Here is today’s sustainable IT services news, research and analysis -- written for technology partners, green IT service providers, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and climate accounting professionals.
A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Cloud Services & ESG Software: Microsoft Sustainability Manager is set to gain several new capabilities. The latest technology previews include:
- Project ESG reporting, which allows customers to "create, complete, and approve reports based on multiple ESG disclosure standards across quantitative and qualitative metrics."
- Data trail capabilities, which allows customers to "track an entire data lifecycle—from ingestion to reconciliation—providing a complete representation of the data flow," the company said.
2. IT Services - Ernst & Young: EY ESG Compass, a SaaS platform available backed by managed services, has gained new capabilities to assist customers with double materiality assessment (DMA), EU CSRD performance monitoring, ESG regulations, sustainable supply chain management, Scope 3 emissions tracking and more, the global IT consulting firm said.
3. Earnings - EV Charging Systems: For its Q2 of 2024, Blink Charging said:
- Revenue was $33.3 million, up slightly from $32.8 million in Q2 of 2023.
- Net loss was $20 million, down sharply from a $41.5 million net loss in Q2 of 2023.
The financial results generally missed Wall Street's expectations. Blink's stock (NASDAQ:BLNK) is down nearly 20% from January 2024 through August 8, 2024.
4. AI Chip Delay: Super Micro Computer does not expect to see any meaningful volume of Nvidia's Blackwell GPUs until the quarter ending in March 2025, Seeking Alpha reported. Super Micro may see a few Blackwell GPUs in the quarter ended December 2024, the real volume is more likely the March 2024 quarter, the report said.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Financing - Partnership: Citi and International Finance Corp. (IFC), a global development institution that is a member of the World Bank Group, have partnered on a $2 billion sustainable supply chain finance program focused on emerging markets, Pymnts.com reported.
2. Funding - EV Charging Infrastructure: 3V Infrastructure may tap up to $40 million in financing from Greenbacker Capital Management. 3V builds and operates Level 2 EV chargers in long-dwell properties such as multifamily housing and hotels, eliminating upfront and ongoing costs for real estate portfolio owners and managers, the company said. Ben Austin, VP of partnerships at 3V, is an Uber and EVgo veteran.
3. M&A - Renewable Energy Infrastructure Maintenance: Suzlon Group, India's largest renewable energy solutions provider, plans to acquire 76% of Renom Energy Services from the Sanjay Ghodawat Group (SGG). Renom is the largest Multi Brand Operations and Maintenance service (MBOMS) provider in the country focused on wind and solar energy infrastructure. Financial terms are explained in the M&A announcement.
4. M&A - Carbon Accounting Software: Asuene has acquired CoRocket and launched an associated business called Asuene Veritas. The new business provides third-party verification for climate change and non-financial data, the buyer said. Asuene, a carbon accounting software platform provider in Japan and Asia, serves roughly 9,000 customers. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
5. M&A - Infrastructure Consulting: DSS+ has acquired Infrata, an infrastructure consultancy in London, United Kingdom. Infrata, backed by roughly 70 consultants, focuses on transportation infrastructure -- including roads, airports, ports and waterways and railway. Key areas of expertise include population growth, energy transition and efficient infrastructure project execution. DSS+ now has more than 1,600 employees.
6. M&A - Waste Management Services: EnviroServe, backed by private equity firm One Rock Capital Partners, has acquired Environmental Projects Inc. (EPI), a Maine-based environmental services provider.
7. M&A - Private Equity & Renewable Energy Consulting: Blackstone has acquired Westwood Professional Services, an engineering and design firm focused on renewable energy generation, power, real estate and public infrastructure end markets. The seller was Endurance Partners. Westwood's management team and employees retain a minority stake in the business. Valuation terms of the deal were not disclosed. Westwood has roughly 1,600 employees.
8. 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 - Offshore Wind Project Pushback: U.S. activists are forming a national coalition aimed at fighting offshore wind projects from California to New England, Reuters reported. The National Offshore-wind Opposition Alliance, or NOOA, aims to bring a national profile to what is currently a fractured movement of dozens of local groups, the report said.
2. United Kingdom - AI Investigation: Â Britain's competition watchdog is investigating Anthropic's AI partnerships with Amazon and Google, Reuters reported. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) expects to decide by October 4, 2024 whether the Amazon-Anthropic partnership deserves a deeper probe over competition concerns, the report said. Regulators in the United States, European Union and Britain signed a joint statement in July 2024, Reuters noted, promising to work together to safeguard fair competition in the AI industry.
3. United Kingdom - ESG Raters and Regulations: Britain in 2025 plans to propose a law to regulate ESG raters -- whose benchmarks help route billions of dollars into sustainability-focused investment funds, Reuters said.
4. United Kingdom - EV Technician Gap: The United Kingdom will have a talent gap of roughly 16,000 EV technicians by 2035, according to the Institute of the Motor Industry, a Transport and Energy report said.
5. European Union - Compliance Guidance: The EU has published an FAQ describing corporate sustainability reporting rules.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- XeroCon Nashville 2024Â (August 14-15, Nashville, Tennessee)
- World ESG Summit Dubai (August 20-21, Dubai, UAE)
- Tennessee Sustainability Conference 2024Â (Gatlinburg, Tennessee, August 20-23)
- VMware Explore 2024Â (August 26-29, Las Vegas, Nevada)
- 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.
