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. Annual ESG Reports: Our global database of annual sustainability and ESG reports now spans 271 companies.
2. Chief Sustainability Officers (CSO) List: Our database of chief sustainability officers now spans 312 CSOs. The latest additions include:
- Stephanie Couhig, senior VP, environmental health & safety and chief sustainability officer, Hexion Inc.
- Ted Ferguson, chief sustainability officer, Profoundry.
- Deborah Stone, chief sustainability officer and director, Department of Environment and Sustainability, Cook County, Illinois.
- Kathleen Talbot, chief sustainability officer and VP of operations, Reformation.
3. Microsoft - Decarbonization of the Power Sector: In a blog, Microsoft described how it is working with energy organizations to decarbonize the power sector, and to leverage 100% clean energy for its data centers, buildings and campuses by 2025. Michelle Patron, senior director of global sustainability policy, described recent Microsoft meetings with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member energy ministers and their delegations.
4. Amazon.com Faces Lawsuit: Planet Green Cartridges, a U.S. printer cartridge recycler, and remanufacturer, has filed a $500 million lawsuit against Amazon. The lawsuit alleges that Amazon has engaged in false advertising and unfair competition by participating in the sale of newly manufactured, clone printer ink cartridges that are deceptively marketed as "remanufactured" and misrepresented as eco-friendly recycled products. We've reached out to Amazon for comment.
5. Green Data Centers: Fidelis New Energy has selected Mason County, West Virginia for a lifecycle carbon neutral. hydrogen production facility and low carbon microgrid. The effort involves the Mountaineer GigaSystem and the Monarch Cloud Campus for data centers powered by net-zero hydrogen. Mountaineer will leverage FidelisH2 technology that enables production of hydrogen with zero lifecycle carbon emissions from a combination of natural gas, renewable energy, and carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration ("CCUS"), the company said.
6. Partnership - ESG Software Deployments: Software provider VelocityEHS and professional services firm WSP are partnering to deploy VelocityEHS's platform for end-customers.
7. Research - Scope 1 and 2 Disclosures: Roughly 73% of companies already disclose Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions data, according to a collaborative report from Persefoni and the Society for Corporate Governance:Â The State of Climate Disclosure & Governance 2023. The data involves 90 public companies that are Society of Corporate Governance members.
8. Executive Leadership - Solar Energy and ESG: Silfab Solar has hired Ted Ferguson as director of environment, social and governance (ESG). Ferguson also is chief sustainability officer of Profoundry, a collective of like-minded sustainability and climate experts that includes Delphi, GLOBE Series, CBSR and Leading Change Canada.Â
9. Help Wanted: Suncor Energy is seeking a senior VP of strategy, sustainability and corporate development. A review of internal and external candidates is underway. Chief Sustainability Officer Arlene Strom plans to retire near the end of 2023, Suncor Energy said.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments and Funding
1. Funding: Rondo Energy, a provider of zero-carbon industrial heat and power, has raised $60 million in new financing. The funding will help to "speed the rollout of Rondo Heat Batteries (RHBs) worldwide and to transform the global energy storage market," Rondo asserted. Key backers include Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Energy Impact Partners, SCG, and TITAN, Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund, Rio Tinto, SABIC, Aramco Ventures, and climate investors SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEEIT) and John Doerr.
2. M&A - Electric Vehicles: ElectraMeccanica and Tevva are planning to merge. If the merger occurs, the combined company expects to generate annual revenue of $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion in 2028.
3. All M&A Activity: Our M&A database has now tracked 119 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. Brazil - Carbon Emissions Policy: Brazil will create a cap on carbon dioxide emissions for large polluting companies as part of a broader green transition initiative meant to help the country reach CO2 neutrality by 2050, Bloomberg reported.
2. China - Recycling and Renewable Energy: China, the world's biggest renewable equipment manufacturer, will set up a recycling system for ageing wind turbines and solar panels as it tries to tackle the growing volumes of waste generated by the industry, Reuters reported.
3. European Union - Greenwashing Concerns: The European Union is under growing pressure to tighten its corporate ESG reporting rules, as investors balk at what they view as a new loophole for greenwashing, Bloomberg reported. The campaign follows a decision by the European Commission to snub the recommendations of sustainability experts, and instead implement the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive in a way that investors worry isn’t fit for purpose, Bloomberg said. The upshot is that CSRD won’t require companies to report on most ESG factors if they themselves judge the information isn’t material, the report concluded,
4. India - Public Transportation: The country has approved an investment of 576.13 billion rupees ($7 billion) for green public transportation as it seeks to curb emissions from vehicles and meet swelling demand in its cities, Bloomberg reported.
5. United Kingdom - Wind Power Concerns: The UK’s annual renewable energy auction may not include offshore wind for the first time since the system for awarding subsidies began almost a decade ago, posing another potential setback to the government’s net zero targets, Bloomberg reported.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- World ESG Summit 2023 (August 21-22, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)
- VMware Explore 2023 (August 21-24, Las Vegas, Nevada)
- Google Cloud Next 2023 Partner and Customer Conference (August 29-21, San Francisco)
- Sustainability Live 2023 (Sept. 6-7, London, United Kingdom)
- ICSD 2023 Sustainability Conference (September 6-7, Rome, Italy)
- 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.
