Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners; renewable energy and green IT service providers; management consultants; CIOs; chief sustainability officers (CSOs), c-suite members and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Amazon Sustainability Accelerator: The Amazon Sustainability Accelerator 2024 opened for applications on March 4. Related: See dozens of sustainability accelerators listed here.
2. AWS Cloud Services - Saudi Arabia: Amazon Web Services (AWS) will launch an AWS infrastructure Region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 2026. AWS plans to invest more than $5.3 billion (approx. 19.88 billion Saudi riyal) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. AWS emphasized sustainability in the announcement, but we don't know if the Saudi Arabia infrastructure will leverage renewable energy at launch.
3. Software - Carbon Footprint Management: Matsumoto Precision, a precision machine parts processing company, has adopted SAP Sustainability Footprint Management to provide information on CO2 emissions per product to its business partners, SAP announced.
4. Research and Education: George Mason University will unveil a renewable energy lab and launch a companion curriculum concentration in sustainable data center engineering in fall 2024.
5. Financial Services: The Net-Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), whose 143 members oversee $74 trillion in capital, is trying to remain intact as attacks by some U.S. politicians and investors against environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policies test the resolve of banks to stay as members, Reuters reported.
6. Google - Satellites and Methane Emissions: MethaneSAT -- a new satellite backed by Google and the Environmental Defense Fund group -- launched from California with a mission to pinpoint oil and gas industry methane emissions from space, Reuters reported. SpaceX managed the launch.
7. Layoffs - Battery Startup: Our Next Energy again is laying off workers after cutting a quarter of its staff and naming a new CEO in late 2023, the Detroit News reported.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Debt: Green bonds, which make up the largest category of sustainable debt, had their busiest February ever amid an unprecedented bonanza of global debt offerings, Bloomberg reported.
2. Funding - Green Hydrogen: German green hydrogen company Sunfire GmbH raised over €500 million to further its development of technology that may be key to Europe’s climate goals, Bloomberg reported. Key investors include Amazon.
3. M&A - Solar Infrastructure: Cometa Energía, wholly owned by Saavi Energía, is acquiring the La Lucha solar facility in Durango, Mexico. The seller is Northland Power Inc. The facility achieved commercial operations in June 2023. Northland expects to receive approximately $205 million in cash after taxes and other expenses. The sale is expected to close in 2024.
4. M&A - Forest Carbon Offset Tracking: TÜV SÜD has acquired Forest Resource Solutions and Technologies -- which specializes in timberland management, wildfire mitigation, and validation and verification of forest carbon offset projects. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
5. M&A - Consulting: FTI Consulting has acquired Madison Consulting Group, an actuarial consulting firm with 25 billable professionals and offices in Georgia and Pennsylvania. The acquired business has ESG expertise, and serves property and casualty insurers. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. Complete M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving sustainability, green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. France vs. EU: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire criticized the European Commission’s approach toward climate targets, saying the European Union’s executive arm focuses too much on renewable energy while overlooking other technologies like nuclear power in the fight against global warming, Bloomberg reported.
2. China Energy Consumption: China is aiming to reduce energy consumption per unit of gross domestic product by 2.5% in 2024. Beijing missed its 2% target last year after energy consumption growth outpaced GDP expansion for the first time in two decades.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Sustainability Week 2024 Conference (March 4-6, London, United Kingdom)
- Washington Oregon Higher Education Sustainability Conference (WOHESC) 2024 (March 4-6, Washington)
- Green Schools Conference (GSC) 2024 (March 5-7, Santa Fe, New Mexico)
- WEAF Annual Expo and Conference 2024 (March 6, Gloucestershire, South West England)
- Sustainability Live: Net Zero 2024 (March 6-7, London, United Kingdom)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
- Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
- Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
