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. e-Waste - Windows 10 PCs: Roughly 240 million PCs could become e-waste when Microsoft ends Windows 10 support in October 2025, Canalys estimates. Google is pitching ChromeOS as a Windows 10 replacement than can run on most x86 devices.
2. Mobile Devices- Partner of the Year: Samsung named DuPont as its best ESG partner for 2023.
3. Fairphone 5 Review: The Wall Street Journal's Fairphone 5 review is here.
4. Microsoft - Carbon Removal: Chestnut Carbon, a nature-based carbon removal developer founded by private investment firm Kimmeridge Energy Management Company, has inked a multi-year off-take agreement to provide Microsoft with carbon removal derived entirely from a novel afforestation project based in the United States, the companies said.
5. Talent - Energy Storage Systems: Eos Energy Enterprises and Partner4Work are rolling out a $500,000 training program to upskill various Eos workforce members, the companies said. This initial investment leverages federal grant awards including Build Back Better and Department of Labor Green Infrastructure, the organizations said.
6. Partnership - Maritime Ports: DP World and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) are partnering to "accelerate the use of renewable energy and decarbonize the ports, maritime, and logistics sectors," the two organizations said.
7. EV Battery Setback?: Tesla supplier Panasonic has abandoned plans to build a multibillion-dollar electric vehicle battery factory in Oklahoma, The Wall Street Journal reported.
8. Lawsuit: Diablo Energy Storage has filed a lawsuit against Fluence Energy, alleging that the systems integrator's work on a $230 million project was filled with "defects, deficiencies and failures," Energy Storage News reported. Fluence Energy said the lawsuit is without merit, the report said.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Green Financing - Data Centers: Equinix announced the full allocation of $4.9 billion in investment-grade green bonds. The data center provider is striving to become climate neutral by 2030. Since 2020, six bond offerings have been issued, and as of the end of June 2023, all bonds have been fully allocated, Equinix said.
2. ESG Funds: Sustainable funds faced a sharp slowdown in demand globally in 2023 amid political controversy and concerns about "greenwashing," even as many outperformed the broader market when the recovery of technology-related stocks bolstered their returns, Reuters reported.
3. Bankrupt - Electric Scooter Company: Bird Globalhas filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to undergo restructuring to strengthen its balance sheet, just two years after the electric scooter rental company went public through a SPAC merger, Seeking Alpha reported.
4. Siemens - Selling Assets?: India's Siemens Ltd will explore a spin-off of its energy business at the behest of some of its stakeholders, the electrical appliances-maker said, according to Reuters.
5. M&A - Solar Power:Â Altus Power has acquired Unico Solar Investors as part of a U.S. west coast expansion plan. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
6. M&A - IT Device Management:  Lumine Group is acquiring Nokia's device management and service management platform for €185 million (US$203.2 million) up-front. Lumine may pay an additional €35 million (US$38.4 million) for the business based on year-one performance metrics. The acquired business, spanning 500 employees, manages more than 1 billion nodes -- including home broadband devices and IoT sensors. In theory, Lumine could leverage the platform to deliver IT asset management (ITAM), e-waste reduction and power management services.
7. 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 - SEC Climate Disclosure Regulations: The SEC is striving to release climate change disclosure regulations in April 2024, according to the latest regulatory agenda. The long-delayed disclosure rules were originally expected in 2023. And there are signs that the SEC may potentially drop Scope 3 disclosure requirements from the regulations, Bloomberg reported.
2. United States - California Building Decarbonization: Here's a progress report.
3. Canada - Carbon Price Risks: Canada has signed its first deal to guarantee the future price of carbon, a long-awaited move that aims to provide certainty for investors about the economics of reducing emissions and compete with incentives in the US Inflation Reduction Act, Bloomberg reported.
4. Canada - Amazon and AWS: With four renewable energy projects in Canada, Amazon is the largest corporate purchaser of renewable energy in the country, according to Bloomberg NEF.Â
5. Ireland - Regulatory Challenges: Two-thirds of businesses in Ireland are struggling to navigate environmental regulatory requirements, according to the Equinix 2023 Global Tech Trends Survey.
6. European Union - Carbon Offsets: European banks, investors and companies operating in the carbon offsets market may face new regulations, as underlying greenwashing concerns persist and interest in the sector increases, Bloomberg reported.
7. European Union - Regulations and Fortune 500 Companies: Nearly all Fortune 500 companies will likely need to comply with the EU's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, according to Bain & Co.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Sustainability Forum Middle East (SFME) 2024 (January 8-9, Bahrain)
- CES 2024 (Las Vegas, Nevada)
- European Chief Sustainability Awards (January 15, Davos)
- Intersolar North America and Energy Storage North America 2024 (January 17-19, San Diego, California)
- Recycling, Circular Design & Sustainable Sourcing for EV Batteries & Carbon Neutral Vehicles USA Congress 2024 (January 23-25, Detroit, Michigan)
- 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.
