Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, renewable energy and green IT companies, management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
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A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Alliances
1. Corporate ESG Reports: Our database of corporate sustainability reports now spans TK companies. The latest additions include professional services firm KBR, insurance firm MetLife and energy transportation company Williams.
2. New Chief Sustainability Officer: Pozitive, a high-end technology graphics company in Australia, has named Lynette Hawthorne as chief sustainability officer (CSO).
3. Investigation - Telecom Industry Lead Cables:  The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency are investigating the potential health and environmental risks stemming from a sprawling network of toxic lead-sheathed telecom cables across the United States, The Wall Street Journal reported. Related: See detailed toxic lead cable investigation timeline.
4. Stock Exchanges - Climate Reporting Standards: Regulators of the world’s top stock exchanges gave their backing to the international climate-reporting standards framework on July 25, 2023, adding momentum to efforts to establish the rules as the global baseline, The Wall Street Journal reported.
5. Earnings - Green IT Infrastructure: Schneider Electric is generating record revenues and net income amid strong demand for the company's energy management and industrial automation products and services, CEO Peter Herweck said in the company's mid-year financial report.
6. Earnings - Energy as a Service: Sunnova Energy International revenue was $166.4 million in Q2 of 2023, up $19.4 million.
7. Partnership - Climate Startup Support: The International Research Centre on Artificial Intelligence (IRCAI) and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have launched Compute for Climate Fellowship, a global program supporting entrepreneurs and startups applying advanced cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) to create new solutions that address the climate crisis, the two organizations said.
8. Talent Marketplace: Keep an eye on Impact Maker, a new online marketplace for "sustainability talents to showcase their skills and expertise. The marketplace aims to "make quality connections between entrepreneurs and businesses with sustainability talents, regardless of gender, socio-economic background, ethnicity, and so on, and also to drive global change towards sustainability through the collective knowledge of top talents," the startup said.
9. Manufacturing Software: Tacton has added Environmental Footprint Configuration to the company's Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) software. The software enhancement will empower manufacturers and their customers to "make informed decisions that align with their sustainability goals," the company said.
10. Sustainable Energy - Qualify Concerns: TPI Composites is experiencing slower lower customer demand for wind turbine blades and delays from inspection and repair activity, SeekingAlpha reported..
11. Partnership - Sustainability Software and Climate Finance: Clarity AI and Aspiration have partnered to launch sustainability assessment solutions for consumer use cases. E-commerce companies, retail banks, supermarkets and other types of businesses with gain software tools to "help end users measure and reduce their carbon footprint and understand the sustainability performance of merchants."
12. Data Centers - Water Consumption Concerns: With drought spreading around the globe, battles over water are erupting between AI companies seeking more computing power and communities where their facilities are located, Bloomberg reported.
13. Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations: Seven major automakers are joining to build a large North American electric vehicle charging network. Participants include General Motors, BMW, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Mercedes and Stellantis to build a network of fast-chargers that will rival Tesla's and will nearly double the number of quick-charging plugs in the U.S. and Canada, the Associated Press reported.
14. About-Face: Global consumer products maker Procter & Gamble dropped its pledge from a corporate policy to not buy wood pulp from degraded forests, a company executive disclosed to investors in a previously-unreported July 18 briefing, Reuters reported.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments and Funding
1. M&A - Recycling: Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) acquired Environmental Recycling & Disposal and Moen Transfer Station, a family-owned and operated business servicing the disposal needs of Will County, Illinois for over 25 years.
2. M&A - Clean Water Technology: RSK, a global leader in the delivery of sustainable solutions, has announced the acquisition of a clean water technology company, Kirton Water Treatment Services. Financial terms were not disclosed.
3. All M&A Activity: Our M&A database has now tracked 112 mergers and acquisitions involving sustainability so far in 2023. See all M&A deals involving sustainability listed here.
4. Funding: Refiner and trader Varo Energy secured $3.33 billion in its latest financing round, which will help to fund its sustainable energy projects, including its purchase of a stake in northern Europe’s biggest biogas facility, Reuters reported.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. US Energy Grid Emergency: PJM Interconnection LLC has declared a level one emergency for the 13-state eastern US grid and called on all power plants to operate at full capacity on July 27, 2023, during a heat wave, Bloomberg reported.
2. European Union: Nearly two-thirds of European companies do not have any revenue that meets the EU's list of climate-friendly activities, and half have no planned capital expenditure that can be considered green, according to an analysis by sustainability data firm ESG Book, Reuters reported.
3. Singapore - ESG Consulting Partnership: The Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) has partnered with consulting firm RSM to "empower small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in embracing sustainability and integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices into their business models and operations," the two organizations said.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- ASES Solar 2023 Conference (August 8-11, Boulder, Colorado)
- MEMA Sustainability Summit (August 15, Troy, Michigan)
- World ESG Summit 2023 (August 21-22, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
- Google Cloud Next 2023 Partner and Customer Conference (August 29-21, San Francisco)
- Sustainability Live 2023 (September 6-7, London, United Kingdom)
- International Conference on Sustainable Development - ICSD 2023 (Rome, Italy)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
1. Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
2. Future Updates: Send Us Your News Tips. Please email me the details.
