#70. Climate change, carbon accounting, and M&A in the ESG space
Happy Monday! Last week was a mixed week on the Climate front with alarming news from the UN IPCC offset by more investment and activity into the space. This week’s newsletter highlights the key takeaways on climate change, carbon accounting, M&A for climate and ESG solutions, and more.
The Understory Team has been hard at work on an exciting lineup for our fall events and new things we are rolling out later this fall. Stay tuned. We can’t wait to share!
📚 Worth Reading
The IPCC Report on climate change got a lot of press this week. If you missed the news, the big takeaway is that it’s unequivocal that human activity is driving climate change. Not news for most of us, but the term gives politicians and others fuel to drive change. You can find a great recap via The Guardian.
Another great read is the Wall Street Journal’s assessment of carbon accounting. Coming soon to consumer products near you? Carbon labels. Just like calorie counts, companies like Unilever are reporting the amount of carbon emissions generated by a single product. While it should help consumers become more climate aware, not all labels are created equal. Some might include Scope 3 emissions while others might not. Carbon footprints and emissions can be calculated differently depending on the frameworks and tools used by organizations.
🚀 Funding and Congrats!
Diligent acquired Accuvio, an ESG software company based in Ireland.
Moody’s acquired RMS, a climate disaster risk modeling company, for approximately $2 billion.
Lowercarbon Capital, a climate-focused fund founded by Chris Sacca, raised $800 million in capital.
Ambri, a battery tech company, raised $144 million for commercialization led by Reliance Industries, Bill Gates, and more.
44.01, a carbon capture company that turns carbon into rocks, raised $5 million.
Branch Energy, a tech-powered, green energy provider focused on helping consumers reduce their energy bills and carbon footprints, raised $4.5 million in seed funding.
Nitricity, a San Francisco-based agtech startup with technology to produce renewable nitrogen fertilizer at point-of-use, closed a $5 million seed funding round.
Fable Food, a mushroom-based food startup, raised $6.5 million AUS in seed funding and will use it to launch in the U.S. later this year.
💡 Startup Spotlight
Allégorie - turns unwanted fruits and plants into luxury accessories.
👀 Quick Hits
Following Maine’s example, Oregon also passed a law that will make packaging producers responsible for funding recycling programs.
NOAA recorded July as the hottest month in recorded history, which goes back 142 years of records.
Deloitte is rolling out a climate learning program for all of its employees - all 330,000 of them. The program to increase climate literacy was developed with the World Wildlife Fund.
Amazon launched new circular economy fulfillment programs that support resale of returned and overstock items.
DHL ordered 12 fully electric Alice eCargo planes from Eviation.
Vox digs into the practices of recycling company TerraCycle, with commentary from one of Understory’s community members.
The quest to build the world’s most sustainable furniture factory featuring Vestre and Bjarke Ingels Group.
🎧 Podcast
Climate Neutral: certifying climate claims
AeroShield: a clear (and energy efficient) window to the future
Just Salad: Pioneering Zero Waste in Restaurants
The Understory Podcast is also available on SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, and Google Podcasts.
⚙️ Jobs
Find and share your open positions on the Understory Slack channel.
CEO of the Science Based Targets Initiative
VP, Sustainability at Macy’s
Product Owner at ZigZag Global
Sr. Program Manager, Net Zero Carbon & Sustainability for Grocery at Amazon
Marketing Manager at Goodr
Director, Energy & Sustainability Services at JLL
Production Team Member at Living Ink
ESG Impact Director at CDC Group
Senior Vice President of Impact at Bombas
Multiple Roles at Return Rabbit
Director of Social Impact at Minecraft / Microsoft
Open Innovation Sustainability Segment Lead at Accenture
Director, Circular Economy at Mitsubishi Chemical America
Global Sustainability Manager, Food Program at Google
Business Development Director at Act Analytics
Climatetech Financial Analyst at Climate Collective
Multiple Roles at Rheaply
🗓 Events
September 15: Startups Driving Sustainability - September Showcase
October 21: Startups Driving Sustainability - October Showcase
December 1: Startups Driving Sustainability - December Showcase
Nominate a speaker or apply today to present at one of our showcases. We are currently working on exciting lineup for our fall events.
📧 Stay in Touch!
You don’t have to wait for our weekly newsletter for all the latest content. Join us on Slack or follow along on LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter to see real-time updates.
Until next week!