Here is today’s sustainability news, research and analysis for technology partners, management consultants, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and c-suite members.
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A. Sustainable Technology, Talent, Partnerships and Alliances
1. Amazon Under the Microscope: The e-commerce giant recently backed out of a commitment to make 50% of its shipments net-zero carbon by 2030, Business Insider reported.
2. New Corporate Sustainability Reports: Our database tracking corporate sustainability reports and associated net-zero goals now spans 145 companies and organizations. Today's additions include Capricorn Energy, HubSpot, Mondelez International, Owens Corning, PortsToronto and STIHL.
3. Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO): BNY Mellon has named Meaghan Muldoon as the bank's first chief sustainability officer. Related: Our database tracking chief sustainability officers now spans 263 entries.
4. Partner Programs: Our database tracking sustainability partner programs now spans more than 90 companies. The latest addition is Enphase Energy.
5. Healthcare Talent: OhioHealth has hired Terri Scannell as principal advisor of Sustainability and ESG. OhioHealth has pledged ongoing action to decarbonize the health care sector and make health care facilities more resilient to the effects of climate change.
6. Enterprise Software: More than 300 individuals from across VMware attended the company’s first-ever Sustainable Software Development Workshop (SSDW). Among the software developments partners should note: Green Score, a metric VMware's Aria Operations software. Green score was introduced in 2022 to assess the environmental impact of VMware infrastructure in a data center.Â
7. Fujitsu's Sustainability and Business Strategy: Fujitsu shares details here.
8. IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) - Business Expansion: Glasgow Computer Recycling has expanded to serve all of Scotland, the company said.
9. IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) - Talent: Repowered has hired Heather Walch as CEO. Repowered is a technology recycler, refurbisher and IT reseller in Minneapolis.
11. Research - Supply Chains and Sustainability: Nineteen of the companies on Gartner's Global Supply Chain 25 list for 2023 achieved perfect ESG scores, the research firm said.
12. Small Business: DHL has launched a GoGreen Giveaway to help U.S.-based small businesses grow more sustainably, the express shipping company said.
13. Partnership - ESG Software: The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) announced Workiva as its exclusive ESG Alliance Partner, bolstering The IIA's ESG content offerings, the organization said.
14. Partnership - Hospitality: The Sustainable Hospitality Alliance and the World Resources Institute (WRI) are partnering to help the hospitality industry reduce its food-related emissions by 25% by 2030, Hospitalitynet reported.
15. Partnership - Cloud Software: KPMG has launched a Circularity Tracker solution built atop Microsoft Cloud for Sustainability. The software helps to "automate data collection from diverse sources and perform model-based data calculations using standards, regulatory reporting metrics and universally accepted measurement frameworks for circularity performance," KPMG said.
16. Partnership - Carbon Credits: Changeblock, an environmental credit exchange and data provider, is partnering with Stabiliti, an automated carbon removal solution for businesses. The relationship is designed to "channel capital into nature-based solutions, particularly forestry and land-based management, as part of the transition to long-term environmental sustainability," the two companies said.
17. Telco Technology Suppliers: What companies are emerging as sustainability leaders among traditional telco equipment vendors, non-traditional and Information Technology (IT) vendors, chipset and component makers, and software providers? ABi Research offers these findings.
B. Sustainability M&A & Investments
1. M&A - Sustainability Consulting: Reconomy Group has acquired UK Waste Solutions -- a sustainability consulting firm focused on the hospitality, distribution, transport, facilities management, manufacturing and construction sectors. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is Reconomy Group's second acquisition in recent months. The company acquired Combineering -- a green tech business in Denmark -- in February 2023.
C. Regional and Global Sustainability News
1. United States & Canada - Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations: All of Ford Motor current and future electric vehicles will have access to about 12,000 Tesla Supercharger stations in the U.S. and Canada starting around Q2 of 2024, the Associated Press reported. The result: Ford is the first third-party automaker that will be able to tap into Tesla's highly respected EV charging network.
2. United States - Battery Plant Partnership: South Korea's Hyundai Motor Group and LG Energy Solution Ltd said they will build a $4.3 billion electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the United States amid a push to take advantage of tax credits, Reuters Reported.
3. United States and Puerto Rico - Solar Battery: Enphase Energy has launched its "most powerful home battery to-date" for customers in the United States and Puerto Rico. The product, known as the IQ Battery 5P, has a modular design and can deliver 3.84 kW continuous power and 7.68 kW peak power for 3 seconds, offering "homeowners the ability to start and operate some of the most power-hungry devices during power outages," Enphase said. Key partners that are deploying the battery for customers include Cutler Bay Solar Solutions of Miami, Florida, and PlanetSolar of Puerto Rico, the companies said.
4. Canada - Regulations: Major suppliers to Canada's federal government must disclose their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and set GHG emission reduction targets in order to be eligible for large procurements, according to the Standard on the Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, which activated in April 1, 2023.
5. Middle East - Google: Google has unveiled its support for artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability initiatives in the UAE, forging partnerships with key organizations such as Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), the Department of Municipalities and Transport in Abu Dhabi, and the Ministry of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy, and Remote Work Applications, Gulf Business reported.
6. Asia Pacific - Solar Power Strategy: Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes will revive a stalled A$30 billion (US$20 billion) plan to export solar power from Australia to Singapore after acquiring the assets of the failed Sun Cable project, Bloomberg reported.
7. Send Us Your News Tips: Got news or chatter to share? Please email me.
