Seaborne shipments passed 10 billion tons for the first time ever in 2015, up 2.1 percent from 9.8 billion tons the year before - the slowest pace of growth in the industry since 2009, according to the UNCTAD Review of Maritime Transport 2016. The report says future growth looks uncertain.

Almost all of General Mills' water use occurs in its supply chain, as farmers around the world grow crops for the company's food products. "Ninety-nine percent of our water footprint is upstream of us," says General Mills chief sustainability officer Jerry Lynch. "It is largely about how we grow food and use water to grow food. So it’s a really important piece of the pie - and with water you see the impact very quickly and clearly."

Fashion brands are being urged to keep their supply chains in Turkey, despite the widespread risk of Syrian refugees being exploited in supplier factories, according to the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC). There has been "talk of brands shifting their purchasing elsewhere" amid increasing scrutiny and criticism of supply chains in Turkey, the BHRRC says, but responsible sourcing could provide decent work and valuable wages to Turks and Syrians.

The great and the good of world aviation gathered in Montreal last month to do something that seemed impossible even a couple of years ago. They agreed to cap greenhouse gas emissions from international flights. The pact - the first climate change agreement to apply worldwide to a specific sector, one that produces the equivalent annual carbon dioxide output as that of Germany - was greeted with almost universal support.