Here is today’s sustainable IT services and climate tech news, research and analysis -- written for technology partners, green IT service providers, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable IT, Talent, Partnerships and Green Tech Alliances
1. Environmental Services and Carbon Credits: Keep an eye on Well Done Foundation (WDF), which fights climate change by plugging orphaned or abandoned oil and gas wells. Among the recent milestones: WDF is "going to market with the release of 778,000 high-integrity carbon credits," the organization said. The effort involves partnerships with Carbon Path and Cloverly. Look behind the WDF curtains, and you'll find multiple sustainable technologies running behind the scenes. Key WDF names to know include Chairman Curtis Shuck and Well Intel Commercialization Manager Harry Brelsford -- a well-known veteran of the SMB technology market.
2. IT Services: Atos, the massive IT services company, is pitching regenerative IT as a means for sustainable technology and environmental stewardship.
3. CSRD Compliance Solution: Holtara has launched a new CSRD compliance platform called Holtara.io. The platform is "designed to help businesses comply with the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)," Holtara said.
4. Partnership - IT Services and ESG Software: Deloitte will leverage Datamaran's ESG software to help customers in Italy, the Netherlands and Belgium to monitor their sustainability risk factors and meet compliance demands, the two companies said.
5. Partnership - Virtual Power Plants: NRG Energy, Renew Home and Google Cloud are partnering to promote virtual power plant (VPP) technology to improve the Texas power grid's resiliency.
6. Partnership - AI Data Centers and Renewable Energy: Google, Intersect Power and TPG Rise Climate are partnering to develop industrial parks that co-locate AI data centers with clean energy power sources.
7. AI and Sustainability Survey: Only 32% of organizations consider sustainability as a priority in AI implementation, Hitachi Vantara research found.
8. AI Training: Accenture is launching an on-demand generative AI learning program led by Accenture experts and powered by content from Stanford Online.
9. Talent Exodus: A key oversight body monitoring the voluntary carbon market has had two members of its expert panel resign in protest over its decision to back methodologies for forestry credits they say lack credibility, Bloomberg reported. The Integrity Council for the Voluntary Carbon Market, as the oversight group is called, in November 2024 approved three models for generating carbon credits that expert-panel members Juerg Fuessler and Lambert Schneider say shouldn’t have made it through.
10. Research - Executive Perspectives: Roughly 67% of top executives surveyed viewed their climate resiliency efforts as proactive, compared to just 56% of lower-level decision makers, an IBM survey found.
11. Business Shutdown - Robotaxis: General Motors is shutting down its Cruise robotaxi business unit, which generated $10 billion in operating losses since 2016, the Associated Press reported. In stark contrsat: Waymo, owned by Google parent Alphabet, is accelerating plans to broaden its robotaxi service beyond areas of metropolitan Phoenix, San Francisco and Los Angeles, the report noted.
B. Sustainability M&A, Climate Tech Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Startup Funding - Solar Farm Management: Raptor Maps has raised $35 million in Series C funding. Maverix Private Equity led the round. MKB, Blue Bear Capital, Congruent Ventures, Buoyant Ventures, and Y Combinator also participated in the round. Raptor Maps develops software that orchestrates solar operations and maintenance work by people and robotics, the company said.
2. M&A - Compliance Software: EQS Group, backed by green hydrogen advocate Apex Group, has acquired SaaS software provider Daato Technologies, which develops ESG management and reporting solutions. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. EQS Group is striving to offer an all-in-one solution that helps customers to navigate the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) and reporting on the Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), the EU Taxonomy, CO2-footprinting, and supply chain laws such as the Supply Chain Due Diligence Act (LkSG), CSDDD, CBAM and the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
3. Complete M&A List: Here's our database of all M&A deals involving green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. United States - California Regulations: The California regulator responsible for overseeing a landmark carbon-emissions disclosure law has said it won’t “take enforcement action” against companies that make “a good faith effort” to comply with the law in 2026, its first reporting year, The Wall Street Journal reported.
2. United States - Texas Nuclear Energy: Natura Resources -- working with such academic institutions as Abilene Christian University, The University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M University, and Georgia Tech University -- has developed a molten salt Small Modular Reactor (SMR) prototype. Natura Resources is "on track to complete the demonstration of their SMR technology by 2026," the company said.
3. Australia Nuclear Power Challenges: Nuclear power isn't a cost-effective solution for Australia to decarbonize its energy mix, according to Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, Bloomberg reported.
D. Sustainable IT and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- International Conference on Sustainable Energy and Green Technology - SEGT 2024 (December 15-18, Thailand)
- CES 2025 (January 7-10, Las Vegas, Nevada)
- Sustainable and Impact Investments International Conference 2025 (January 14-15, Dublin, Ireland)
- Davos 2025 -- World Economic Forum 2025 annual meeting (January 20-24, Switzerland)
- Sustainable Foods Summit 2025 (January 22-23, San Francisco, California)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
