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. Refurbished Laptops and AI: 3stepIT, in partnership with Aixia, has launched an artificial intelligence (AI) device evaluation tool to help determine the quality of refurbished laptops. Additional device support is planned. Meanwhile, Lenovo is leveraging AI technology to improve its device refurbishment processes, the global PC and laptop maker said.
2. Carbon Emissions Software: Keep an eye on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, which is gaining a sustainability management feature that helps customers to "monitor and manage your organization's impact on the environment," the company said.
3. Apple AI vs Elon Musk: Apple's AI technology, known as Apple Intelligence, will begin beta testing in the fall of 2024, the company said during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Alas, the official Apple Intelligence announcement did not mention potential sustainability or energy efficiency opportunities. To play catchup in the generative AI market, Apple plans to partner with OpenAI. The plan drew criticism from Elon Musk, who alleges the close Apple-OpenAI integrations could trigger security risks on Apple's hardware. Apple, meanwhile, says the AI capabilities are built with security and privacy in mind. Nevertheless, Musk is threatening to ban Apple products within his companies -- which include Tesla, X (formerly Twitter) and SpaceX, among others. Musk, an early OpenAI investor, alleges that the company lost its way by prioritizing revenues over social good. Amid that backdrop, Musk is building an OpenAI rival called xAI.
4. Scope 4 Emissions Reporting?: The march toward net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions typically involves Scope 1, Scope 2 and Scope 3 emissions. But there's growing chatter about potential Scope 4 emissions reporting, according to Thomson Reuters.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Financial Services - Goodbye Sustainability Funds?: BlackRock is thinning its line of US investment products, Investment News reported. The firm plans to liquidate 15 investment funds in the coming months, including a COVID-era ETF focused on remote work and six sustainability-focused mutual funds, the report said.
2. M&A - Potential IT Services Deal: Investment firm Apollo Global and IT services provider Kyndryl are in talks to acquire DXC Technology, Reuters reported. Kyndryl's MSP platform for customers also includes sustainability capabilities.
3. M&A - Home Decarbonization: Hometree, a residential energy services company, has acquired renewable energy installer IMS Heat Pumps.
4. M&A - Environmental Consulting: SLR has acquired SGA, an environmental consultancy in Chile. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
5. Investment: General Atlantic’s climate growth fund is acquiring a minority stake in Sustainable Development Capital, a fund manager focused on energy efficiency and decarbonization, Bloomberg reported.
6. 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
Nothing to see here today. We'll be back tomorrow with updates in this topic area.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- International Conference on CSR, Sustainability, Ethics and Governance 2024Â (June 12-14, Sibiu, Romania)
- HPE Discover 2024Â (June 17-19, Las Vegas)
- Pure Accelerate 2024 (June 18-21, Las Vegas)
- World ESG and Climate Summit 2024 (June 18-19, Amsterdam)
- GreenFin 24 Conference (June 18-20, New York)
- 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.
