Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, renewable energy consultants and green IT service providers. Today's sustainability news also involves management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs), c-suite members and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Executive Leadership - Financial Services: KeyBank has hired and Cleveland-Cliffs and ERM veteran Marissa Brydle as sustainability director. Brydle will lead the development and execution of climate strategies and disclosures, with a focus on driving Key’s achievement of their climate-related commitments, the company said. She will also serve as the primary contact with representatives from various stakeholder groups including investors and disclosure organizations, KeyBank added.
2. Reorganization - Data Center Business Unit Formed: Johnson Controls has created a dedicated Global Data Center Solutions organization. The effort emphasizes smart building technologies and sustainable IT services for data centers. Todd Grabowski has been named president of the Global Data Center Solutions organization, reporting directly to Chairman and CEO George Oliver.
3. Data Centers - Liquid Cooling: Super Micro Computer expects to use direct liquid cooling technology in 30% of its racks in 2025, marking substantial growth for technology that can help make data centers more efficient, SeekingAlpha reported.
4. AI and CSRD Compliance: Microsoft is pitching AI to help simply CSRD reporting...
5. AI and Whistleblowers: In an open letter, 13 former OpenAI employees alleged that AI companies have retaliated against people who speak out around AI safety concerns.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Plug Power - Government Financing Investigation?: Senator John Barrasso, the top Republican on the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, asked a government watchdog to investigate nearly $1.7B in financing offered in May 2024 to Plug Power, according to Bloomberg.
2. M&A - Consulting Services and Energy: Professional services consultancy WSP has completed the acquisition of 1A Ingenieros, a 250-employee Spanish consulting firm that operates mainly in the power and energy sectors. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
3. M&A - Environmental Services: Montrose Environmental Group has acquired Paragon Soil & Environmental Consulting Inc., an environmental consulting firm in Canada. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
4. M&A - Software and Carbon-Neutral Transportation: Certina Group has acquired a Software and Testing Solutions (STS) business from FEV. STS specializes in automobile vehicle propulsion testing. Under Certina Group, the STS business will focus on enabling CO2-neutral mobility. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
5. 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. COP29: Azerbaijan is hoping to raise the share of renewables across its energy sector to almost a third with over $2 billion in green investments, its energy minister said ahead of hosting COP29 later this year.
2. Global Clean Energy Investments: Global investment in clean energy technology and infrastructure is set to hit $2 trillion in 2024, Reuters reported, twice the amount going into fossil fuels, an International Energy Agency report showed.
3. United Nations - "Climate Hell" Warning: Urging world leaders to take “an exit ramp off the highway to climate hell,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the battle for a livable planet will be won or lost in the next few years, and that companies and countries must take swift, dramatic action to lower greenhouse gas emissions and quit fossil fuels, Bloomberg reported.
4. G-7 Falling Short: As the G-7 group of rich countries prepares to gather for a summit, an Oil Change International report claims G-7 countries are failing to deliver on climate change goals, The Wall Street Journal reported. In fact, the G-7 could be on track to be the biggest polluters over the next decades, the report said.
5. United States - Nuclear Energy: The United States could revive some of its recently retired nuclear power plants to help meet rising demand for zero-emissions electricity, or add reactors to existing sites, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm told Reuters.
6. United States - Solar Rooftops: U.S. residential solar installations in Q1 of 2024 to their lowest level in two years, as high interest rates and policy changes in the market’s biggest state dragged down demand, Bloomberg reported. Still, a U.S. tariff holiday on solar panels from Southeast Asia expires on June 6, Reuters noted, starting the clock ticking for American project developers to use the huge amount of equipment they stockpiled duty-free over that period by the end of 2024.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Regional Grey to Green Chicago Conference 2024 (June 6-7, Chicago)
- European Sustainable Energy Week 2024 Conference Dates (June 11-13, Brussels, Belgium)
- Responsible Business Europe 2024 (June 11-12, London, United Kingdom)
- Decarb Connect 2024 (June 11-13, Germany)
- International Conference on CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance 2024 (June 12-14, Sibiu, Romania)
- Complete Calendar of Sustainability Conferences
E. Previous Updates & Future News
- Did You Miss Yesterday's Daily Update?: Here is our previous sustainability, green IT and renewable energy news for technology partners.
- Future Updates: If you have news to share then please email me the details.
