Good morning. Here is the latest news, research and market analysis that sustainable technology partners need to know for Monday, February 13, 2023.
1. Top 10 Green Data Center Companies: Here's the list, according to Sustainability Magazine.
2. SAP Net Zero Strategy: SAP Chief Sustainability Officer Daniel Schmid says the enterprise software giant intends to achieve net-zero emissions by 2030, according to this interview.
3. Chief Sustainability Officers:
- Bérangère Ruchat, who joined Richemont in 2022 as the luxury company’s first chief sustainability officer, will now join the group’s senior executive committee. Ruchat's promotion will ensure sustainability objectives are fully embedded in the group’s strategic and operational decisions, according to Business of Fashion.
- Fairprice Group (FPG) appointed Chan Teng See as the company’s first chief sustainability officer, Singapore Business Review reported. Aside from driving sustainability initiatives in the areas of promoting a circular and low-carbon economy, supporting livelihoods and well-being, and serving costumes, Teng See is also mandated to develop and execute long-term sustainability efforts in the group’s supply chains and stakeholders, the report said. Tee Seng previously served as the CEO of the Food Services Business at FPG and held various leadership roles within NTUC and NTUC Enterprise, the report noted.
- Uniper has promoted Holger Kreetz to chief operating officer (COO) and chief sustainability officer. Uniper, based in Düsseldorf Germany, is an international energy company focused on liquefied natural gas. The company has 7,000 employees across 40 countries. Uniper intends to be carbon neutral by 2035.
4. Partnership - Startups: The University of Connecticut, R/GA Ventures and CTNext have kicked off the Future Climate Venture Studio. Six participating startups are creating solutions in such sectors as energy, agriculture, manufacturing, and financial services.
5. Partnership - Green Fleet Management: Neste and Scania are piloting a digital solution that tracks how trucks consume renewable fuels. enables easy follow-up and verification of each truck's usage of renewable fuels. Combining data from Scania Fleet Management Portal enriched with Neste's fuel emission data, the solution provides Scania’s fleet management customers with accurate, up-to-date data for their greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) reporting and sustainability communications.
6. Greenwashing Concerns: European Union rules for labelling sustainable investment funds need tightening to avoid 'greenwashing' investors who want to help cut carbon emissions, France's markets watchdog AMF said as concerns over applying ESG regulation mount, Reuters reported.
7. Carbon Credit Rating Challenges: A new breed of credit raters wants to help companies make better sense of carbon offsets, which many businesses have shunned because of concerns about the reputational risk of “greenwashing” that can come from projects with uneven standards and inaccurate measurements, The Wall Street Journal reported.
8. Research - Climate Pledge Concerns: Net zero pledges made by some of the world’s largest corporations will reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by just 36%, according to a new report, far short of the progress required to avert a catastrophic increase in global temperatures, Bloomberg reported. The data and associated conclusions come from the Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor (CCRM) report for 2023 – a joint initiative from the NewClimate Institute and Carbon Market Watch.
9. Research - ESG Progress: Nearly three in five (57%) executives report having implemented a cross-functional ESG working group tasked with driving strategic attention to ESG and another 42% are taking steps to do the same, Deloitte reported. A similar profile of survey respondents in 2021 indicated that only 21% had implemented a cross-functional ESG working group, the consulting firm said.
10. Research - Clean Energy Technologies Forecast: The global market for clean energy technologies is expected to reach $448.8 billion by 2030, up from $292 billion in 2022, according to ReportLinker. That's a 5.5% compound annual growth rate (CAGR), the report said.
11. Research - eWaste Market Forecast: The Global E-waste Management Market is expected to reach $147.11 billion by 2030 -- up from $52.13 Billion in 2021. That's a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.5%, according to Extrapolate.
12. Research - Net Zero Strategy: Fully 85% of U.K., U.S. and German companies now have a net-zero strategy, and 78% have allocated extra budget to sustainability and net-zero initiatives, a Sphera survey found. However, only 41% of companies have made significant changes to daily operational practices to decarbonize, the survey found.
13. Net Zero and UK Taxes: The UK has made good progress towards achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 but getting there may need higher taxes, BBC reported.
14. Alliance: KPMG and Workiva have inked an "enhanced alliance to deliver environmental, social, and governance (ESG) focused solutions and services." This increased collaboration "expands the KPMG ability to assist organizations in effectively implementing ESG data, process, control, and reporting capabilities, ultimately enhancing trust, mitigating risk, and unlocking new value as companies build a sustainable future," the two companies said.
15. Digital Twins - Middle East: KPMG in Saudi Arabia has launched a Centre of Excellence (CoE) for the metaverse and digital twins. Key partners include Microsoft, Ericsson and Metakey.
16. Financing: Comcast has announced the issuance of a $1 billion 10-year green bond, as it aims to get investors to support environmental initiatives. Comcast is striving to be carbon neutral by 2035.
17. M&A: Montrose Environmental Group has acquired Environmental Alliance (EAI), an environmental engineering and consulting firm in the Mid-Atlantic. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
18. M&A: Denham Capital, the global energy transition investment firm, has acquired Solops, a developer, financier, and owner and operator of photovoltaic solar projects in the commercial and industrial sector throughout the United States.
19. IPO: Enlight Renewable Energy of Israel launched an IPO on the Nasdaq Stock Market. On its first day of trading, Enlight closed with a market capitalization of $2.07 billion. Enlight develops, finances, constructs, owns and operates utility-sale renewable energy projects. Enlight operates across solar, wind and energy storage.
20. Funding - Sustainability Startup: Reuven Carlyle, who retired from the Washington State Senate in January 2023, is launching a startup that will provide a suite of services to help businesses reduce their climate impacts, GeekWire reported. The company, called Earth Finance, raised a $14 million seed round and is coming out of stealth February 2023, the report said.
21. Funding - Electric Vehicles: Zeekr, the electric car brand of China's Geely Automobile Holdings, is raising $750 million from five new and existing investors in a funding round that values the brand at $13 billion, Reuters reported.
Got news to share? Email the details to Sustainable Technology Partner Editorial Director Joe Panettieri.
