⛰️ Enviro Futures #23
HolonIQ's Enviro Newsletter covers the latest developments in food systems, oceans and water, forestry and fishing, and air quality and highlights the week's top skills and environment deals.
Happy New Year! 🎉
The UNDP is investing $16.8M to enhance South Sudan's agricultural value chain, focusing on infrastructure and market access. Meanwhile, Dubai's A1RWATER developed a technology to produce 100,000 liters of drinking water daily from desert air. LanzaTech and Technip Energies secured $200M in DOE funding to convert CO2 into ethylene. In Indonesia, a controversial deforestation plan for sugarcane threatens significant emissions, while Mumbai enforces GRAP-IV to combat rising air pollution. Lastly, Flocean raised $9M to advance sustainable desalination technology for fresh water. These initiatives highlight major advancements in sustainability and climate resilience across various sectors.
What's new?
HolonIQ’s new Green Skills Map and Workforce section reveal industry-wide sustainability skills and jobs, as well as workforce development initiatives, supporting upskilling for a sustainable economy.
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🌱 Food Systems
🌾 UNDP Invests $16.8M in South Sudan's Agriculture. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) unveiled a $16.8M initiative to strengthen rural enterprises in South Sudan's agricultural value chain, aiming to address critical challenges such as infrastructure, capacity building, and market access.
🌱 Landmark Agriculture Projects in J&K Secure $13.7M. Jammu and Kashmir received $13.7M for transformative agriculture initiatives to modernize farming practices and enhance productivity. The projects focus on boosting income, improving infrastructure, and fostering sustainable regional agricultural development.
🌴 Malaysia Launches MSPO 2.0 to Strengthen Sustainable Palm Oil Standards. Malaysia implemented the MSPO 2.0 standard to enhance sustainability in palm oil production. The updated framework focuses on stricter compliance, environmental conservation, and social responsibility, aiming to boost global confidence in Malaysian palm oil and align with international sustainability benchmarks.
🌊 Oceans and Water
💧 Dubai's A1RWATER Produces Drinking Water from Desert Air. Dubai-based company A1RWATER developed a technology that can produce 100,000 liters of drinking water per day from desert air, providing a sustainable solution for water accessibility without depleting natural resources.
☀️ Kuwait Advances Solar-Powered Desalination. Kuwait developed and tested a solar-powered air-gap membrane distillation system for seawater desalination capable of producing 3,600 liters of fresh water daily. The project aims to reduce energy consumption and environmental impact, demonstrating sustainable solutions for addressing water scarcity in arid regions.
🌊 China Unveils Global Ocean Prediction AI Model. Chinese marine scientists unveiled 'LangYa', an AI model designed to enhance global ocean predictions. This innovation aims to improve the accuracy of forecasting extreme weather events and ocean-related disasters, offering a significant step forward in climate and ocean science.
♻️ Environmental Services
🌍 LanzaTech and Technip Energies Secure $200M DOE Funding for CO2-to-Ethylene Project. LanzaTech and Technip Energies secured $200M in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy for their innovative Project SECURE, which aims to convert carbon dioxide into ethylene.
🌱 UK Launches $18.6M Fund to Tackle Food Waste and Hunger. The UK government established a new $18.6M fund to reduce food waste from farms, redistributing surplus food to those experiencing hunger, promoting sustainability, and addressing food insecurity.
🌳 EAD Launches Carbon Monitoring Programme to Support Climate Goals. The Environment Agency - Abu Dhabi (EAD) launched a Carbon Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) program to help the UAE achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, providing international standard carbon measurement and reporting mechanisms.
🐟 Forestry and Fishing
🌳 Indonesia's Deforestation Plan for Sugarcane. Indonesia's proposal to clear extensive rainforests for sugarcane plantations raises concerns due to significant greenhouse gas emissions, potentially making it one of the largest legal deforestation projects globally.
🌲 Nepal's Forest Communities Face Carbon Fund Shortfall. Nepal's forest communities, which protect crucial forest ecosystems, may not receive the full carbon funding from the World Bank due to administrative cuts, affecting their financial support for conservation efforts.
🍃 Isometric Partners With Pachama for Digital Verification of Reforestation Credits. Leading carbon registry Isometric partnered with climate tech startup Pachama to implement digital verification for reforestation credits, improving transparency and efficiency in carbon offset programs.
💨 Air Quality
🏭 Mumbai Enforces GRAP IV Amid Rising Air Pollution Levels. Mumbai’s air quality worsened, prompting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to implement GRAP-4 measures, including restricting construction activities in areas where the Air Quality Index (AQI) exceeds 200, due to persistent smog in Mumbai.
🌎 Pakistan Joins Global Environmental Initiative. Pakistan joined an international six-year initiative aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the fashion and construction industries by targeting air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and hazardous chemicals.
🛠️ Skills and Workforce
HolonIQ is now tracking reskilling and upskilling initiatives that are critical in bridging workforce gaps. Impact industries are rapidly evolving, fueled by technological advancements, decarbonization, geopolitical dynamics, and socio-economic factors. These sectors require considerable workforce/professional development initiatives to enhance workers' capabilities, boost economic growth, and promote social well-being. Read on for this week’s insights, and discover more in HolonIQ's latest Skills newsletter.
⚡ New York State funds $45 million in apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships for clean energy construction and development to build a diverse pipeline of skilled workers. This initiative is a partnership between the New York State Energy Research Development Authority and the Finishing Trades Institute of New York, focusing on energy efficiency and building technologies, and aims to address workforce needs and ensure an inclusive energy transition.
🌱 Dorchester Bay Economic Development Corporation (DBEDC) and the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Massachusetts have partnered to expand workforce training in the green jobs sector. The Dorchester-based training hub will host its first 10-person cohort starting in February, offering paid technical training, essential job skills training, and career connections in clean energy fields like weatherization, HVAC, energy auditing, and solar. The program aims to bridge wage and economic opportunity gaps in communities affected by climate change.
🔋 Micron Technology has committed $3M to the D'Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University in New York to support workforce development. The funding will help create a specialized Semiconductor Hub within the institute's Onward to Opportunity (O2O) career training program, connecting transitioning service members, veterans, and their families with careers in the semiconductor industry. This initiative aligns with the CHIPS and Science Act and aims to bridge the gap between veteran talent and industry needs.
HolonIQ has launched the Green Skills Map, an open-source framework initiated for cataloging, evaluating, and contextualizing the different components of the rapidly expanding field of green jobs. This comprehensive taxonomy will serve as a resource for understanding the full spectrum and complexity of green skills required across various sectors, thereby enabling a cohesive approach toward achieving net zero and decarbonizing the global economy. Green Skills Map spans 11 areas, 54 sub-areas, and 243 green skills clusters. A snippet of the map covering four areas has been included above. Explore the full map on greenskills.org.
💰 Environment Deals
🌊 Flocean Raises $9M to Develop Sustainable Desalination Tech. Flocean, a Norwegian freshwater solutions company, raised $9M in Series A funding to develop sustainable subsea desalination technology that aims to provide fresh water.
💰 Sunairio Raises $6.4M in Funding Round. Sunairio, a weather intelligence platform developer for renewable energy prediction, announced the closing of an oversubscribed $6.4M funding round.
🤖 Dutch Startup Odd.Bot Raises $2.1M for Robotic Weeding Solution. Odd.Bot, a Dutch startup, raised $2.1M to further develop its autonomous robotic weeding solution as an alternative to manual and chemical methods.
🌱 Arborea Raises $5.2M for Carbon-Negative Protein Production. Arborea, an Anglo-Portuguese startup, raised $5.2M to develop multi-functional proteins and nutritious ingredients through a new microalgae process.
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