Latest news with #Watershed
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Sustainability platform Watershed launches free global emissions database
This story was originally published on ESG Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily ESG Dive newsletter. Watershed, a sustainability software startup, has launched a free version of its global emissions database, the Comprehensive Environmental Data Archive, to help companies 'address critical gaps in emissions reporting data to inform more impactful climate action.' The startup — which helps companies measure, report and reduce their carbon footprint — unveiled Open CEDA last week and said the database covers 148 countries, 400 industries and 95% of the global gross domestic product. Open CEDA considers 60,000 emissions factors when evaluating a company's footprint, provides annual updates on a company's decarbonization progress and measures emissions in compliance with the GHG protocol, per its website. Watershed's platform takes data directly from companies' systems to create an 'audit-ready' carbon footprint report and supports businesses in understanding their climate disclosure obligations. The sustainability startup currently manages around 1 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent across its portfolio, according to its website, which is almost double the volume it was managing last year. Watershed had reported managing around 479 million tonnes of carbon equivalent in February 2024. The company has a 2030 goal of collaborating with its customers to reduce or remove 500 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent from the atmosphere, which accounts for nearly 1% of annual global emissions. Watershed's current client list includes BlackRock, Bain Capital, Carlyle, KKR, Visa, Walmart, FedEx, Etsy, Paramount and others. 'Simply put, better data leads to better decisions,' Watershed Co-Founder Christian Anderson said in a May 22 release. 'By opening up CEDA to the public, we hope to give organizations of all sizes a more accurate foundation from which to make critical choices about their sustainability action.' Watershed said it will continue to offer clients a paid version of CEDA as well. The version includes additional features, such as breakdown of emissions categorized by scopes 1, 2 and 3, and a comprehensive analysis that helps companies understand differences in emission factors, among other offerings. The company said Open CEDA is recommended for 'organizations or companies measuring for the first time,' whereas CEDA is recommended for 'more advanced sustainability programs and service providers,' per its website. Last year, Watershed secured $100 million during a Series C funding round, which it said would allow it to continue developing climate programs for clients and redouble its investments in Europe. The financing was led by San Francisco-based investment firm Greenoaks and raised the company's valuation to $1.8 billion at the time. Recommended Reading Climate software startup Watershed clinches $100M in funding
Forbes
2 days ago
- Business
- Forbes
Green Fintech's Data Dividend: How APIs, ESG-Linked Trade And 'Kilowatt Tokens' Turn Sustainability Data Into Cash Flow
Money used to move after a tree was planted or a turbine spun. Now the proof that a tonne was avoided, a supplier hit its target, or a kilowatt came from wind is itself a monetisable asset. Over the past twelve months three fast-maturing tools including carbon-accounting APIs, sustainability-linked trade-finance rails and blockchain energy tokens, have shown just how quickly environmental data can translate into basis-points and working-capital savings. Open your Tide UK business app and every purchase carries a CO₂ estimate thanks to a plug-and-play feed from London start-up Connect Earth; the same API went live this February in Colombia Fintech's sandbox to seed 'transactional carbon accounting' across Latin America (Connect Earth blog, Feb 2025). Enterprise platforms are racing the same way: in May 2025 Watershed open-sourced its emissions-factor library, betting free data would funnel more corporates into its paid analytics stack (Watershed release). Regulators are effectively underwriting the market. In April 2025, Canada's securities watchdogs paused mandatory Scope-3 filings until 'credible primary datasets' are widely available, pushing issuers toward off-the-shelf carbon feeds rather than spreadsheets (Canadian Securities Administrators notice). Meanwhile the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF) has started accrediting SaaS providers, Watershed in the US, Persefoni in Europe, Pantas in Southeast Asia, so banks can drop API numbers straight into financed-emissions ledgers (PCAF partners list, 2025). Data is already shaving basis-points off container finance. In August 2024 Santander Brazil launched a R$50 million (≈ US$8.3 million) sustainability-linked supply-chain line for Vestas: suppliers uploading audited emissions and earning at least a 'bronze' EcoVadis rating pay up to 70 bp less for early-payment financing (Santander CIB post). Global Finance judged it 2025's 'Best Sustainable Supply-Chain Finance Program' (Global Finance Awards 2025). Fintechs are scaling the model. TradeSun's CoriolisESG now pipes satellite-verified deforestation and factory-level CO₂ data into bank trade-origination screens, auto-scoring shipments before a letter-of-credit is approved (Fintech Times, Nov 2024). And in October 2024 the European Investment Bank earmarked €5 billion to purchase short-term trade assets that meet verifiable green criteria (EIB press release). Treasurers have noticed. An auto-parts supplier in Thailand that trims emissions intensity by 10% under Vestas's programme can cut 50–70 bp off funding costs, sometimes the difference between accepting or rejecting a purchase order. Carbon data, in effect, is becoming collateral. While banks tokenise emissions, energy markets are tokenising the electrons themselves. In January 2025 Australia's Power Ledger began national roll-out of its peer-to-peer rooftop-solar marketplace after pilots delivered household tariffs 43% below retail rates and community savings of 6–12% a year (Power Ledger case study). Southern Europe is seeing similar moves: in March 2025 Spain's utility Acciona and partner Galp expanded GreenH2chain®, a blockchain registry that tags every megawatt of green hydrogen with a provenance certificate accepted by Iberian grid operators (Acciona news). Analysts at Global Market Insights reckon the blockchain-in-power vertical hit US $2.1 billion in 2024 and is compounding at 41% a year through 2034 as kilowatt tokens, hourly renewable-energy certificates and on-chain heat-pump credits go mainstream (GMI report, July 2024). Corporates are already arbitraging: an Asian data-centre operator buys hourly matched solar tokens to prove Scope 2 compliance under Europe's CSRD, then retires them against local tariffs when prices spike. Two macro forces explain the land-grab. First, disclosure mandates: Europe's CSRD and the new ISSB baseline will force more than 50,000 companies to publish audited Scope 1-3 data by 2027, turning API pipelines into audit-cost insurance (European Commission CSRD overview, June 2024). Second, capital costs: Moody's expects sustainable-bond issuance to hold the US $1 trillion line in 2025 even as conventional high-yield shrinks, keeping cheap money fenced behind verifiable ESG metrics (Moody's ESG Outlook 2025). The payoff is real. Santander reports lower risk weights on ESG-verified trade paper, freeing capital; Vestas says suppliers in Brazil shaved 80 bp off financing costs; Power Ledger users earn 18–37% more for excess solar than under feed-in tariffs. Where data drives margin, bad data drives fines. In January 2025 the UK's Financial Conduct Authority hit a fund manager with a £5.6 million penalty for 'unsubstantiated sustainable-investment claims,' the regulator's largest greenwashing fine to date (FCA enforcement notice). Energy tokens face other pitfalls: certificate double-spending, grid congestion when real-time settlement outpaces physical delivery, and speculative swings that could mimic the 2022 crypto rout if oversight lags. McKinsey pegs global cross-border payment friction at roughly US $150 billion a year. Strip out even a slice by embedding tamper-proof sustainability data and treasurers unlock an entirely new spread. Carbon APIs, ESG-scored invoices and kilowatt tokens prove environmental metadata is no longer a cost centre; it is tradable collateral and pricing power. The winners will be the fintechs and banks that wire sensor feeds straight into ledgers. Everyone else will be stuck paying carbon-era information rent.
New Indian Express
6 days ago
- New Indian Express
Rayagada pond scam: Vigilance scanner over 100 ‘ghost' waterbodies
BHUBANESWAR : The 23 non-existent farm ponds which the Vigilance is investigating in Rayagada district could just be the tip of the iceberg as the anti-corruption agency is now looking at over 100 such mini waterbodies that the Watershed officials allegedly dug up on 'pen and paper' and embezzled huge amount of government funds. The scam over excavation of farm ponds under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme came to light after Vigilance arrested four officials for allegedly embezzling funds to the tune of Rs 20 lakh towards excavation of 23 farm ponds in Kashipur. The government had decided to excavate farm ponds to recharge groundwater level in Rayagada. During 2023-2024, Watershed development wing undertook the work for 124 farm ponds in Kashipur block. Dimension of each pond was set at 20 metre (length), 15 metre (width) and 3 metre (depth). Excavation cost of each waterbody was estimated at Rs 2 lakh. The officials not only made up these ponds on official files, they fabricated beneficiaries too. In fact, one set of beneficiaries was the people on whose land the farm ponds were proposed. The other was, job card holders under MGNREGA. When Vigilance contacted owners of the land on which these 23 ponds were planned, it found that many of them had no knowledge of the scheme at all. 'Out of the 23 ponds under verification, 16 landowners were not even aware that officials had misappropriated government money by claiming farm ponds were excavated on their land. They had neither filed an application nor submitted documents for excavation of ponds on their land,' SP, Vigilance of Koraput, Rabindra Kumar Panda said.
Time of India
22-05-2025
- Time of India
4 officials arrested for bungling Rs 20 lakh
Koraput: Vigilance sleuths on Thursday arrested four officials in Rayagada district for allegedly misappropriating over Rs 20 lakh under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in Kashipur block. The arrested officials are Rajendra Nath Naik, assistant project director-cum-project implementing agency (APD-cum-PIA), Jogendra Khosla and Deepak Kumar Sahoo, both soil conservation overseers, and Srikumar Nayak, a soil conservation extension worker. All were associated with the office of the project director (Watershed), Rayagada, according to an official release. Speaking to the media, superintendent of police (Vigilance) R K Panda said an inquiry was launched following complaints of large-scale corruption in the excavation of farm ponds under MGNREGS. The investigation revealed that the accused fraudulently diverted govt funds by falsely documenting the excavation of 23 farm ponds in villages across Kashipur block. " by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trade Bitcoin & Ethereum – No Wallet Needed! IC Markets Start Now Undo These ponds were never actually excavated. However, funds were disbursed and credited into the bank accounts of job card holders under MGNREGS and later withdrawn. These suspicious transactions are under further investigation," said Panda. He said the addresses of the purported farm ponds were in remote and forested areas, and physical verification confirmed that at least 23 of them did not exist. False bills were prepared to siphon off the funds, he added. Between 2022 and 2024, around Rs 3 crore was sanctioned for the digging of farm ponds in the region. So far, misappropriation of Rs 20 lakh has been detected, but officials fear the extent of the scam could be much higher. "Our field teams are conducting further verifications, and we suspect the number of ghost ponds and the misused funds may increase," Panda said.
BBC News
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
New film telling the story of the struggles of migrant workers
Loneliness and the precarious work prospects of immigrant workers are themes explored in a new film written and directed by Scottish-based film maker Laura Carreira. In 'On Falling', her first feature film, she highlights the isolation and insecurity that comes with some working in a huge warehouse, scanning items in a job dictated by the bleep of a machine, knowing your productivity is being constantly when work is finished, you go home to your shared accommodation, where you sit on your own eating cheap meals as that is all you can afford, and spend much of your time 'doom scrolling' on social is the life of Aurora, a character in the film 'On Falling'. A timid and lonely female migrant, she works as a 'picker' in a Scottish film illustrates the precariousness of 'gig work' and the importance of human connection. "We follow her in a week where she's struggling to make ends meet and also struggling with loneliness and alienation," said Ms Carreira. "I started reading a lot about the gig economy and I discovered the job of a picker," said Ms Carreira"When companies talk about efficiency and how quickly a parcel gets to you, I was expecting it to come from technology, but actually it's someone rushing around a warehouse, getting the item as fast as they can and being told to the second how long they have to get there. "Immediately I thought - there is a film here." Having moved to Scotland at the young age of 18 to study film in Edinburgh, Ms Carreira says that gave her the perspective to tell the story from the viewpoint of an immigrant."I started interviewing pickers and realised a lot are economic migrants. I realised I could tell this story and I could tell it through a Portuguese female character as well. 'Loneliness and exploitation' "Those first years were hard, you know? You don't have any social ties to the country and you are trying to belong. You experience the loneliness and the exploitation closer to your skin because when you don't have those ties you have less security and less protections. "But I really think that what she's going through is pretty universal, anyone who works can probably relate to elements of what Aurora is going through."'On Falling' had its preview at the London Film Festival last is being shown at the Watershed cinema in Bristol until 20 March, in a partnership with the Glasgow Film Festival, before being released at 54 more cinemas across the UK. "I think it is part of the immigrant's experience to go into another country looking for a better life and it might not be there," Ms Carreira said."Of course sometimes you do find your way and you find a sense of belonging. And I think that can be a really positive experience when you come from another country, you're speaking a different language, and after so many years you're part of it."Despite the struggles of Aurora in the film, Ms Carreira said she wanted to bring a more positive issue to light."Even though the film can be dark at points, for me it was really important to preserve the kindness of others," she said."I think sometimes we find ourselves in these strange positions, with this entire idea that we're out there competing against each other. "But in reality, I think people really care for each other and as migrant that's a perspective that you get, and I wanted to bring that into the film."
