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) and c-suite members.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Leadership - Consulting: BIP has hired NTT Data veteran Roei Haberman to succeed Chris Laslett as UK CEO. Laslett shifts to chairman. BIP, a multinational consultancy with 5,000 employees worldwide, offers management consulting, digital transformation and sustainability services.
2. IT Services and Environmental Management: NTT and ClimateForce are partnering to "create the world’s first Smart Rainforest using NTT’s Smart Management Platform technology," the organizations said. The effort aims to "regenerate a section of Australia's Daintree Rainforest and establish sustainable and cost-effective models for environmental restoration efforts around the world," the firms added.
3. IT Services and ESG Risk Management: Tech Mahindra, a digital transformation and IT consulting company, has launched i.Riskman, an ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) risk assessment platform. The platform is "designed to empower organizations to identify, assess, and manage climate-related risk, Tech Mahindra said.
4. Green Skills Gap: Fully 79% of business leaders agree green skills will be the most important driver of the green transition, but only 55% of businesses are implementing or planning to implement green skills programs for their workforce, according to research from Economist Impact and Avangrid parent company Iberdrola.
5. Software - Food Companies and ESG Reporting: HowGood has introduced a carbon accounting system designed to streamline ESG reporting and carbon reduction. The company’s Latis platform now provides food companies with a "reflection of their corporate footprint across Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions," the company said. Scope 1 and Scope 2 will be available for free to all platform users. Pricing for Scope 3 capabilities was not disclosed. The HowGood partner program includes data and technology partners, network partners and coalition partners.
6. Software - Carbon Emissions Reporting: Novata has launched Novata Carbon Navigator, a software platform that allows customers to:
- Calculate Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions;
- streamline the tracking company data, such as energy consumption;
- upload company expenses to calculate emissions from supply chains, business travel, and other activities;
- share an investor-grade audit trail when reporting on emissions and meeting regulations;
- view benchmarks and analytics to understand performance; and
- operate in an ISO-27001 and SOC 2 compliant platform.
Novata serves roughly 6,000 companies in over 20 countries and is backed by the Ford Foundation, Hamilton Lane, Microsoft, Northern Trust, Omidyar Network, and S&P Global, the company said.
7. Partner Program - Solar Power: Maxeon Solar Technologies has launched a new Commercial Partner Program for U.S. solar installers and dealers. Key members include Sunterra Solar Inc. Maxeon, based in Singapore, develops solar panels and energy solutions for residential, commercial and power plant customers. Maxeon's integrated home energy management leverages Maxeon-Â and SunPower-branded solar panels. The company has 1,700 partners and distributors, and more than one million customers worldwide.
8. Partnership - Net Zero for Buildings: ClearVue Technologies and LuxWall are collaborating to "develop and commercialize a window designed to support net zero building operation." The effort combines ClearVue's photovoltaic solar energy-generating glazing with LuxWall's advanced vacuum insulated glazing (VIG). The resulting solution is called Zero Window.
9. Partnership - Climate Tech for Sustainable Buildings: Holcim is partnering with Greentown Labs, an incubator of climate tech startups in North America, to "accelerate open innovation for the decarbonization of the built environment," the two organizations said. The partnership provides Holcim with "prime access to promising startups focused on innovative and sustainable building solutions," the company said.
10. Energy Storage: Fluence Energy -- a provider of energy storage products, services, and optimization software for renewables and storage -- has surpassed 20 GWh of deployed and contracted storage systems globally. Siemens and AES in 2017 announced plans to co-launch Fluence as an energy storage and services company.
11. Sustainability in Tech Awards: CRN UK has announced its Sustainability in Tech 2024 Awards Finalists.
12. Global 100: Here are the world's 100 most sustainable corporations are driving the green transition, according to Corporate Nights.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Accelerator: The Climate Innovation Platform (CIP) Low Carbon Energy Solutions Innovator Challenge is launching its fourth cohort. This accelerator, delivered by the University of Birmingham (UoB) in partnership with Energy Systems Catapult (ESC), supports businesses committed to driving energy technology innovation. Supported by HSBC UK, applications are welcomed from small and midsize enterprises registered in the UK, and particularly those who can travel to Birmingham to engage with in-person workshops. The fourth cohort is launching in January 2024.
2. Funding: Blue Earth Capital's private equity climate impact effort has reached $ 378 million in investor commitments. The strategy involves $ 308 million from the BlueEarth Climate Growth Fund I alongside an additional $ 70 million in commitments from LPs in a tailored mandate and co-investments, the company said.
3. Funding - Clean Energy: Breakwall Capital, a new private-credit firm founded by three former Riverstone Holdings fund managers, expects to raise a roughly $500 million clean energy-focused fund while continuing to invest in the traditional oil-and-gas sector through a separate vehicle backed by commodity trader Vitol Group, The Wall Street Journal reported.
4. M&A - Waste Management and Recycling: Heracles Group, a member of Holcim, has acquired W.A.T.T. Recycling. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
5. M&A - Wind Farms: Eviny has acquired two wind farms from BlackRock for €537.5 million (US$585.44 million). Eviny is one of Norway's largest energy and technology groups, the organization said. The acquired wind farms are located in Guleslettene and Tellenes, Norway.
6. M&A - UK Renewable Energy Projects: Cubico Sustainable Investments has acquired Peel NRE’s 50% stake in Peel Cubico Renewables, the strategic joint venture focused on the development of renewable energy projects in the UK. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
7. M&A - Potential Solar Deal: Bitech Technologies Corp. and Bridgelink Development have signed a letter of intent to launch a joint venture with "an undisclosed larger infrastructure group." The effort "aims to accelerate the development and deployment of renewable energy projects in the United States, particularly in Texas, Arizona, and Louisiana.
8. 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. Davos 2024 News:Â Track all of the Davos 2024 sustainability news here.
2. United States - California Solar Power Challenges: Roughly two-thirds of home solar installers in California are struggling to generate enough sales to operate their businesses after the state slashed incentives for customers to buy rooftop panels, the California Solar & Storage Association reported, according to Bloomberg.
3. United States - Clean Energy and Cybersecurity: The U.S. Department of Energy announced $30 million in funding to support the research, development, and demonstration of cybersecurity tools that protect clean energy delivery infrastructure, Public Power reported.
4. European Union: The European Union has drafted plans to capture and store hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 emissions by 2050 to ensure industries can meet Europe's climate change goals, Reuters reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Davos 2024 - World Economic Forum 2024 Annual Meeting (January 15-19, Davos, Switzerland)
- Enage
- Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America 2024 (January 17-19, San Diego, California)
- CleanTech Forum 2024 North America (January 22-24, San Diego, California)
- Recycling, Circular Design & Sustainable Sourcing for EV Batteries and Carbon Neutral Vehicles USA Conference 2024 (January 23-25, Detroit, Michigan)
- Sustainable Foods Summit 2024 (January 24-25, San Francisco, California)
- 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.
