Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
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A. Sustainable Technology Developments
1. New Corporate Sustainability Reports: Our database of sustainability reports now includes annual updates from Ameresco, BeiGene, Gilead Sciences, McCormick & Company, Milestone Environmental Services, Valmont Industries & more.
2. AWS Under Fire: Amazon Web Services is under fire fore failing to deliver Scope 3 GHG emissions data to enterprises and governments, Computer Weekly reported. Moreover, multiple sustainability-focused executives have left AWS in recent months. Departures, Computer Weekly noted, have included:
3. Earnings - Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability: During Microsoft's April 2023 earnings call with Wall Street analysts, CEO Satya Nadella said: "Our Cloud for Sustainability is seeing strong adoption from companies in every industry, including BBC, Nissan and TCL as they deliver on their respective environmental commitments." Still, Microsoft did not disclose actual revenue figures tied to the sustainability cloud service.
4. Revenue - Clean Energy: NextEra Energy reported better-than-expected first-quarter results, boosted by the performance of its renewable energy unit, Reuters said. NextEra, which generates more wind and solar energy than any other company in the world, said it is benefiting from a clean energy investment push that has received major public policy support in recent months and given it a buffer against natural gas price swings, Reuters said.
5. Software - M&A Valuations and Sustainability: Valutico has launched ValutECO, a software tool that "assesses the value of companies based on their environmental impact," the company said.
6. Open Source Software Tools: Energy Web, a global non-profit accelerating that develops open source software for energy transitions, plans to launch a new solution called Energy Web X.
7. Technology Solutions & Engineers: Element14, an online Avnet community for engineers, is preparing for "The Summer of Green Technology," a "multi-supplier program filled with educational content, Webinars, and RoadTests with a focus on preserving our environment," the company said. "We'll be capping the summer off with a Design Challenge, an opportunity for engineers to showcase their green prototype designs and compete for great prizes."
8. Telecom Services: Ericsson has unveiled two new O-RAN Alliance-based RAN automation applications (rApps). The offerings align with the :telecom industry’s commitment to sustainability," which "drives the need for solutions that monitor and save energy while improving network performance," Ericsson said.
9. Earnings - LG: South Korea's LG Energy Solution quarterly profit more than doubled, as the battery maker benefited from subsidies from the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act and solid U.S. sales of electric vehicles, Reuters reported.
10. Apple Impact Accelerator: The Apple Impact Accelerator for 2023 -- designed for Black-, Hispanic/Latinx-, and Indigenous-owned business -- is a 12-week program for entrepreneurs that are developing "next-generation innovations in clean energy and green technologies." The program, set to run from August 21 through November 17, is "designed to expand opportunities within Apple’s supply chain and beyond," the company said.
11. Consulting Services - PwC: PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) will launch a new global Centre for Nature Positive Business and "provide nature positive training to help upskill its 328,000 strong global workforce in order to better understand nature impacts and work towards nature positive outcomes with clients," the consulting firm said.
12. Research - Energy as a Service Market Growth Forecast: The global energy-as-a-service market is expected to grow from $58.52 billion in 2022 to $65.20 billion in 2023 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.4%, according to ReportLinker.
13. Research - Rooftop Solar Power: If the rooftops of American warehouses were all bedecked with solar panels, these buildings would generate enough solar energy to power almost 19.4 million U.S. households each year, according to The Hill's summary of a report from the Environment California Research & Policy Center and the Frontier Group.
B. Sustainability Partnerships, Alliances, M&A & Investments
1. Funding: CelerateX Capital, a clean-energy-focused platform set up by Kerogen Capital and former General Electric executives, is seeking to raise about $1 billion to invest in less popular clean-energy segments, The Wall Street Journal reported.
2. Debt Financing - Data Centers: AtlasEdge, a pan-European Edge data center provider, has secured a €725 million (US$801 million) facility. AtlasEdge plans to acquire more data centers while also building more sustainable data center sites throughout Europe, the company said. The facility was underwritten by mandated lead arranger ING Bank, as well as ABN Amro, Crédit Agricole CIB, The Bank of Nova Scotia, National Westminster Bank Plc, Banco Santander and UniCredit Bank AG.
3. Private Equity - Waste Management Consulting: Aurora Capital Partners has invested in Impact Environmental Group, a provider of products and services to the global waste and recycling industry. Financial terms were not disclosed.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability News
1. Clean Energy Rewards: The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has launched the Energy Savings Hub — an online "one-stop shop for American families and consumers to access the savings tools that President Biden’s Investing in America agenda has made available to drastically cut energy costs," the government asserted.
2. Canada - Data Center Compliance: Neoflow, a Calgary based energy technology company, has successfully achieved Service Organization Control ("SOC") 2 Type II compliance in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) standards for SOC for Service Organizations also known as SSAE 18
3. UK - Climate Change and Businesses: Roughly half of all UK businesses are already impacted by the physical effects of climate change, according to research from Gallagher.
4. UK - IT Consulting and Energy Services: Correla, a UK-based product development and managed service provider in the energy market, has selected vFunction and Wipro to modernize their suite of Gemini online applications, the firms said.
5. UK - Net Zero Consulting Services for Government: HARLEY Haddow, an engineering consultancy in the UK, has launched a new energy division to promote Net Zero services to government clientele, Scottish Business News reported.
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