Good morning. Here is the latest news, research and market analysis that sustainable technology partners need to know for Friday, February 24, 2023.
1. Research - CEOs and Sustainability Challenges: Nearly half (43%) of CEOs globally say their sustainability efforts have been hampered due to the geopolitical environment, with that number even higher for CEOs from developing countries (51%), according to Accenture research. When examining net zero targets set by the world’s largest companies, Accenture also found that nearly all will miss their own targets unless they double the rate of carbon emissions reductions by 2030, the report found.
2. Virtual Chief Sustainability Officer: Darian McBain, a former CSO in Singapore, has launched Outsourced Chief Sustainability Officer Asia (OCSO Asia) -- which will offer sustainability consulting and strategic advisory services from experienced CSOs.
3. IT Financing and Sustainability: HPE Financial Services is promoting a "Force for Good" program that aligns IT financing programs with ESG scores.
4. Lenovo Net Zero Strategy: The PC and data center hardware giant shifted its net zero strategy into overdrive in 2020. Lenovo's Mary Jacques, executive director of global ESG and regulatory compliance, described the strategy to ZDnet.
5. Distribution - Circular Economy: Keep an eye on Ingram Micro's IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) services, which includes on-site data destruction and e-waste recycling services.
6. IT Consulting: India IT services giant Infosys became carbon neutral in 2020. Analytics India Magazine explains how.
7. Partnership: Global IT consulting firm Deloitte and AT&T announced a new collaboration focused on "expanding both organizations' commitments to help reduce global emissions."
8. Enterprise Software and Cloud Services: Check out the SAP Sustainability Navigator here.
9. Joint Venture - Emissions Management Software: Halliburton Company and Siguler Guff & Company have launched Envana Software Partners. The new venture provides emissions management software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions to "track greenhouse gas emissions in the oil and gas industry and beyond," the co-founders said.
10. M&A: Leon Capital has acquired Xynteo, a consulting firm that offers sustainability and consulting services to enterprise customers.
11. ESG Advisory Practice: UL Solutions has launched an expanded environmental, social and governance (ESG) advisory and assurance practice. This new practice will "empower companies with a pragmatic, science-driven approach to ESG management and a worldwide network of UL Solutions domain experts to help guide their progress," the organization said.
12. Middle Market Private Equity and ESG: Middle-market private equity firms are having to take ESG seriously, as a growing number of their limited partners are including ESG factors as a main area in their due diligence, according to Apogem Capital -- as reported by Pensions&Investments.
13. Partnership - Education, Research and Careers: Planet Labs PBC and Arizona State University (ASU) have inked an expanded partnership to "facilitate climate action through education and research, workforce development, and a science-first approach toward innovation." The effort spans:
- Talent and Certifications: establishment of an intern program that will bring ASU students into Planet and bring Planet onto ASU’s campus for mentoring across several of ASU’s schools.
- Research & Innovation: ASU has committed to fund expanded research using Planet data and to seed a new “ecopreneur” program.
- Community Investment: Planet is co-locating inside ASU’s Walton Center for Planetary Health for interns, future hires, and growth of Planet’s engineering team at the center of ASU’s multidisciplinary community focused on climate action.
14. U.S. - Electric Grid Concerns: The energy transition poised for takeoff in the United States amid record investment in wind, solar and other low-carbon technologies is facing a serious obstacle: The volume of projects has overwhelmed the nation’s antiquated systems to connect new sources of electricity to homes and businesses, The New York Times reports.
15. Energy Storage: Our Next Energy Inc. (ONE) has unveiled Aries Grid, a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) utility-scale battery system that can serve as long-duration energy storage, the company said. Manufactured in America, Aries Grid represents a milestone achievement in efforts to scaleup investments in renewable energy infrastructure and grid reliability, ONE.
16. Canada Transformation: Canada has the firepower to invest billions of dollars in the green transition over the coming years to make it more competitive with the United States, analysts said, while also ensuring its public finances stay on a sustainable path, Reuters reported.
17. Partnership - Cambodia: The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), together with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), and the Securities and Exchange Regulator of Cambodia (SERC), signed a Memorandum of Agreement to accelerate financing towards green, sustainable and net-zero projects in Cambodia, the organizations announced.
Got news to share? Email the details to Sustainable Technology Partner Editorial Director Joe Panettieri.
