Here is today’s sustainable IT services and climate tech news, research and analysis -- written for technology partners, green IT service providers, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable IT, Talent, Partnerships and Green Tech Alliances
1. Financial Services Group Hits Pause: The Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative has suspended operations amid "recent developments in the U.S. and different regulatory and client expectations in investors’ respective jurisdictions," the organization said. BlackRock dropped out of NZAM in early January 2025.
2. Layoffs Hit Sustainability Team: The city of Des Moines, Iowa, has laid off team members who oversee the city's sustainability programs, a CBS news affiliate reported. The city blamed the the layoffs on a fiscal budget shortfall. Related: List of sustainability industry layoffs.
3. CSO Steps Down: Barclays' group head of sustainability Laura Barlow has stepped down to pursue other opportunities, a spokesperson told Reuters, the latest senior reshuffle among Britain's top banks as the sector faces increased scrutiny over its climate efforts.
4. CSO Move: Chevron has hired Laura Lane as VP and chief corporate affairs officer, starting February 1. Lane will oversee Chevron's government affairs, communications, and social investment activities. She will succeed Al Williams, who is retiring after 34 years at the company. Lane previously was executive VP & chief corporate affairs and sustainability officer at UPS.
5. Executive Leadership - Data Centers: Verne, a provider of sustainably powered HPC data centers across the Nordics, has hired Michele Tagliatti as CFO.
6. Hardware and IT Infrastructure: For the third consecutive year, Lenovo’s Environmental, Social and Governance Rating score was rated at AAA by MSCI, the international ratings agency. The AAA rating represents the highest possible rating for corporations leading in ESG programs (on a scale of AAA-CCC), Lenovo noted.
7. Cloud Services and Renewable Energy: ENGIE North America and Facebook parent Meta have completed a second Environmental Attributes Purchase Agreement (EAPA) in 2024. The deal involves 200 MW of renewable energy and associated environmental attributes from ENGIE's Anson 2 solar project in Jones County Texas, the companies said.
8. ESG Data Management Software - Manufacturing: Microsoft is touting unified ESG data strategies to assist manufacturing organizations with circular economy strategies.
9. Integration Services - Renewable Energy: The Denver Federal Center (DFC) has expanded a renewable energy contract with Ameresco. The $183 million award involves solar photovoltaic systems and electric heat pump capacity. The upgrades are "designed to provide year-round heating and cooling to displace fossil fuel-fired equipment across 13 buildings," Ameresco said.
10. Potential Business Breakup: Honeywell may unveil a business breakup plan when the company announces quarterly results in February 2025, Bloomberg report. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based industrial conglomerate is planning to split into two independent publicly traded companies, one focused on automation and the other on aerospace and defense, the report said. The overall Honeywell business remains focused on "three powerful megatrends – automation, the future of aviation and energy transition," the company has repeatedly said.
11. Refurbished PC Market Growth Forecast: The global refurbished laptops and computers market will reach $24.4 billion by 2030, up from $12 billion in 2023, according to Persistence Market Research. That's a 10.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the firm predicted.
12. Amazon Orders Orders More Electric Trucks: Amazon has ordered more than 200 electric heavy goods vehicles (eHGVs) from Mercedes-Benz, the e-commerce giant said.
13. Partnership - Commercial Solar Deployments: Summit Ridge Energy will leverage SolarEdge Technologies for commercial solar installations, the two companies said.
B. Sustainability M&A, Climate Tech Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Data Center Funding: STACK Infrastructure has raised $900 million in green financing for its NVA05 campus in Northern Virginia. STACK has now raised more than $16 billion in debt capital since its inception.
2. M&A - Infrastructure Investments: Apollo is acquiring Argo Infrastructure Partners, a mid-market asset manager focus on digital infrastructure, renewable energy, transportation, utilities and other industries in North America. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
3. M&A - Nuclear Technology: NANO Nuclear Energy has closed its previously announced acquisition of Micro Modular Reactor (MMR) technology from Ultra Safe Nuclear.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. Germany Pushes Back Against CSRD Compliance: A last-minute move by Germany’s government to call for a delay to key EU sustainable finance legislation has caused dismay among observers from the finance industry and beyond, Clean Energy Wire reported.
D. Sustainable IT and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Sustainable and Impact Investments International Conference 2025 (January 14-15, Dublin, Ireland)
- World Future Energy Summit 2025 (January 14-16, Abu Dhabi)
- Davos 2025 -- World Economic Forum 2025 annual meeting (January 20-24, Switzerland)
- Sustainable Foods Summit 2025 (January 22-23, San Francisco, California)
- Cleantech Forum North America 2025 (January 27-29 in San Diego, California)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainable IT, climate tech and renewable energy news for technology partners.
Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
