Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, renewable energy and green IT services companies, management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Chief Sustainability Officers: Our database of chief sustainability officers now spans 428 CSOs. The latest additions include:
- Bader Al khalifa, chief communications and sustainability officer, Beyon
- Alanna Boyd, senior VP and chief sustainability officer, Sun Life
- Kerry Case, chief sustainability officer, The University of Utah
- Sarah Chapman, global chief sustainability officer, Manulife
- Shubha Kumar, chief risk, sustainability & quality officer, Zensar Technologies
- Lilian Leroux, chief strategy and sustainability officer
- Abigail Lovell, chief sustainability officer, Experian
- Renard Siew, head of corporate sustainability, Yinson
2. Help Wanted - Chief Sustainability Officer: Ahold Delhaize Chief Legal Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer Jan Ernst de Groot plans to retire in May 2024. Linn Evans, currently chief legal officer and general counsel at Ahold Delhaize USA, will assume the role of chief legal officer for Ahold Delhaize. The company plans to hire a dedicated chief sustainability officer to succeed Jan Ernst de Groot on that front.
3. Microsoft Windows 10 and E-Waste: An online petition is calling on Microsoft to extend support for Windows 10 in order to ensure millions of PCs running the aging operating system don't become e-waste. Microsoft plans to end Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025 -- or roughly 10 years after the operating system's debut.
4. Partnership - Heat Pump R&D: LG Electronics Inc. and the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) have formed the Consortium for Advanced Heat Pump Research. The consortium will foster entrepreneurship and a culture of problem-solving through enhanced research and development. LG and university researchers will conduct studies in two dedicated LG Cold Climate Heat Pump Labs in Anchorage and Fairbanks. The facilities will be configured like real-world homes, the organizations said.
5. Sustainable Printing: HP touted sustainable manufacturing efforts during the Formnext 2023 conference in Frankfort, Germany.
6. Deadline: NTT DOCOMO Group, a Japanese mobile phone operator company announced a Net-Zero by 2040 plan for the company's supply chain. The plan builds on DOCOMO Group's existing 2030 Carbon Neutrality Declaration, which commits to effectively reducing greenhouse gas emissions from its business operations to Net-Zero by 2030 under the slogan “Saving Our Planet With You.”
7. Big Data and Flood Forecasts: Megafloods, or flood events more severe than any previously recorded in a given place, can be predicted by analyzing past flooding in other similar regions of the same continent, according to a study published this week in Nature Geoscience, Bloomberg reported.
8. COP28: Final talks to agree a proposal for a new climate disaster fund averted a deadlock ahead of the COP28 climate summit, but cracked open tough new questions about who will pay and how soon, Reuters reported.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Funding: refurbed, an online marketplace for refurbished goods, has raised $57 million (EUR 54M) in Series C funding. Existing investors Evli, C4 Funds and Speedinvest led the round, with "significant participation" from All Iron and several new backers.
2. M&A: Jabil Inc. -- which specializes in design, manufacturing, and supply chain solutions -- has acquired Retronix, a provider in the reclamation and refurbishment of electronic components. The deal adds to Jabil’s current circular economy services including reverse supply chain management, medical device reprocessing, recycled packaging, and emission reductions. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
3. M&A - Solar Projects: Madison Energy Infrastructure (MEI) has acquired Pro-Tech Energy Solutions. The acquired business has built "hundreds of distributed solar projects and has recently developed substantial front-of-the-meter assets across the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic," MEI said.
4. M&A - Private Equity and Consulting: Bain Capital Private Equity is acquiring Guidehouse for $5.3 billion. Veritas Capital had owned Guidehouse since 2018. Guidehouse offers numerous technology, finance and sustainability services.
5. 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. United States - Offshore Wind Projects: Denmark's Orsted is still "committed" to developing offshore wind farms in the United States despite Orsted's cancellation of two projects off the coast of New Jersey, a White House senior advisor told Reuters.
2. United States - Pennsylvania E-Waste Legislation: State Rep. Lisa Borowski (D-Delaware) has proposed House Bill 1607 -- which aims to address the growing need for e-waste disposal, ease the financial impact on counties and local governments, and address the environmental concerns associated with e-waste, the Penn Capital-Star reported.
3. Canada: The cornerstone of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s climate policy is being chipped away at after his government announced a three-year pause on the carbon tax applied to home heating oil, which is primarily used in the Atlantic provinces, Bloomberg reported.
4. United Kingdom: National Grid Plc is accelerating the connection of 19 batteries to Britain’s electricity transmission network, easing a logjam that’s hindering the nation’s transition to green energy, Bloomberg reported.
5. Netherlands: Former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans, a prime minister candidate in Dutch elections in late November 2023, backtracked on his commitment to the 2030 deadline of halving nitrogen emissions, in a surprise U-turn to appease farmers, Bloomberg reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Oka' Sustainability Conference 2023 (November 8-9, Oklahoma)
- Americas Conference - Sustainable Resilience (November 9-11, San Francisco)
- Nexpo and Tallinn GreenTech Week 2023 (November 13-17, Estonia)
- Microsoft Ignite 2023 (November 14-17, Seattle, Washington)
- Houston Carbon Management Community Summit (November 16-17, Houston, Texas)
- 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.
