Here is today's sustainable IT services news, research and analysis for channel partners, MSPs, climate accounting professionals, consultants and the chief sustainability officers (CSOs) they serve.
A. Sustainable IT Partnerships, Strategic Alliances and Strategies
1. IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) Business Growth: Illumynt reported 60% year-over-year revenue growth in 2025, driven by increased demand from hyperscalers, cloud providers, and data-intensive enterprises, the ITAD service provider said. We don't know if the revenue growth was organic or if it involved acquisitions. Also, we don't know the actual revenue dollar figures, and whether Illumynt is profitable. Illumynt founder Paul Knight in September 2024 returned as CEO of the ITAD service provider.
2. Layoffs: City of New Orleans layoffs impacted several members of the Office of Resilience and Sustainability, Axios reported. An executive order said the initiatives will be spread across all city departments. However, a Change.org petition calling for New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno to save the office, the report noted. Related: List of layoffs across the sustainability industry.
3. Executive Leadership: LG ahas appointed Ko Yoon-joo, chief sustainability strategy officer (CSSO) of LG Chem, as the head of the LG Global Strategy Development Institute, a global policy think tank within the group. The institute "analyzes changes in overseas situations and major national policy changes affecting LG businesses and suggests strategic response directions," LG said.
4. AI Trial Set to Proceed: OpenAI and Microsoft failed to escape a trial over Elon Musk’s claims that OpenAI betrayed its founding mission as a public charity when it took billions in funding from Microsoft and made plans to operate as a for-profit business. A federal judge in California rejected requests by OpenAI and Microsoft to dismiss Musk's claims, and ordered the case to proceed to a jury trial. (Source: Bloomberg) Related: List of AI lawsuits, judgments and court rulings.
5. AI Summit: Cisco plans to host an AI Summit on February 3 online and in San Francisco. Executives from Nvidia, OpenAI, Anthropic, Amazon Web Services and more are set to talk at the event. We'll be watching and listening to learn if the conference touches on sustainable IT services, AI energy consumption, and energy efficiency.
6. Research - Renewable Energy Pricing Trends: The Q4 2025 Global Renewables Market Price Briefing reveals wind and solar pricing trends across the world.
B. Sustainable IT Investments, Funding, Earnings and Business Launches
1. Private Equity and Energy Storage: Private equity firm NGP Energy Capital Management is backing a new US energy-storage developer -- Liminal Energy LLC -- with $200 million as data centers spur record power demand growth, Bloomberg reported.
2. Funding - Quantum Computers: Equal1, a developer of rack-mounted quantum computers, has raised $60 million to "accelerate development of scalable, silicon-based quantum computers and deployment of its datacenter-ready Bell-1 quantum server," the firm said. Valuation terms were not disclosed. Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF) led the round, with participation from Atlantic Bridge, the European Innovation Council Fund, Matterwave Ventures, Enterprise Ireland, Elkstone and TNO Ventures. Related: What is quantum computing, and the potential sustainability benefits?
3. Investment: Nomura Holdings has invested in Greenphard Energy of Tokyo. Greenphard develops IoT and AI solutions that optimize refrigeration, cold storage, and HVAC systems. The technology helps businesses to reduce electricity consumption and costs in factories, warehouses, office buildings, and data centers, the companies said. Financial terms of the investment were not disclosed.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability Policies, Regulations and News
1. United States - Executive Priorities: Roughly 38% of US CEOs say sustainability investments in 2026 are not a priority. In contrast, just 20% of CEOs globally say the same, according to survey results from The Conference Board. Related: List of sustainability research reports and market forecasts.
2. European Union - Education: Digital4Sustainability, an EU-funded project, has launched five educational programs to train digital sustainability professionals. The program options include Data Analyst for Sustainability, Data Professional for Sustainability, Digital Sustainability Consultant, Digital Sustainability Manager, and Sustainability Technical Specialist.
3. United Kingdom - Green Job Concerns: Britain risks widespread job losses across the clean-energy sector if global supply chains are hit by shocks, according to a new report that warns the country is too reliant on China for its climate ambitions, Bloomberg said. The findings: Modeling by the Institute for Public Policy Research found that a yearlong interruption at the main suppliers of battery parts could cost as many as 90,000 UK jobs and wipe out production of more than 580,000 electric vehicles from 2030, the report said.
D. Sustainability Conferences, Summits and Events
- Sustainable and Impact Investments International Conference (January 22-23, Hamburg, Germany)
- IMPACT Sustainability Travel and Tourism Summit 2026 (January 26-28, Victoria, BC, Canada)
- Alabama Coastal Foundation 2026 Sustainability Summit (January 30, Gulf Shores)
- Cisco AI Summit (February 3, San Francisco)
- Sustainable Retail Summit 2026 (February 3-6, Paris, France)
- Complete Sustainability Conference Calendar
E. Previous Updates & Future News
- Previous News: All of our daily news updates are here.
- Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
