CAT 261 - 2025-03-29
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 261 of the ClimateAction.tech (CAT) Newsletter - your weekly summary of what's happening inside the CAT community, and in the wider world of climate and tech. New to CAT or looking to re-discover the community? Try out our onboarding checklist.
Remember you can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time - the link is at the bottom.
Stay safe & healthy 😌 💚 🐱
CAT Community News
🙋Get involved
- 🌱 Small involvement: Say hi to new Slack members by responding to posts in #5-introductions
- 🪴 Medium involvement: Join us as a volunteer and help bring new programs to life! Check out the open volunteering roles.
- 🌳 Large involvement: Applications are still open for our Tech organizer or Comms organizer role
🚨 CAT Signal - shape corporate transparency in climate 🚨
We're trying something new in this newsletter, for CATs who have some time this weekend. If you've ever tried to read a company sustainability report and hard time doing so, and this one is for you.
What to do: We're working with the CSR transparency non-profit Wikirate, to help organise a response to a public consultation to change a set of laws about how companies report climate action in Europe. We're asking you to submit a response as well, with some sample suggested answers. You can view this 2 minute video by Wikirate explaining why this is important, and Wikirate has a helpful page offering more details with guidance on how to respond to the consultation. There is an example of a finished response by one member of CAT on the CAT wiki page, to see how it should look.
What you need: There's no way around this bit - you'll need about 1-2 hrs to share a response to the consultation, and it is pretty technical. This is why we have the suggested answers and explanations from Wikirate.
When you need to do this by: The deadline is March 31st (yes, Monday!)
➡️ Follow the link to to respond to the consultation
Why is CAT doing this? This is the result of a proposal sent to the new CAT assembly by CAT member @mrchrisadams, which was voted on and agreed this week - you can read more about the CAT assembly below.
😺 CAT Assembly Launch
The CAT Assembly is a new initiative inside CAT to distribute decision-making power from the Directors, Organizers, and Volunteers to a broader population in the community. If you've ever wanted to help shape how the community works here, it's worth a look.
Read more about the CAT assembly and how you can get involved.
📗 Bookclub
As you may have seen last week, O and B have started #cat-bookclub! Voting is now open to find a discussion date for the first book 'Digital Degrowth'.
#️⃣ Slack channel highlights
🔢 Climate & AI: S shared an article about Harnessing AI for environmental justice a while ago. More recently C shared an article in #greener-data-ai. And inspired by an article about using the UN Remesh AI C posted in #culture-society and asked: can AI find an acceptable peace agreement more quickly, democratically and with more nuance than human negotiators?
🖥️ #greener-webdev: C posted some research on dark mode and the 'rebound effect' of users turning up their brightness when dark mode is on - increasing energy usage in the process. S shared a GitHub post about evaluating the environmental impact of APIs and M started a conversation about web sustainaiblity resources. R recently posted a short analysis of the sustainability impact of all variable weight Google Fonts.
🛠️ Other than that, R has been sharing tips on switching to Linux in #repair and S repaired a USB mouse. And over in #greener-infra G has been trying out the Boavizta cloud scanner for AWS carbon footprint estimates and is wondering whether anyone else tried it / has thoughts, or has compared results to other approaches?
✏️ From the blog
We started publishing a series of climate career stories that highlight the diversity of climate journeys within our community. CAT organiser Sandra Pallier shares how she managed to bring a climate aspect into her designer job, while Wilco Burggraaf reveals how collaborators and numerous conversations were essential to his transition.
🧠 Knowledge base deep dive
Climate careers: Looking for new career opportunities? Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account to explore resources and advice on how to transition into climate work.
🍩 Community networking
Every 2 weeks, we match 2-3 CATs so you can connect over a quick 30-minute call. Join #cat-roulette, pick your region and wait for a message from Donut. The next round of matches will go out on Fri, Apr 4th. More info.
Media, events, and news
😺 CAT recommendations
▶️ CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
Planet A: How the oil and gas industry can unlock endless geothermal energy
The next generation of geothermal energy reaches deep down to use the warmth of the Earth's core. This endless energy resource is available anywhere in the world at the right depth, and technology and know-how from oil and gas drilling is being repurposed to bring down the costs of tapping it. We look at the benefits, as well as the challenges and risks of Geothermal 2.0, including the earthquake potential caused by fracking.
🎤 Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
Green IO: #55 Decarbonizing Kubernetes with Flavia Paganelli and Niki Manoledaki
Did containerisation ship away our environmental responsibility? Containers come with the promise of automation, scalability and reliability. The question is how to add sustainability to the list without breaking its other benefits. To talk about these challenges, Gaël Duez welcomes Flavia Paganelli and Niki Manoledaki, 2 experts in Kubernetes who are also pillars of the CNCF TAG Environmental Sustainability workgroup.
Environment Variables: Backstage - Green Software Patterns
In this episode, Chris Skipper takes us backstage into the Green Software Patterns Project, an open-source initiative designed to help software practitioners reduce emissions by applying vendor-neutral best practices. Guests Franziska Warncke and Liya Mathew, project leads for the initiative, discuss how organizations like AVEVA and MasterCard have successfully integrated these patterns to enhance software sustainability. They also explore the rigorous review process for new patterns, upcoming advancements such as persona-based approaches, and how developers and researchers can contribute.
A Sustainable Future: Professor Benjamin Horton, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, on the Criticality of US Climate Data
What happens if access to US climate data becomes more limited? Listen to Jason Mitchell discuss with Professor Benjamin Horton, Director of the Earth Observatory of Singapore, about what the political changes in the US could mean for the international scientific community; how that impact translates into access and availability of critical climate datasets; and why some climate scientists are already thinking about substitutes plans and worst case scenarios.
Catalyst: The potential for flexible data centers
In this episode, Shayle talks to Tyler, a PhD candidate at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment and former vice president of development at Cypress Creek Renewables. In a recent study, Tyler and his co-authors found there's enough spare capacity in the existing U.S. grid to accommodate up to 98 gigawatts of new industrial load (enough for multiple Project Stargates), if that load can curtail 0.5% of annual load to avoid adding to system peaks. Shayle and Tyler unpack the study's findings, including:
Téchologie: #95 Faire face aux risques du secteur numérique avec Margaux, Thomas et Marion
Margaux Escande travaille à un numérique plus responsable et rêve d'une société qui dénumérise ses activités pour plus de résilience. Marion Rébier, ingénieure pédagogique indépendante et experte en numérique responsable, elle contribue à la conception de dispositifs de formation à impact plus sobres et plus inclusifs. Thomas Lemaire, dans un atelier conçu avec Margaux et Marion, partage son travail sur les risques numériques et la résilience du secteur numérique face aux chocs en cours et à venir.
Margaux Escande and Marion Rébier explore responsible digital practices, from reducing reliance on tech to creating inclusive training. Joined by Thomas Lemaire, they discuss digital risks and resilience strategies for the future.
📅 Submitted events
Tue Apr 01 2025 - Green Software Development Karlsruhe
CO2-Emissionen von Software messen - Der Rundumschlag (Measuring CO2-Emissions from software)
Wed Apr 09 2025 - Urban Futures: Reimagining Finance for Regenerative Cities
As cities face mounting challenges - climate change, biodiversity loss, and growing inequality - BioFi offers practical tools to redirect financial flows toward what truly matters: the health of our communities and the ecosystems we depend on.
Wed Apr 09 2025 - Redesigning Products for a Greener Future: A Pop-up Innovation Lab
Join the Sustainability Creatives for an interactive Design Thinking workshop at LA Climate Week! Put your creative cap on, have fun, connect with others, find friends or future collaborators, and feel less alone in fighting climate change.
Thu Apr 10 2025 - Hands on Workshop: Estimating Digital Carbon Emissions
This two hour session, delivered by our experts Chris Adams, Fershad Irani, and Katrin Fritsch will get you started with estimating the carbon emissions of digital services. Can't make April? See our other dates in May and June.
Thu Apr 10 2025 - Sustainability Creatives Happy Hour at Firestone Walker
Join the Sustainability Creatives for an LA Climate Week mixer! We've got a couple of tables, a drink tab, and we’d really like to meet you!
Wed Apr 23 2025 - Measuring & Mitigating Your Organization's AI Carbon Footprint
Dive into the art and science of measuring AI emissions. Following a brief presentation, we’ll host an open discussion to identify specific, actionable opportunities to diminish your AI carbon footprint.
Fri Apr 25 2025 - Design Your Life: How to Build Your Career as a Sustainability Creative
Looking to craft a career that blends sustainability with creativity? Join us for an interactive workshop designed to help you navigate the evolving landscape of sustainability-focused creative careers with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability.
Sat Jun 21 2025 - London Climate Action Week
London Climate Action Week mobilises London’s unparalleled ecosystem of climate and non-climate organisations to accelerate global climate action and supports action in London to ensure it acts as a global climate leader. 9 days, 300+ Events, 45,000 attendees.
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
📰 News Highlights
LinkedIn: The Smoking Guns - AI's Dirty Secret
Microsoft and other tech companies have made ground-breaking sustainability commitments for their own operations and talks a big game on AI's climate potential. But for over a decade, they have actively aided #BigOil dramatically ramp up fossil fuel production – driving emissions that dwarf their climate commitments and the footprint of AI operations (datacenters included). We've been raising alarms about these enabled emissions for years.
MIT Technology Review: What's driving electricity demand? It isn't just AI and data centers.
Electricity demand rose by 4.3% in 2024 and will continue to grow at close to 4% annually through 2027, according to a new report from the International Energy Agency. If that sounds familiar, it may be because there's been a constant stream of headlines about energy demand recently, largely because of the influx of data centers—especially those needed to power the AI that's spreading seemingly everywhere. These technologies are sucking up more power from the grid, but they're just a small part of a much larger story. Here are a few key things to know about global electricity in 2025, and where things are going next.
Ben by Fax: How To Boil the Mediterranean Sea
The sea has heated up much faster than normal in the past three years. 253 million Hiroshima bombs of heat accumulated in the ocean between 2023 and 2024. Some of this spike was caused by removing sulfur from shipping fuel. When sulfur is released into the atmosphere, it reflects sunlight and cools the earth. Ship fuel contains more sulfur than other liquid fuels, so it has a net cooling effect when burned. But sulfur also causes acid rain, and very nasty health effects when breathed in by humans. What do we do?
Live Science: 'Woolly devil' flowers in Texas desert are the 1st new plant genus discovered in a US national park in almost 50 years
While walking in Big Bend National Park in Texas, a park volunteer came across a fuzzy flower that turned out to be a never-before-seen species. The "woolly devil," as researchers have named it, is in the sunflower family and also represents a new genus. This is the first time in nearly 50 years that a new plant genus has been described in a U.S. national park.
Bloomberg: Paris Votes to Make 500 More Streets Car-Free
Paris voters opted in a referendum Sunday to close 500 more city streets to cars, making way for pedestrians, bikers and greenery. The plan, which will also remove 10% of Paris' current parking spots, will expand on a green push by Mayor Anne Hidalgo that has already seen 300 streets planted and cleared of cars since 2020.
Carbonbrief: Q&A - How China's 'two new' policy aims to help cut emissions
China's central government listed "boosting consumption…and stimulating domestic demand" as its first "major task" for 2025, at the recently closed "two sessions". As part of this focus – and amid slowing economic growth – the State Council made specific mention of China's "two new" (两新) policy that "facilitates green, low-carbon and circular development".
Carbon Brief explains what the policy is, how it works and what its impact will be.
IEMA: Experts voice fears over growing impact of data centres on nature
A panel of sustainability experts raised their concerns over the growing impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and data centres on nature during an event at Excel London last week. Reflecting on the challenges with data centres and AI, the panel agreed that there are also huge sustainability opportunities on offer, but that we should not rely on the technology to solve all our problems.
University of Cambridge: Thriving Antarctic ecosystems found following iceberg calving
An international team of scientists have uncovered a thriving underwater ecosystem off the coast of Antarctica that had never before been accessible to humans. The team, including researchers from the University of Cambridge, were working in the Bellingshausen Sea off the coast of Antarctica when a massive iceberg broke away from the George VI Ice Shelf in January of this year.
💚 Papers We Love 💚
HAL: Understanding the environmental impact of generative AI services
Generative AI (Gen-AI) is driving digital transformation but also contributing to environmental damage through its energy and resource consumption. To assess its sustainability, the team propose methods like life-cycle analysis and direct measurement, using Stable Diffusion as a case study. The approach highlights the need for comprehensive impact measurement, beyond decarbonization, to address resource limitations and ensure more transparent discussions on Gen-AI's long-term viability.
Jobs
Remember only jobs listing salary ranges are listed here - to get your job listed, you need to list a salary range. Folks can still look in the #jobs channel. Remember: if you're looking for advice finding a role, check our #climate-careers channel.
Elemental Impact - Director of Development - $106,400- $191,000 - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
The Director of Development will primarily focus on materials creation, as well as researching new funding opportunities to build an expanding portfolio of private and public funders. They will work in close collaboration with the Managing Director of Growth and across a team of practitioners and partnership builders in order to create an aligned fundraising strategy.
Behold - CTO (co-founder option) - €50k-€80k plus equity - Permanent - Totally remote
A fox slipping through the streets. A hedgehog on its nightly route. Life is unfolding all around you.
Behold reveals the hidden wild in everyday life, helping people see and connect with the animals around them. And when people connect, they protect. Small moments of wonder can lead to real change.
We’re looking for a CTO who doesn’t just build tech, but shapes the future—leading at the intersection of machine learning, IoT, and nature. If you want to work on a product that sparks real behavioural change, in a company that prioritises long-term impact over short-term growth, this is your chance.
rePurpose Global - Senior Product Manager - 160000 - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
We're seeking a Senior Product Manager at rePurpose Global, a mission-driven series A startup fighting the plastic waste crisis. We've launched a first-of-its-kind SaaS platform for consumer brands to improve their packaging sustainability, comply with landmark regulations reducing packaging waste, and fund plastic pollution clean up in the Global South. We're looking for a seasoned startup PM with sustainability or CPG experience to continue the momentum!
Vizzuality - Front End Engineer - €24,000 to €37,000 Euros per year - Permanent - Totally remote
Do you want to help build a fairer and sustainable future for all life on Earth? Are you currently looking for a new career opportunity? Lucky you, Vizzuality is hiring!
We are looking for a Front-end Engineer with experience and proficiency in ReactJS/TypeScript - Remote based in Spain, Portugal, or UK.
At Vizzuality, our purpose is to reach a fair and sustainable planet by creating tools that radically empower people to make positive changes now.
Verna - Software Engineers - Circa £70k + share options - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
Verna builds software to help people manage land in the best way for the environment – enhancing biodiversity and drawing down carbon, whilst making sustainable returns. We are looking for a number of software engineers to expand our product development team. Because we’re working primarily in Elixir and Phoenix this is a full-stack role, but with an emphasis on delivering new user-facing features.
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