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.
Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Green IT Alliances
1. Executive Leadership - Standards: Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) CEO Eelco van der Enden has decided to step down at the end of his current three-year contract as CEO. He will remain CEO until December 31, 2024. GRI has started the recruitment process to find Eelco’s successor. He will remain fully operational as CEO until his departure, helping to ensure an orderly transition, the organization said. GRI is an independent not-for-profit organization and standard-setter in the sustainability sector.
2. Executive Leadership - Building Materials: Votorantim Cimentos Spain has hired Clarity AI veteran Carmen Boulet as director of sustainability, strategy and new businesses. Boulet previoulsy held key posts at Google and McKinsey & Company.
3. Integration - Carbon Accounting Software: Greenly now integrates with Welow. The integration allows companies to perform Life Cycle Assessments for various products and services, thereby "providing customers with the information required to make informed choices and reduce their impact on the environment," Greenly said.
4. Partnership - Consulting and Supply Chain Software: ERM and OPTEL have partnered to help  businesses track and report their supply chain performance -- especially as it pertains to the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the Digital Product Passport (DPP), the companies said.
5. Partnership - Cloud Services: AVEVA, an industrial software provider focused on sustainability, has inked a Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AWS). The collaboration will "support industrial customers by enabling cloud delivery of the latest AVEVA applications as integrated, out-of-the-box Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions," the two companies said.
6. Building Energy Management: Honeywell unveiled Connected Power, a solution that helps monitor, manage and automate buildings' power usage at the plug level. The solution offers insights into where energy is being used – and wasted – across North America.Â
7. EV Charging Network - Notre Dame University: Eaton is providing its Green Motion Building chargers to help Notre Dame provide EV charging at its campus utility and maintenance buildings, commuter and faculty parking lots, an administrative building, bookstore, and art museum. The charging stations can be monitored and optimized using Eaton’s Charging Network Manager software. The announcement did not mention a specific number of charges or activation date.
8. Electric Vehicle Charging Networks: ChargePoint announced updates and additions to its be.ENERGISED platform, a European software solution that can manage charging networks and e-mobility services at scale, the company said. ChargePoint acquired the be.Energised platform in 2021. ChargePoint is striviing to achieve positive non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA in the fourth quarter of calendar year 2024. The business journey since 2023 has involved a CEO change and layoffs.
B. Sustainability M&A, Investments, Funding and Green IT Business Launches
1. Startup Funding - Generative AI Optimization: Trustwise, a generative AI application performance and risk management startup, has raised $4 million in seed funding. Hitachi Ventures led the round. Firestreak Ventures and Grit Ventures participated in the funding. Trustwave's goal: Develop generative AI optimization capabilities that will "enable developers to create safe, efficient, and high-performing AI systems" that consume less energy and have a lower environmental impact.
2. M&A - Renewable Energy: The United Arab Emirates’s renewable energy producer Masdar agreed to buy Terna Energy SA in a 2.4 billion euro ($2.6 billion) deal to boost its capacity in Europe, Bloomberg reported.
3. M&A - Solar Technology:Â Nextracker (NXT) has acquired solar power technology firm Ojjo for approximately $119 million. The deal will enable customers -- such as engineering procurement construction companies (EPCs) and solar power plant developers -- to gain a "more complete, integrated solution for various soil conditions when developing, designing, and installing their projects," Nextracker said.
4. 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 - Hawaii Legal Settlement: Hawaii agreed to take action to decarbonize its transportation system by 2045 to settle a lawsuit by 13 young people, Reuters reported. The suit alleged Hawaii was violating their rights under its constitution with infrastructure that contributes to greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
2. Australia - Greenwashing: The Australian government is planning to introduce ESG labeling requirements, as it seeks to fight greenwashing and steer more capital into credible sustainable activities, Bloomberg reported.
3. France Election and Energy Policy: France’s plans to expand renewable energy and move away from fossil fuels is under threat from Marine Le Pen’s far-right nationalist party, which might win the most seats in legislative elections within weeks and scrap key environment policies, Bloomberg reported.
4. Philippines - Clean Power Projects: The Philippines has leapfrogged its Southeast Asian neighbors to become a regional leader in planned clean-power projects as fewer investment restrictions and green-minded policies attract domestic and foreign cash, Bloomberg reported.
5. United Nations: The world is way off track on most of the sustainable development targets agreed in 2015, a United Nations report found. Ket causes for the slow progress, Reuters noted: Geopolitical tensions and the COVID-19 pandemic.
D. Sustainability and Green Technology Conference Calendar
- Forrester CX Summit EMEA 2024 (June 24-26, London, United Kingdom)
- Environmental Analyst Global Business Summit 2024 (June 24-26, Boston, Massachusetts)
- IAEE 2024 Conference: International Association for Energy Economics (June 25-28, Istanbul)
- Carbon Capture Technology Expo 2024 (June 26-27, Houston, Texas)
- E-Waste World Conference and Expo 2024 (June 26-27, Germany)
- 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.
