The Triple Bottom - 🌱 Seed-shooting drones

A win for Right to Repair - Sort of? 
Situ: We’ve spoken before about the volume of electronic waste sent to landfill each year. This is partly due to consumers not easily,  or affordably, being able to repair their devices to extend their lifespan without voiding warranties.
This week, Apple launched their program, making self-repair kits available for newer iPhones, in theory giving consumers the ‘Right to Repair’.
Thing is…  For a repair to be valid, users must buy parts stamped with Apple’s seal of approval and rent a $49 tool kit. This ends up making some self-repairs more expensive than alternatives which could hinder adoption.

Climate startups shed employees amid a slowdown in large funding rounds 
Many Startups are looking to prune costs amid tightening of larger-sized funding rounds from investors ($100 - $150mn). Many Indian start-ups are doing this by shedding staff. = Lots of highly in-demand climate talent coming onto the market. Green talent agencies like Climatebase will be critical to ensure these changemakers continue to have an impact. It remains to be seen whether similar trends will be observed globally.

Japan tables plan to lower carbon in the shipping industry
The world’s second-largest ship-owning nation, Japan, has told shipping regulators it would support a tax levied against the CO2 emissions produced by maritime transport. The global shipping industry produces 3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, however, the sector is the lifeblood of global trade and is difficult to decarbonise as alternative fuels (i.e. hydrogen) aren’t yet available at scale. Japan’s proposal (only the third nation to offer a meaningful financial incentive to decarbonise shipping) would see the finance collected from carbon taxes invested into zero-emission vessels and tech.

Transparent solar panel could power cities in the future
What are transparent solar panels? Made of photovoltaic glass, the tech converts light passing through the glass into electrical energy.
Benefits? From mobiles to skyscrapers provide a source of untapped clean energy supply. Transparent solar panels are also well suited to urban areas (unlike their conventional counterparts) - key for the transition to net-zero cities. 
The future… Copenhagen’s International School already uses transparent solar panels which fulfil half the building’s energy needs. To drive mass adoption, need to solve an energy-production/transparency tradeoff. The more transparent a panel is - the less energy it produces.

• Check out our deep dive we did in collaboration with Unicorner on climate risk startup Climate X

• Stanford University has received the largest gift in its history ($1.69bn), and it’s for a school dedicated to studying the climate crisis

• Nike has unveiled two footwear models from its improvising, scavenge, protect, and adapt (IPSA) division which is modular to aid in repair and recycling

• The world’s fastest electric car charger (claimed to charge a car in 15 mins) is installed in Norway

• John Deere teams up with a driverless sprayer that uses AI and IoT tech to spray orchards and vineyards

• Pachama Raised $55 Mln in Series B funding for its platform focuses on saving forests across the world and uses artificial intelligence to verify carbon credits

• Flyp Raises $10 Million in Series A Funding To Turn Landfill Waste Into Jobs by using AI to resell it through millions of online sellers.

• Voyage Foods Raises $36M In Series A Funding for its  cacao-free chocolate, peanut-free spread, and coffee without coffee beans

• Yotta Energy Raises $16.5 Million Series A Funding for its solar microgrid solutions

• Goodcarbon raises $6 Million in Seed Funding to help democratise access to the voluntary carbon market