and National Geographic will together donate $1 to Pristine Seas and $1 to the Wildlife Conservation Society for a grant total of up to $100,000 ($50,000 to each organization).
For the first time, six publicly traded companies – some of which are competitors – have come together to promote the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) directly to consumers. The companies are HP Inc., International Paper, Kimberly-Clark, McDonald's, Procter & Gamble, and Williams-Sonoma, Inc. All sell FSC-certified products.
More people have access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food around the world today than ten years ago. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that the number of undernourished people has fallen by approximately 167 million during that period. This improvement is cause for celebration but there is still much to be done: almost 800 million – just over one in nine people on the planet – still remain hungry. Issues like climate change, population growth, political instability, inadequate infrastructure and R&D investment, and global economic uncertainty also exist, threatening to undo the hard won progress that has been made on global food security.
Across the U.S., smart city programs are moving beyond press releases, pilot programs and demonstrations. Municipalities are collaborating with industry and utilities to create roadmaps defining their approach to regional integrated smart infrastructure. Water utilities, however, are lagging in the planning process, and risk losing their seat at the table with electric and gas utility peer companies as the smart city programs advance.