Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, renewable energy and green IT companies, management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
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A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Alliances
1. Corporate Sustainability Reports: Our database of corporate sustainability reports now spans 232 businesses. The latest addition is flight simulator specialist CAE.
2. Sustainability Partner Programs List: Our database of sustainability partner programs now includes 111 technology, green IT and renewable energy businesses. The latest addition is ReverseLogix, a provider of returns management services and solutions.
3. Sustainable Mobility: gener8tor, a venture capital firm & startup accelerator, has appointed Donna Ehart as the inaugural managing director of the The Company Lab (CO.LAB) Sustainable Mobility Accelerator. Ehart will work closely with Rosimar Nieves, CO.LAB’s newly appointed program director. The accelerator program, a partnership between The Company Lab and gener8tor, will be located in Chattanooga and focus on scaling startups that have potential for significant economic, community, and industry impact.
4. Business Launch: Global IT consulting and IT services firm NTT has co-launched a sustainable food supply business that will see to generate revenues of about $70 million in about five years.
5. Partnership - Cloud AI and Sustainability Consulting: KPMG and Microsoft have "significantly expanded" their global relationship. Much of the expanded effort involves artificial intelligence (AI). But dig a little further into the news, and you'll see multiple ESG and sustainability mentions. Focus areas include "building on the success of the KPMG Circularity Tracker and an ESG and climate data management and analytics solution, both of which have Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability and Microsoft Azure at their core." Indeed, joint teams will "continue to help clients to unify their data sources, leverage the required inputs to help make real-time value-add decisions, and help them to deliver on their sustainability commitments," the two companies said.
6. Partnership - ESG Reporting: Ajanta Pharma Ltd, a global pharmaceutical company, will leverage Credible Innovations to improve its ESG reporting and sustainability efforts.Â
7. Partnership - Carbon Reporting: Carbon management platform Emitwise and sustainability data company Sedex have partnered to address customers’ supply chain data challenges. The relationship "seeks to support businesses’ sustainability efforts by providing deeper insights and more efficient data services for supply chain sustainability, including on notoriously difficult Scope 3 emissions," the two companies said.
8. Talent - Head of Sustainability: Paine Schwartz Partners, which focuses on sustainable food chain investing, has hired Blackstone and Apollo Global Management veteran Rachel Hurley as head of sustainability. Hurley will focus on "driving ESG value creation across Paine Schwartz portfolio companies and lead firmwide sustainability and social responsibility strategy and initiatives," the company said.
9. Executive Departure: Group Sustainability Director Anna Turrell has exited Tesco, she disclosed on LinkedIn. Turrell promised "more info to come on what's next..." but didn't provider details on when she'd offer the update.
10. Research - Reverse Logistics Challenges: Fully 77% of companies don't know what product returns are truly costing their company, according to a 2023 Reverse Logistics Technology Survey from Peerless Research Group and ReverseLogix.
11. Carbon Credit Concerns: The $2 billion voluntary carbon-offsets market has suffered allegations that many credits don’t deliver the emissions cuts they promise, and multiple efforts to rebuild credibility face an uphill battle, The Wall Street Journal reports.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments and Funding
1. Funding: CarbonCure Technologies has raised $80 million led by Blue Earth Capital. CarbonCure develops solutions that enable concrete producers to "use captured carbon dioxide to produce reliable, low carbon concrete mixes and achieve market differentiation amid surging demand for greener building materials among architects, engineers, owners and developers," the startup said.
2. M&A - Done Deal: BrainBox AI has completed the acquisition of ABB's integrator business. The deal was announced on April 28, 2023.
3. M&A - Sustainable Energy Solutions: Private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management has acquired Energy Systems Group (ESG), a sustainable energy solutions provider. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
4. M&A - Sustainability Consultancy: DNV has acquired Enviroguide Consulting, an environmental and sustainability consultancy based in Dublin, Ireland. Financial terms were not disclosed.
5. All M&A Activity: Our M&A database has now tracked 96 mergers and acquisitions involving sustainability so far in 2023. See all M&A deals involving sustainability listed here.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. Germany: Finance Minister Christian Lindner is planning a raft of measures designed to boost climate-friendly investments and competitiveness that the government estimates will ease the tax burden on companies and households by about €6 billion ($6.6 billion) a year, Bloomberg reported.
2. United States - California Electric Grid Evolution: California has, in just three years, seen a tenfold increase in batteries plugged into its grid as solar and wind installations take the place of aging gas-burning power plants, Bloomberg reported.
D. 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.
