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. AWS Award- Call for Nominees: AWS has opened nominations for its 2024 Sustainability Parter of the Year.
2. AWS Partnership - Building Energy Management: Caylent, an AWS partner, assisted BrainBox AI with a generative AI-powered solution that allows commercial buildings to reduce their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. With the support of Caylent and AWS, BrainBox AI developed ARIA (Artificial Responsive Intelligent Assistant), an AI-powered assistant for intuitive HVAC and building data analytics and operations management, the companies said.
3. ESG Software:  Brightly Software, a Siemens company, has announced Targets -- a new carbon planning module within its ESG and sustainability platform Stream.
4. Machine Learning and Neural Networks: Scientists proposed a new way of implementing a neural network with an optical system which could make machine learning more sustainable in the future, Science X reported.
5. Energy Ecosystem Platform: Workrise Vendor Management, a new solution, combines purpose-built software and consulting services to "optimize the way energy operators, suppliers and field personnel work together to meet the world’s increasing energy demands." Workrise Vendor Management is "the first in a series of products the company is building to transform and improve the way the energy ecosystem operates," the company said.
6. Carbon Capture Technology?: ESG Clean Energy claims its carbon capture system has "achieved capturing 100% of the CO2 from a combustion exhaust stream, making it possible for any internal combustion engine – big or small – to have no carbon dioxide emissions." We have not independently confirmed the claim.
7. Carbon Storage: 44.01, a startup backed by Sam Altman’s Apollo Projects, is developing technology that injects CO2 a kilometer underground, where chemical reactions turn it into stone, Bloomberg reported. That type of technology will likely be crucial to limiting the worst effects of global warming, the report said.
8. Talent - Consulting Services: Global consulting firm Bain & Co has promoted Jean-Charles van den Branden to senior partner and global sustainability practice leader. He succeeds Francois Faelli, who shifts to global heasd of capabilities.
9. Talent - Consulting Services: RiskSphere, a boutique sustainability risk consultancy, has hired Divya Joseph as managing consultant and Sixten Hager as senior consultant. RiskSphere, founded in 2023, is based in Utrecht, the Netherlands. The company offers such services as:
- climate risk stress testing and scenario analysis
- ESG dashboards and reports
- sustainability project management and change management
10. COP29: Azerbaijan has scrapped plans to propose a levy on fossil-fuel producers to raise climate-change funding, Reuters reported. Instead, Azerbaijan at the summit aims to launch a new fund for green investments in poorer countries, the report said.
11. Partnership - ESG Verification: The Hashgraph Association (THA) and Deloitte are partnering to enhance "the verification of corporate ESG Impact and Sustainability claims." In other words, the companies are working together to combat greenwashing. The effort involves a Deloitte solution built on Hedera's DLT public ledger technology.
12. Partnership - Real Estate and Renewable Energy: Catalyze and Cushman & Wakefield have partnered to "expand the adoption of solar and storage technologies across commercial and industrial (C&I) real estate in the United States," the two companies said.
13. SBTi Concerns: A former employee of the Science-Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has filed a complaint with Britain's charity regulator, Reuters reported. The complaint alleges that SBTi's board of trustees acted "recklessly" in announcing plans in April 2024 to allow companies to use carbon credits in their targets, arguing they discourage companies from reducing their own emissions, Reuters reported. Amid the controversy, SBTi CEO Luiz Amaral stepped down in July 2024.  Chief Legal Officer Susan Jenny Ehr is interim CEO amid the search for Amaral's successor.
14. Layoffs - Solar Energy: SolarEdge Technologies plans to lay off 400 employees, of which 200 are in Israel, as it works to restore profitability and ensure financial stability, Reuters reported. This is the second round of SolarEdge Layoffs in 2024.
15. Financial Services Concerns: Voluntary climate commitments by financial institutions aren’t having a positive impact, MIT research asserts.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. M&A - Waste Management: Sortera has acquired Reston Waste Management of South West London. Financial terms were not disclosed. Sortera has acquired 22 businesses since launching in 2006. Recent deals include acquiring O’Donovan Waste Disposal (2022) and GBN Services (2023). Armed with all of the acquisitions, Sortera´s turnover will exceed SEK 3.6 billion.
2. 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. Global Warning Signal: In BP's 2024 Energy Outlook, the company warned the world likely is shifting too slowly from fossil fuels to avoid serious climate change, increasing the risks that the eventual transition to clean energy will be "costly and disorderly," SeekingAlpha reported.
2. Italy - Nuclear Energy: Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s right-wing government is planning to reintroduce nuclear energy 35 years after Italy shut down its last atomic plant, in a bid to lower the country’s carbon emissions, News.Az reports citing the Financial Times.
3. European Union: The European Union continues its collaboration with ChromaWay to develop blockchain-based sustainability solutions, CoinChapter reported.
4. China - Coal Power Strategy: China is planning to increase financial support for projects to reduce emissions at coal power plants through methods including burning biomass and green ammonia.
5. Jordan - Network Infrastructure: Umniah Jordan will deploy Ericsson's solutions to "significantly reduce energy consumption across Umniah’s network operations in Jordan," the organizations said.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- CSR and Sustainability Summit MOZ 2024Â (July 17-18, Mozambique)
- Siemens Transform 2024Â (July 17-18, United Kingdom)
- ITAD 2024Â (July 23-24, Miami Beach, Florida)
- XeroCon Nashville 2024Â (August 14-15, Nashville, Tennessee)
- World ESG Summit Dubai (August 20-21, Dubai, UAE)
- 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.
