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. ESG - Too Broad?: The appeal of the ESG moniker is waning, probably because the ESG term is trying to serve too many interests at once, The Wall Street Journal asserts. Generally speaking, Sustainable Tech Partner agrees.
2. Research - ESG Management: Roughly 80% of digital workplace (DW) leaders by 2027 will integrate Digital Workplace tools with ESG management and reporting tools, up from less than 5% in 2024, Gartner predicted.
3. Net Zero Setbacks: More than 200 companies have had their net zero commitments removed from a key ledger by SBTi -- the world’s leading watchdog for corporate climate goals, Bloomberg reported, after they failed to meet a deadline to submit concrete plans. A review by the United Nations-backed Science Based Targets initiative of corporate commitments found that 239 of 590 companies that had made net zero pledges didn’t submit plans within the required 24 months, Bloomberg said.
4. Green Software Tutorial: Here are various green software tips from IEEE.
5. Microsoft - Energy Transition: Microsoft at CERAWeek pitched proper data management and AI as key tools for the energy transition.
6. Apple and AI: CEO Tim Cook said AI is an essential tool for helping businesses reduce their carbon footprint, Bloomberg reported, as he joined a climate change dialog at the China Development Forum.
7. Edge Data Centers: Keep an eye on LiquidStar -- a provider of sustainable edge-note data centers...
8. Data Centers - Energy Demand: Bill Vass, VP of engineering at Amazon Web Services, said the world adds a new data center every three days, The Wall Street Journal reported. But it's unclear how Big Tech will power all of that data center expansion, the report noted.
9. Data Center Talent - Nuclear Power: Oklo, the nuclear microreactor power startup backed by OpenAI's Sam Altman, is seeking a director of data center solutions...
10. Solar Projects - Arizona: Solas Energy, a renewable energy consulting company has earned a contract to build Copia Power's Harquahala Sun 1 and 2 solar (photovoltaic) and battery energy storage system (BESS) projects in Maricopa County, Arizona.
11. Executive Leadership - Energy Transition: Northland Power CEO Mike Crawley has agreed to step down. The decision was reached mutually with Northland's board, the company said. A search for Crawley's replacement is under way.
12. Executive Leadership - IT Consulting and Energy Expertise: Wipro has promoted Anne-Marie (“Annie”) Rowland to CEO of Capco, a management consultancy focused on the financial services and energy industries. Wipro acquired Capco in 2021.
13. Layoffs - Electric Vehicles (EVs): Jeep maker Stellantis layoffs will impact 400 white-collar workers in the U.S. as it deals with the transition from combustion engines to electric vehicles, the Associated Press reported. The workers are mainly in engineering, technology and software at the headquarters and technical center in Auburn Hills, Michigan, north of Detroit, the report said.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. ClimateTech Investor Database: Check out The Climate Capital Stack -- a database of investors that fund climate-focused startups...
2. Investment - Private Equity and Energy Software: Three private equity firms -- Rubicon Technology Partners, Galvanize Climate Solutions and Silversmith Capital Partners -- have invested in Ascend Analytics, a developer of analytics software for the energy transition. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
3. M&A - Financial Services: Paynetics has acquired Novus to "amplify" the buyer's ESG mission. Financial terms were not disclosed.
4. 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: The U.S. Energy Department announced $6 billion in federal funding to subsidize 33 industrial projects in 20 states to cut carbon emissions, Reuters reported.
2. Global Nuclear Power: Thirty-four nations, including the United States, China, France, Britain and Saudi Arabia, committed "to work to fully unlock the potential of nuclear energy," The Associated Press reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Sourcing Journal Sustainability Summit 2024 (March 26, New York)
- Responsible Business USA 2024 (March 26-27, New York, New York)
- Maine Sustainability and Water Conference 2024 (March 28, Augusta, Maine)
- EnerCom Dallas 2024: The Energy Investment and ESG Conference (April 2-3, Dallas, Texas)
- Sustainability Conference on Ecopreneurship 2024 (April 8-9, Stanford University)
- 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.
