Sustainable IT and Climate Tech News 29 November 2024: KPMG, Normative, One Click LCA, More Sustainable Tech Partner

https://ift.tt/4U85bC1

Here is today’s sustainable IT services and climate tech news, research and analysis — written for technology partners, green IT service providers, CIOs, chief sustainability officers (CSOs) and climate accounting professionals.

1. Sustainability Reporting Trends: Roughly 96% of global 250 companies report on sustainability, a figure that remains unchanged since 2022, KPMG reported.

2. Partnership – Smart Buildings: Schneider Electric and One Click LCA are partnering to help customers more effectively measure the environmental impact of building projects. Initially focusing on new building projects in Europe, the partnership allows One Click LCA users to access detailed environmental data for Schneider Electric products, the two companies said.

3. Talent and ESG: Executives from Accenture, AXA, Capgemini, Egis, Salesforce and Sanofi signed the Business Leaders’ Pledge on Disability-Inclusive Sustainability Practices put forward by the ILO Global Business and Disability Network. The companies are the first to commit to increased efforts to “make disability inclusion an integral part of their sustainability work, including their Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) efforts and reporting,” the ILO said.

4. AI Lawsuit Milestone: The Intercept’s victory over OpenAI’s bid to quickly dismiss the publication’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act lawsuit marks the first such case to clear initial court hurdles, setting the stage for similar claims against AI companies, Bloomberg Law asserted.

5. Potential Class Action Lawsuit: A Manchester law firm has started on-boarding clients for a probable class action lawsuit against Microsoft and Google, ComputerWeekly reported. Barings Law believes the cloud services giants are “unlawfully collecting and using peoples’ personal data to train their artificial intelligence (AI) models,” the report said.

1. AI Startup Valuation: xAI has raised $5 billion in funding at a $50 billion valuation—more than twice what it was valued at several months ago, The Wall Street Journal reported.

2. M&A – Carbon Accounting and Professional Services: Normative has acquired Eivee, a carbon accounting solution provider that serves Denmark companies. Normative’s mission is to be the market leader in CSRD compliance for major corporations across the European Union and the United Kingdom. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

3. M&A – Data Center Engineering Services: Langan Engineering & Environmental Services has acquired Navix Engineering to expand its data center practice. Langan, founded in 1970, provides engineering and consulting services. The company has roughly 1,750 employees worldwide. Navix, based in Bellevue, Washington, offers engineering services to hyper-scalers, co-location developers, architects, design-build contractors, and various consultants. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

4. Complete M&A List: Here’s our database of all M&A deals involving green IT and renewable energy buyers, sellers and investors.

1. United States – FTC Investigates Microsoft: The FTC is investigating Microsoft’s business practices — particularly in the areas of software licensing, cybersecurity and AI, according to Bloomberg.