The Coca-Cola Company and its African bottling partners announced a new investment of $5bn during the U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit in Washington. The investment, to be made over the next six years, increases its total announced investment in Africa to $17bn from 2010 to 2020. The Company and its bottling partners anticipate that this investment will fund new manufacturing lines, cooling and distribution equipment and production; create additional jobs and opportunities across Coca-Cola's African supply chain; and support key sustainability initiatives and programs focused on safe water access, sustainable sourcing, women’s economic empowerment, community well-being and operational efficiency improvements.

Along with its warning that delaying action on climate change would cause enormous economic losses, the White House has announced a series of data-related initiatives to prepare U.S. food and water supplies - along with the industries and jobs that rely on them - for climate challenges.

Trevor Schick, senior vice president for the global supply chain enterprise group at Hewlett-Packard, explains the importance and challenges involved in eliminating "conflict minerals" from the supply chain and HP's commitment to this goal.

Companies continue to lose money by shipping air as a result of packaging that doesn't fit the product, says Tom Blanck, leader of the packaging optimization practice at Chainalytics. Blanck discusses optimization techniques that can save money and improve productivity.

A wet suit for surfers, made not from conventional, petroleum-based neoprene but from a natural rubber derived from a desert shrub, is one way Patagonia is trying to nudge along a sport that has not always been environmentally conscious despite its roots in the natural world.

The Highway Trust Fund will soon run out of money. Passing a new highway bill is critical not only to the trucking industry but to every shipper that relies on truck transportation and to America's competitiveness, says Randy Mullett, vice president of government relations and public affairs at Con-way Freight.