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. IT Sustainability Reporting Tool: A new TCO Certified Report Generator allows users to creates IT product sustainability reports with independently verified data, the provider asserts.
2. Channel Partners - Sustainable IT Conference: Circular Computing plans to host a sustainable IT conference for channel partners in April 2024...
3. Incubator: Keep your eye on a new incubator called Montauk Climate. Related List: 40+ incubators that assist sustainability startups.
4. Microsoft Partner Program: Microsoft's partner program is expanding to address Sustainability AI expertise, among many other updates.
5. Partnership - Software and IT Consulting: AuditBoard and KPMG are partnering to help businesses manage risk in such areas as IT security and ESG programs, the two companies aid.
6. Distributed Energy Resource Management Systems (DERMs): Itron has unveiled a Low Voltage Distributed Energy Resource Management Solution (LV DERMS) for the Australian market. The offering allows users to manage Consumer Energy Resources (CERs) -- such as rooftop solar or battery storage, while maintaining network stability within the low-voltage network, the company said.
7. Product Design Tools: Makersite, a software company focused on sustainable product design and sourcing, has launched an AI-enabled Ecodesign Dashboard. The dashboard "helps product designers and engineers make smarter design decisions when considering environmental impacts and cost optimization," Makersite said.
8. Bill Gates: Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates considers the shift to low-carbon energy to be "far more difficult" than any of the challenges he worked on at Microsoft, Upstream reported.
9. Amazon - Renewable Power Purchases: Amazon.com was the top corporate buyer of renewable power in 2023, a fourth year of dominance by the American e-commerce giant as deals hit a record pace, Yahoo Finance reported.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Venture Capital: World Fund, a European climate technology investor, said it closed a 300 million euro ($325 million) venture fund despite a challenging environment, CNBC reported. World Fund is seeking to solve what it calls a “valley of death” in climate tech — where firms raising cash at Series B face a funding gap that hinders them from scaling, the report noted.
2. Funding: STACK Infrastructure, a developer and operator of data centers, announced the issuance of $240 million in green securitized notes...
3. M&A - EV Infrastructure: BP Pulse has acquired one of Europe’s largest truck stops as part of a plan to expand its EV charging network for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs). The Ashford International Truckstop is close to Dover, the United Kingdom's busiest ferry port, and LeShuttle Freight via the Eurotunnel terminal in Folkestone, BP Pulse said. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
4. M&A - Solar Farm: Enviromena, backed by Arjun Infrastructure Partners, has acquired a solar farm in Medebridge, Essex, United Kingdom. The solar farm, expected to open in the summer of 2025, will provide electricity to more than 26,000 homes and preventing the emission of over 13,500 tonnes of CO2 each year, Enviromenta said.
5. Complete M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. United States - Biden Administration: The Biden administration is poised to award as much as $6.3 billion in dozens of grants to help hard-to-decarbonize industries cut emissions, Bloomberg reported.
2. United States - ESG Investigation: The Republican-led House Judiciary Committee is conducting a probe into whether ESG efforts violate antitrust laws, Reuters reported. It has subpoenaed BlackRock and State Street for documents and communications as part of the same investigation, the report said.
3. Canada: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s signature environmental policy – an escalating Canadian tax on pollution – is increasingly under attack, as higher living costs erode public support for a measure the government sees as essential to curbing Canada’s emissions, Bloomberg reported.
4. COP29 - Paris Mayor Boycotts Event: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will not attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku. She's skipping the event in order to "denounce the Azerbaijani regime guilty of the ethnic cleansing of Armeniens of Artsakh in September 2023," Public Radio of Armenia alleges. We have not independently confirmed the report.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- One Earth Summit 2024 (March 25, Hong Kong)
- N-able Empower 2024: MSP Software Conference (March 25-27, Frisco, Texas)
- ChangeNow 2024 (March 25-27, Paris, France)
- Sourcing Journal Sustainability Summit 2024 (March 26, New York)
- Responsible Business USA 2024 (March 26-27, New York, New York)
- 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.
