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. Financial Services - HSBC Retreats From Carbon Goals: HSBC is delaying some of its earlier emissions goals after a recent chief sustainability officer (CSO) transition.
2. Consulting - Executive Talent: Kearney has hired Hani Tohme as head of sustainability for the Middle East and Africa region. He previously held key posts at Roland Berger and Arthur D. Little.
3. IT Consulting and Recycling: Currys, a tech retailer in the United Kingdom, has partnered with Deloitte on a recycling and e-waste reduction effort. Under terms of the relationship, Deloitte's 25,000 UK people can recycle their old tech at Currys stores.
4. Green Buildings: Alloy Development’s plans to build a 63-story skyscraper that meets “passive house” standards, Bloomberg reported. Once completed, the Brooklyn, New York, building will be the world’s tallest passive house, surpassing a 586-foot condo project that’s underway in Vancouver, Canada, the report said.
5. Financial Services - Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA): Several large Asian banks and European peers remain committed to the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), despite multiple exits by Wall Street and Canadian lenders, Bloomberg reported.
6. EV Charging - Executive Leadership: Blink Charging has hired Gotion veteran Chris Carr as senior VP of sales & business development. The hire comes amid a planned CEO shift from Brendan Jones to Mike Battaglia on February 1, 2025. Blink is striving to achieve positive adjusted EBITDA in the second half of 2025. Amid financial challenges, Blink Charging announced layoff plans in September 2024.
B. Sustainability M&A, Climate Tech Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. M&A Policy: The antitrust regulators under President Donald Trump will leave merger guidelines initiated under former President Joe Biden's administration in effect, SeekingAlpha reported. Read between the lines, and a Big Tech acquisition renaissance may not materialize near-term.
3. M&A - Renewable Energy Software: PainReform, a specialty pharmaceutical company, is acquiring DeepSolar technology from BladeRanger. DeepSolar’s software provides real-time insights that optimize solar field productivity, offering a significant advantage over traditional legacy systems.
4. M&A - Renewable Energy: Sitka Power has acquired various wind, solar and battery energy storage assets from Saturn Power. The acquired infrastructure is in Ontario and Saskatchewan, Canada. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
5. M&A - AI Talent: HP Inc. will acquire talent and intellectual property from Humane Inc. The deal does not include Humane’s AI Pin device business, which suffered multiple product setbacks and failed to live up to early hype. The pin business will shut down.
6. Funding - Self-Service IT Software: Cycloid, which develops a self-service IT solution for sustainable platform engineering, has raised €5 million Series A financing, EU Startups reported. The company, based in Paris, France, is seeking to expand across Europe and North America.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies and News
1. United States - ESG Policies and Financial Services: Vanguard and BlackRock each have paused corporate meetings to more closely study recent ESG guidance from the federal government, Reuters reported.
2. United States - California Considers Data Center Power Legislation: California politicians are proposing several power regulations to help keep AI data center energy consumption under control.
3. United States - Texas Nuclear Power Projects: Natura Resources announced two advanced nuclear projects in Texas. The planned Small Modular Reactor (SMR) deployments, located in the Permian Basin and at Texas A&M University's RELLIS Campus, represent "significant strides in addressing Texas' energy and water needs."
D. Sustainable IT and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Step Conference 2025 - Earth Track Dates (February 19-20, Dubai, United Arab Emirates)
- Sustainability Live Malta 2025 (February 20, Valetta, Malta)
- ICISAS 2025 (February 22-23, Dubai, UAE)
- Green Events & Innovations Conference (GEI) 2025 (February 25, London, United Kingdom)
- Intersolar North America 2025 (February 25-27, San Diego, California)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
- Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainable IT, climate tech and renewable energy news for technology partners.
- Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
