CMI gets members and sponsors to step up
The Carbon Market Institute has a new member and sponsorship policy. The policy requires carbon intensive and large corporate members to make their decarbonisation transition plan publicly available by 1 July 2025 to be eligible for full membership or become a lead sponsor at a major CMI event.
The plans must address five broad themes and demonstrate engagement with best practices such as the International Standard Organisation’s Net Zero Guidelines.
More sustainable racing
The Formula One’s exclusive tyre partner, Pirelli, has announced that it will only use FSC-certified tyles in all Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) Formula One World Championship races starting in 2024. The company hopes to make the races more sustainable after renewing its focus on sustainability.
Upgrade to sustainable finance library
Altiorem, the organisation that launched the world’s first community built sustainable finance library in 2020, has announced the launch of its new model – Altiorem 2.0.
The latest version will have a revitalised operating model with state of the art artificial intelligence technology. The library will also be expanded with new interactive capabilities for members.
The library will be relaunching on 26 March at the Ethics Centre in Sydney, with an expert panel discussion and networking after.
Gridcog raises $6.4 million funding in the UK
Pete Tickler and Fabian Le Gay Brereton’ Perth-based clean energy tech and EV data specialist company Gridcog has recently raised £3.3 million (A$6.4 m) in a series A round from British fund AlbionVC.
The three year old business launched in Australia in 2020 before launching in the UK two years later. Its software replaces spreadsheets and consultants, allowing companies to model the performance of existing products and assets and simulate any changes under different commercial scenarios.
The company said the money would go towards expanding its UK and European operations.
It also has plans to launch in the United States in 18 months.
In other recent news reported in The AFR CarbonHQ, which has a beta software product to collate data and track projects to address climate change raised $600,000 from early-stage venture capital funds Investible and Galileo Ventures in February.
Gaia EnviroTech also received a commitment of $4.3 million from the decarbonisation fund of RFC Ambrian Funds Management for its organic waste management and bioenergy business based in regional Victoria. And Amber Electric, a Commonwealth bank backed energy startup, has received a pledge of $29 million from software company Gentrack, for software that allows customers to manage the usage of solar assets and make money with them while bolstering the grid. C
Calling all sleeper fans
Sad news for those of us who like taking the sleeper train to a big city now and then. It looks like New South Wales wants to phase out these elegant and low carbon forms of transport.
An online petition is trying to save the sleeper carriage on regional train services between Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane, and Casino. The petition follows a contract signed by the former NSW state Liberal government’s to replace the aging XPT, Endeavour and Xplorer train sets. Problem is the contract left out the sleeper carriages.
The rail, tram, and bus unions say the decision regrettable and short-sighted, with numbers pointing towards an incredible uptake in regional train travel in NSW as people emerged from the pandemic. The unions want the state government to fix the problem.