Here is today’s sustainability, Net Zero and circular economy news, research and analysis. This daily update is designed for technology partners, management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
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Our updates for Monday, March 27, 2023 include…
A. Sustainability and Net-Zero News and Research
1. IT Asset Management (ITAM): Keep an eye on Evercycle, a software company that increasingly positions IT asset management (ITAM) for MSPs to address sustainability opportunities. https://www.evercycle.io/
2. Research - CFOs and Sustainability: The majority of public companies will update their investment methodologies to include sustainability metrics as a key part of their return on investment (ROI) analysis by 2026, according to Gartner. The shift from viewing sustainability solely as a source of risk management to a new driver of returns will be transformative for many companies, Gartner said.
3. Research - Renewable Energy: By the end of 2022, global renewable generation capacity amounted to 3372 Gigawatt (GW), growing the stock of renewable power by a record 295 GW or by 9.6%, according to Renewable Capacity Statistics 2023, a report released by the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Moreover, 83% of all power capacity added in 2022 was produced by renewables, IRENA said.
4. Research - ESG Ratings Service Rankings: Bloomberg, CDP, EcoVadis, ISS-ESG, MSCi, S&P Global ESG, and Sustainalytics were ranked in this ESG agency ratings report from ERM.
5. Sustainability Plan - Media: Science-Based Targets (SBTi), an independent global agency that allows companies to set emission reduction targets on the basis of scientific climate data, has validated Vivendi’s carbon reduction plan, which covers almost 70% of the Vivendi’s emissions.
6. Africa - Financial Services: South African lender Absa Group aims to cut its net carbon emissions to zero by 2050 by curtailing lending to coal, oil and gas projects as well as increasing its exposure to renewables, Reuters reported.
7. Sustainability - Finance: Allen Pierce Equity Partners has established a Sustainable Finance Working Group, led by Chief Sustainability Officer Barbara Schmidt.
8. Web Hosting: The Squarespace 2022 ESG report is here.
9. South Africa: China Energy Engineering Group proposed building a 1,000-megawatt floating solar farm for Zimbabwe, a nearly $1 billion project, on the world’s largest man-made lake, Bloomberg reported. More than 1.8 million photovoltaic panels installed over 146 modular floating units would be used for the project on Lake Kariba if it went ahead, the report said. The civil engineering works would cost $186 million and installation $801 million, according to China Energy, Bloomberg noted.
B. Sustainability and Net-Zero Government Policies
Nothing to see here today. Move along. Move along.
C. Sustainability Funding, Financing, Mergers & Acquisitions
1. Funding - Sustainable Buildings: CarbonCents Inc., a Clemson University sustainability startup, has received approval from the SC Launch Inc. board for a $250,000 convertible note. CarbonCents develops software that allows customers to measure and analyze a building’s power, temperature, water usage, indoor air quality, and occupancy in a utility data system. This data is then used to create an energy usage index that helps organizations plan and achieve their sustainability goals. SC Launch Inc. is the investment affiliate of the South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA).
2. Debate - Banks and Carbon Accounting: Banks are divided over how to account for carbon emissions linked to their capital markets business, sources told Reuters, with some riled by a proposal that 100% would be attributed to them rather than to investors who buy the financial instruments, Reuters reported.
D. Sustainability Partnerships, Alliances and Associations
1. Consulting Partnerships - Asia: KPMG has partnered with four organizations, through the KPMG ASEAN Decarbonisation Hub, to "equip businesses in the region to meet their sustainability goals in the face of strong economic headwinds and uncertainties." The four partners are:
- Bureau Veritas (BV)
- Energy Institute (EI)
- Maybank Singapore (Maybank); and
- two research institutes at the National University of Singapore (NUS) - Energy Studies Institute (ESI) and Sustainable and Green Finance Institute (SGFIN).
2. Steel Industry: Trimble, a Building Information Modeling (BIM) software technology provider, has joined ResponsibleSteel, an independent, non-profit organization focused on net zero initiatives.
3. Agriculture: Indigo Ag and Roger are partnering to help farmers and grain companies grow revenues while improving environmental sustainability, the two companies said.
4. Carbon Capture: Global miner BHP Group Ltd and Chinese steel company HBIS Group Co Ltd have agreed to trial carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies at the Chinese firm's steel mills, Reuters reported.
E. Sustainability Conferences, Summits and Events Calendar
Here are five upcoming sustainability conferences and ESG events for business and technology partners:
F. Send Us Your News Tips
Got news tips, research or data to share? Please email me the details.
