Sustainable IT News for Channel Partners and MSPs: 13 August 2025

Here is today's sustainable IT services news, research and analysis -- written for channel partners, MSPs, green IT service providers, climate accounting professionals, and the chief sustainability officers (CSOs) they serve.

A. Sustainable IT Partnerships, Strategic Alliances and Strategies

1. Apple Sustainability Goals: The company is on track to be carbon neutral across its entire footprint by 2030, Apple told Wired. But Wired suggests that Apple's progress on sustainability is slowing down. Related: See the overall Apple sustainability strategy.

2. OpenAI - Energy Consumption Question Marks: OpenAI failed to disclose ChatGPT 5's energy use expectations, triggering concerns and speculation that the latest AI model may require more energy than previous models.

3. Partnership - Sustainable Agriculture Software: Researchers at the University of Sharjah (UoS), working with IBM, have unveiled My FarmWell. The mobile application is "designed to address water scarcity and promote sustainable agriculture across the UAE and the broader Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region," the organizations said. The app:

• Supports weather forecasts, including temperature, humidity, wind conditions, and rainfall predictions for the next 24 hours and up to 10 days;
• enables farmers to track groundwater levels over time, alerting them to potential water scarcity;
• recommends crops based on water quality data;
• calculates potential water requirements for crops, trees, and livestock; and
• features educational content on water conservation and climate adaptation, along with real-time market price updates to align farming strategies with economic opportunities.

Related: IBM's sustainability strategy and channel partner implications.

4. Carbon Accounting Software - Agriculture: CarbonOne, a carbon accounting software developer in the food and beverage sector, has launched a Farm Module to "help agriculture and livestock operations measure emissions, improve sustainability, and accelerate monetization of verified carbon reductions," the company said. CarbonOne, based in Toronto, launched in 2022. The company has five employees listed on LinkedIn as of August 2025.

5. Partnership - Carbon Accounting and Cloud Services: Climatiq will launch its new Emissions Management module in the IFS Cloud. IFS’s broader strategy calls for embedding sustainability directly into business operations, "enabling customers to make informed, carbon-aware decisions based on their own data," the two companies said.

6. Partnership - AWS and Renewable Energy: Amazon Web Services (AWS) will tap Gentari for renewable energy services in India, the companies said. Related: AWS sustainability strategy and channel partner implications.

7. AI Court Case Will Proceed: A California federal judge rejected Anthropic's attempt to cancel a copyright-related trial set for December 2025, Bloomberg Law reported. Related: See our Generative AI lawsuit timeline.

8. Mobility - Business Pivot: Revel end its ride-hailing service in New York City and will instead focus on its nascent EV charging business, TechCrunch reported.

9. Solar Purchasing Contract: Sunbolt of Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania, has been awarded a contract through The Interlocal Purchasing System (TIPS). The contract allows public schools, municipalities and government agencies to purchase Sunbolt’s off-grid solar furniture and charging stations. Sunbolt’s workstations provide solar charging for phones, tablets, laptops, and other devices in parks, campuses, office parks, transit hubs, and other shared spaces.

B. Sustainable IT Investments, Funding, Earnings and Business Launches

1. Accelerator: The International Airlines Group’s 2025 accelerator welcomed 29 start-ups from 11 countries, focusing on AI, sustainability, and next-gen aviation solutions, according to Aerospace Global News. Related: More than 80 sustainability accelerators listed.

2. Venture Capital and Seed Accelerator: 500 Global launched a Sustainable Innovation program that aligns with the organization's Sustainable Innovation Seed Accelerator in Nairobi.

3. M&A - Private Equity and Software: Private equity firm Bain Capital has invested in HSO, a global Microsoft Dynamics, cloud and AI partner that also has ESG and sustainable IT expertise. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Bloomberg estimated that Bain paid $1 billion to acquire a majority HSO stake.

4. M&A - Data Center Cooling Technology: Investment firm Apollo has acquired Kelvion, a global provider of data center cooling solutions. The seller, Triton, will maintain a minority stake in Kelvion. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies, Regulations and News

1. United States - AI Energy Consumption Concerns: AI energy consumption could push total U.S. peak electricity needs to 50 gigawatts by 2030, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, Politico reported. That's the power equivalent of 50 large nuclear plants, the report said.

2. Spain - Data Center Energy Disclosures: Regulators in Spain have drafted a regulation that would require data centers to publish information on their energy and water consumption, in addition to other key sustainability indicators, Data Center Dynamics reported.

3. European Union - Call for Ongoing CSRD Support: Roughly 370 organizations -- spanning investors and financial institutions; companies and service providers -- have called on the EU to preserve the core EU sustainable finance framework -- including rules on sustainability reporting, transition plans, climate targets and corporate due diligence. The organzations want to preserve the core elements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) underpinned by the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), and of the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD).

D. Sustainability Conferences, Summits and Events

1. International Conference on Sustainable Tourism Management (ICSTM) 2025 (August 24-26, Paris)
2. Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Global Summit 2025 (September 2-3, London, United Kingdom)
3. Workiva Amplify 2025 (September 8-10, Washington, D.C.)
4. RE+ 2025 Renewable Energy Conference (September 8-11, Las Vegas, Nevada)
5. Sustainability Live 2025 (September 9-10, London, United Kingdom)

E. Previous Updates & Future News

1. Previous News: All of our daily news updates are here.
2. Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.