November 24, 2021

🌎 CAT Newsletter #100 2021-11-24

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Hey CATs!

Welcome to ✨issue one hundred ✨ of the CAT newsletter!

To celebrate the big 100, we’re introducing a new section of this newsletter called CAT SCAN - bite-size, curated analysis on a given subject by fellow CATs. First up is Oli Hall, on with a briefing on Green Aviation.

Other community highlights this week: * People are starting to (carefully) meet in person again - check your relevant local channel (examples are London (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CJPTDEMTQ/p1637750142031100) , Berlin (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CJZBDSME1/p1637259720011600) ), and * We had a great #climate-justice (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/C015F2UEAKG) community conversation event last Friday. :scales: You can check out the Miro board (https://miro.com/app/board/o9J_ll0uC5Q=/) to catch up on the conversation or offer your help with any of the ‘asks’ we captured. * Our next round of #cat-roulette (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/C0202J3UYG7) matches go out on Friday! :tada: Simply join #cat-roulette (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/C0202J3UYG7) to get matched with other members of the channel bi-weekly, so you can get to know others, network and chat. Don’t forget to select your preferred timezone in the automatic message you’ll get from Donut when you join the channel! :doughnut: * @Jan (https://climate-tech.slack.com/team/U01EHAUB0D6) asked about good COP26 summaries in #2-lobby (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/C01A0THTQRW) — if you have a recommendation, reply in the thread (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/C01A0THTQRW/p1636957276070100) . * @Vinko Vrsalovic (https://climate-tech.slack.com/team/U025MN87BL2) and @Cinthya (https://climate-tech.slack.com/team/UNVCNUD6G) shared some wins over in #green-teams (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CJNLR8J91) and reminded us of the importance of speaking up and using your power as an employee. :muscle:

Remember, you can unsubscribe (https://tech.us19.list-manage.com/unsubscribe?u=08b8a799dd414ce9163cf3474&id=97c1d5f785&e=[UNIQID]&c=ed57df8e4a) from this newsletter at any time.

Stay safe & healthy 😌 💚 🐱

** 💬 CAT Events

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CAT Coffee West - Dec 7th, and Dec 9th CAT Coffee events are regular, open opportunities to mingle, share ideas, discuss things or just meet other CAT members. The topics we’ll discuss will vary at every event depending on who shows up! Any CAT member can join - you don’t need to be new to drop in!

We’ll use our #cat-coffee channel (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CN459CBN3) to share resources & links during and after the CAT coffee event

Register on meetup (https://www.meetup.com/cat-global/events/rkkkpsyccpbhb/) , and follow the link on Wonder to join the 2 dimensional CAT space ‘verse (https://www.wonder.me/r?id=cdde4ad0-4d3a-4a4d-851d-b58846a95767)

CAT Salon • 1h Our “CAT Salons” are regular, thematic community discussions. We start with an 8-10 minute presentation from a lead discussant to level-set our conversation. This is then followed by 45 minutes of facilitated community interaction on the topic. We run our Salons in western-friendly and eastern-friendly timezones.

:doughnut: CAT Roulette - 30mins - whenever you find a time

We’re continuing our programme of letting members connect to 1 other CAT member every second week for a nice beverage and chat about climate and tech. It’s a nice way to get to know other CATs, and you can start and stop at any time. Joining the #cat-roulette (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/C0202J3UYG7) channel to learn more.

💬 CAT Submitted Events

If you have an event you’d like listed here, use this google form to suggest your event (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdCcJz0jkn8huv1yLkuAlyDviccOwVSejwDwcLDDVKmwYPcQQ/viewform) . Also, if you can turn a spreadsheet into a calendar feed, get in touch.

Witness: Imagine Life, Work & Tech in a Low Carbon Future - 29th Nov (https://www.eventbrite.be/e/witness-imagine-life-work-tech-in-a-low-carbon-future-tickets-188043903377) - Brussels and Online Our friends at EdgeRyders, and have been doing some super interesting work designing a new card game, Witness, to help design new economic systems in the context of the climate crisis. They’re doing a distributed play testing event, and a few in satellite events.

Witness: Berlin Edition - 29th Nov (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/witness-imagine-life-work-tech-in-a-low-carbon-future-berlin-edition-tickets-213618056357) - Berlin As above, but in Berlin! Organised by @mrchrisadams, and @Katrin Fritsch

Panel discussion: How can tech workers take action on climate change in 2022? (https://www.meetup.com/GreenTech-South-West/events/280147954/) - Online, Dec 12th Join us for an insightful and carefully curated panel discussion that will provide inspiriation and practical advice on how YOU can get involved in making positive change within the tech industry in 2022. Check #events in the CAT slack (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CDH9TKPMM) for more. And if you’re up for helping make manage this to add a listing each week, we’d love to hear from you, doubly so if you know your way around Google Appscript. Reply to this email if you can help.

💡CAT SCAN - analysis from CATS

CAT Scan is a new section, where we ask one a CAT member with domain expertise to share the top 5 links to read, to get up to speed on a given subject. This week we’re looking at Green Aviation with Oli Hall.

1. Calculating the true climate impact of aviation emissions (https://www.carbonbrief.org/guest-post-calculating-the-true-climate-impact-of-aviation-emissions) Aviation is a small but rapidly-growing contributor to global emissions, and thanks to considerable non-CO2-based environmental impacts, and a lack of clear routes to decarbonise, is set to become ever more significant as 2050 looms.

2. Can Hydrogen Save Aviation’s Fuel Challenges? It’s Got a Way to Go (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/15/business/airplanes-hydrogen-fuel-travel.html) Batteries are orders of magnitude too heavy to power aircraft, leaving hydrogen as the main option to eliminate emissions. However, it faces myriad engineering challenges, high fuel prices and a high regulatory burden.

3. Biden Outlines a Plan for Cleaner Jet Fuel. But How Clean Would It Be? (https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/13/climate/sustainable-jet-fuel-biden.html) Government, manufacturers and airlines mostly look to sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) – drop-in fuels that in theory sequester carbon during production. But these have their own problems, including questionable environmental benefits, high cost, and limited availability.

4. U.N. agency weighs options for long-term plane emissions goal, faces China pushback (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-un-aviation/u-n-agency-weighs-options-for-long-term-plane-emissions-goal-faces-china-pushback-idUSKBN1WJ2GI) The ICAO, the UN body in charge of aviation, has to manage coordinating 193 member countries, with the inevitable result that agreements reached are a compromise, in this case CORSIA – a scheme that relies on offsetting to keep emissions roughly at present levels.

5. Small cuts in air traffic would level off global heating caused by flying – study (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/04/small-cuts-in-air-traffic-would-level-off-global-heating-caused-by-flying-study) Ultimately, barring a breakthrough, aviation’s impact on warming will be significant, and the only way to truly reduce emissions is to cut down on flying altogether, as this study suggests.

Where to go next If you want to dive deeper on aviation and the environment, Oli’s own newsletter, Forge the Future (https://forgethefuture.substack.com/) , has a two-part exploration of the problems and potential solutions for the aviation sector, with lots of links and dive-off points for exploring more. link to part one (https://forgethefuture.substack.com/p/the-environmental-impact-of-aviation/) , link to part two (https://forgethefuture.substack.com/p/the-environmental-impact-of-aviation-00e/) .

If you want to discuss any of these links in slack, start a thread linking it in #mobility (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/C012B2S7ZFE) . We’re looking for CATs up for contributing like this to CAT scans in future letters. Fill out this CAT scan contributor form to express interest. (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdsxKVVuaMAdV4ZadVxUCz_a1HUIpMX3FD6OqRL2YF66MCs0A/viewform) How was this? Want see more of these? You can share feedback in #cat-newsletter (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CLRPE39NX) , or send a reply hello@climateAction.tech.

🎤 Podcasts The latest climate-related podcast episodes.

🎧 (https://www.myclimatejourney.co/cc-episodes/bill-weihl-climatevoice) #232: GOOD COP? BAD COP? (http://www.sustainababble.fish/?p=1412) Is it OK to feel sorry for teary Alok Sharma? Which country’s delegation parties the hardest? Who put China in the shed? And was anyone at all standing up for the dormouses (dormice?)?

🎧 (https://www.myclimatejourney.co/cc-episodes/bill-weihl-climatevoice) 129. COP26: Glasgow Pact and Ready to Go Further (https://outrageandoptimism.libsyn.com/129-cop26-glasgow-pact-and-ready-to-go-further) Yesterday, nearly 200 countries agreed to adopt The Glasgow Climate Pact after a roller coaster of a COP26…and this is a really big deal. From agreeing to reduce global dependence on coal, to speeding up the end of fossil fuel subsidies, this is progress on paper. But how far does it go to keep our 1.5C target front and center?

🎧 (https://www.myclimatejourney.co/cc-episodes/bill-weihl-climatevoice) TILclimate Educator Guide: Today I Learned About Farming a Warmer Planet (https://climate.mit.edu/til-about-farming-warmer-planet-educator-guide) This Guide for Educators was developed by the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative as an extension of our TILclimate (Today I Learned: Climate) podcast, to make it easier for you to teach climate change, earth science, and energy topics in the classroom. It is an extension of the TILclimate episode “TIL about farming a warmer planet.”

🎧 (https://www.myclimatejourney.co/cc-episodes/bill-weihl-climatevoice) PROTECTING OUR SWAMPS (https://2ser.com/protecting-our-swamps/) What do you think of when you imagine a swamp? They may not be regarded as postcard-perfect environments but swamps play really important roles ecologically, regulating water and storing carbon. But they’re at risk, and the problems mostly boil down to human causes. This episode looks at swamps, what’s threatening them, and what’s being done to keep them safe.

🎧 (https://www.myclimatejourney.co/cc-episodes/bill-weihl-climatevoice) TAKING STOCK OF COP26 (https://www.climateone.org/audio/taking-stock-cop26) After two weeks of negotiations, presentations and protests in Glasgow, the huge international climate summit known as COP26 is over. World leaders met again to try to strengthen each other’s commitments to reducing emissions and staying under the 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming outlined in the Paris Agreement. But current commitments still fall short, says Jiang Lin, an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

Don’t forget, if you’re looking around, there’s a list of podcasts maintained by CATs (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dCxRnSdgJYehTkPlMA9lNVfw7C9m-mTb2FtIxnbH6AI/edit#gid=0) .

📰 News Highlights

Tech4Bad: when do we say no? (https://www.bcs.org/articles-opinion-and-research/tech4bad-when-do-we-say-no/)

Existing IT systems are enabling company activities that are unsustainable and damaging to the environment. ‘When should we as IT professionals stop maintaining them?’ - Really good piece from folks in the British Computer Society

Three levers for change as a technologist: Consumption, Intensity, and Direction (https://www.thegreenwebfoundation.org/news/three-levers-for-change-as-a-technologist-consumption-intensity-and-direction/) For technologists, this post presents a simple model to talk about the levers available to you and how you might embed an awareness of climate in your work.

New law forces French operators to disclose carbon footprint to public (https://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/new-law-forces-french-operators-to-disclose-carbon-footprint-to-public/) The French Senate passed a law on Tuesday (2 November) that aims to reduce the environmental footprint of digital technology. It includes an obligation for French telecoms operators to disclose to the public what they are doing to this end. EURACTIV France reports.

Apple announces Self Service Repair (https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2021/11/apple-announces-self-service-repair/) Apple parts, tools, and manuals — starting with iPhone 12 and iPhone 13 — available to individual consumers.

A Good Life For All Within Planetary Boundaries (https://goodlife.leeds.ac.uk/) See how countries have been moving towards (or away from) the goal of meeting the needs of their residents within the means of the planet.

Chart: Surprise! Energy efficiency is the climatetech employment giant (https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/energy-efficiency/chart-surprise-energy-efficiency-is-the-climatetech-employment-giant) Solar and wind may garner more headlines, but efficiency jobs are booming across the U.S.

🌱 A cutting from Branch Branch is our own publication, about climate and tech, by CATs and for CATs. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing a link to pieces earlier issues of Branch, as we gear up for creating Branch 3 in Q3/4, and open the call for contributions (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScabPxx_L9Dcd98XceloAL_bgSeEvUrtyaaDE_DPRgzzk7CCQ/viewform) .

Interview with Digitalization for Sustainability (https://branch.climateaction.tech/issues/issue-2/interview-with-digitalization-for-sustainability/) Branch magazine sat down with the research group Digitalization and Sustainability (https://www.nachhaltige-digitalisierung.de/en.html) and the Digitalization for Sustainability- Science in Dialogue (https://digitalization-for-sustainability.com/) team to learn more about their work and the need for international cooperation in research and policy.

💼 Jobs & Opportunities

Also! Don’t forget the super handy “climate careers page” on outline (https://climate-tech.getoutline.com/doc/climate-careers-O56ZGk7fKt) listing a bunch of useful resources and sites to check:

Wordpress developer & Wordpress support contractor (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ouwkLlHlgyMWbqMxbvcbjPygyNzsKjRSmlXh8w29n5U/edit) 350.org is an international movement-building organisation, working to end the age of fossil fuels and build a world of community-led renewable energy for all. As part of our mission to build the climate movement, we support over 200 local groups by providing free WordPress websites and hosting, built on 350.org’s custom theme, Baseline. We’re looking for a WordPress specialist to assist with responding to local group support requests in a timely manner, and to help local organisers create impactful websites that share their campaigns and organising projects 💬Reply (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1636971297140900) to this conversation on Slack

Working Student / Intern | Jobs at seedtrace (https://seedtrace.jobs.personio.de/job/425148?display=en) We are a small, passionate and driven team aiming at turning consumer product transparency into the norm, rather than the exception. seedtrace is a digital platform to manage, prove and communicate social and environmental impact at scale by driving technological innovations and collaboration along the supply chain.The company: At seedtrace, we’re a team of humble, life-long learners who are eager to collaborate to make this company a success. Our values of ownership, collaboration and humility are at the core of what we’re doing. 💬 (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1620740493252600) https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1621311841007400Reply (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1636972438143800) to this conversation on Slack

Program Manager - Climate and Manufacturing - SecondMuse (https://apply.workable.com/secondmuse/j/FBA2C31B6A/) This is a full-time position ideally located in the US East Coast: NYC or Washington, DC. This person should be willing to accommodate hours across multiple US time zones. About SecondMuseSecondMuse is an impact and innovation company that builds resil… 💬 (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1620721893247200) https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1628696007037400Reply (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1636999683144300) to this conversation on Slack

Part-time Program Consultant - SecondMuse (https://apply.workable.com/secondmuse/j/10C8A95EBE/) SecondMuse is looking for a Consultant to support our NYC-based Technology and Manufacturing Programs team for up to 30 hours a week from starting in November to March 31, 2022. The team is responsible for delivering programs in the United States for government, philanthropic and corporate clients. The Consultant will be responsible for the implementation support of key deliverables and growth for SecondMuse’s current Venture for Climate Tech program, supported by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). Venture for Climate Tech is a global venture studio and accelerator program working to support early stage climate tech innovators in getting to market and growing their companies. 💬 (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1620721014246700) https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1621311841007400Reply (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1636999683144300) to this conversation on Slack

Sales Manager (https://www.linkedin.com/jobs/view/2791501892/) Can you sell football and climate action? We are hiring a sales person. Help us build a pioneer in football-inspired climate action. Take responsibility for corporate sales. We are looking for an energetic and passionate individual with a few years of quality experience in B2B sales who is passionate about football and the planet. 💬 (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1620721014246700) https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1621311841007400Reply (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1637102897145500) to this conversation on Slack

Lead Mechanical Engineer (https://useyardstick.notion.site/Lead-Mechanical-Engineer-5c66520e6b7b418582b384df3b8398b0) In this role, you will lead mechanical design of Yard Stick’s probes and associated hardware. You will work on everything from concept designs through to production, testing, and maintenance of the probes. You will work closely with our optics and electrical engineers and field teams who are using (and occasionally breaking) the devices. You should be excited about owning a broad scope of work on a small, creative team, getting hands-on with dirty hardware, and having climate impact! 💬 (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1620721014246700) https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1621311841007400Reply (https://climate-tech.slack.com/archives/CD5NYP079/p1637197167147100) to this conversation on Slack You made it to the end! 🎉Please share & forward this newsletter to a friend Feedback (https://app.slack.com/client/T4HLEQA3F/CLRPE39NX/thread/C4J8RQ2J3-1568299902.131900) • Subscribe (https://tech.us19.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=08b8a799dd414ce9163cf3474&id=97c1d5f785) • Join CAT (https://climateaction.tech/#join)

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