đ CAT Newsletter #168 - 2023-04-30
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 168 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 đ đ đ±
* ahem⊠bank holidays notwithstanding
CAT Community News
âïž CAT member project highlights
CAT PROJECT SHARED DURING CAT EVENTS THIS MONTH
In our âShare your project / idea / winâ we heard from Andrew about Climate Ireland, Josh presented his project The Index, and Lucy shared her work on Climate Play. Find out more about the projects or reach out to the presenters in this thread.
We played Alixâs climate card game Green House and if you want to see whether we lost or won â head to our #greener-games channel.
đ Branch Reading Group stopped due to lack of attendees
Unforutnately hosts Poppe and Gaël made the decision to stop our Branch Reading Group BUT they are cooking up something new in the background. Reach out to either of them on Slack if you want to get involved.
đ Upcoming CAT events
â¶ïž Tue, May 2 · Watch Party: Floating wind turbines: Offshore energy’s secret weapon
â Thu, May 19 · CAT Coffee: Networking
â¶ïž Fri, Jun 2 · Watch Party: What is ocean acidification?
đ© Community networking
Our next #cat-roulette matches are going out on Fri, May 12! Join the channel, pick your region and get matched with other CATs every other week! It’s a nice way to get to know other CATs, and you can start and stop at any time.
đŹ CAT videos
How losing biodiversity could be killing us
Antibiotics, pain killers and even treatments for cancer â many are derived from nature. But we are killing off the species that could provide the next nature-based cure. How bad is biodiversity loss for our health?
CAT videos, geddit? 10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to topics related to climate.
â Looking for volunteers
â CAT Coffee volunteer ⹠2hrs / month
Help brainstorm on how to improve our #cat-coffee events and/or help facilitate conversations during the event.
đ CAT Submitted Events
Wed May 03 2023 - VentureSouq x Terra.do Job Fair
Join us for this partner fair and meet rising climate companies in the GCC.
Mon May 22 2023 - The Digital Collage workshop
The Digital Collage is a 3h playful and collaborative online workshop. The aim of the workshop is to raise awareness and train participants on the environmental issues of digital technologies. The workshop also aims to outline solutions for more sustainability in Tech.
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
Check events in the CAT slack for more.
đ€Â Podcasts
Fact Check: Ola Fagerström and Microsoft’s Surface Emissions Estimator
In this episode, we have a very special guest for an episode of Fact Check on Environmental Variables, Ola Fagerström from Microsoft Surface joins host Asim Hussain to talk about his work on the Microsoft Surface Emissions Estimator - an important tool that helps measure the carbon footprint of the device.
Green/IO 18: Deploying Sustainable IT under market pressure with Drew Engelson and Dominique Bruinier
Can you deploy an impactful Sustainable IT strategy under market pressures? What if metrics are not there? What if your customers do not care? To get feedback on these questions, join GaĂ«l Duez to meet two leaders : Drew Engelson, Starbuckâs Director of Engineering in Seattle and Dominique Bruinier, OCTO’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer in Paris.
Outrage and Optimisim 197. What If Our Best Times Are Ahead Of Us?
Christiana, Tom and Paul cover other big news in the US including Bidenâs re-election bid; a White House commitment to put $1 billion into the Green Climate Fund; the announcement of the launch of Carbon Management Challenge; and an anticipated Biden vs Trump showdown. The recent G7, IMF and World Bank gatherings also come under the hosts scrutiny.
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don’t forget, if you’re looking around, there’s a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
đ° News Highlights
Chile plans to nationalize its vast lithium industry
Mexico also nationalized its lithium deposits last year, and Indonesia banned exports of nickel ore, a key battery material, in 2020.
âExplosiveâ growth means one in three new cars will be electric by 2030, IEA says
The influential Paris-based group says electric cars are already on track to make up 18% of sales in 2023. With new policies driving growth in the US and the EU, the share of electric models in 2030 is now set to be more than double what it expected just two years ago.
Analysis: Half the global population saw all-time record temperatures over past decade
Interactive, eye popping piece detailing how around half the worldâs population is living in regions that saw their hottest daily temperatures since 1950 during the past 10 years.
US Supreme Court deals blow to oil companies by turning away climate cases
The decision means lawsuits filed by municipalities seeking to hold companies liable for harms caused by carbon emissions can move forward in state courts.
EU agrees to decarbonize air travel with the âworldâs largest green fuels mandate for aviationâ
The new rules are set to require aviation fuel suppliers to supply a minimum share of sustainable aviation fuels â or SAF â at EU airports, starting at 2% of overall fuel supplied by 2025. This will rise to 6% by the end of the decade, before climbing to 70% by 2050.
Airbnb will help some hosts pay for new heat pumps
A pilot program in Massachusetts will give Airbnb vacation-rental owners $2,500 to install air-source heat pumps and make their properties more energy-efficient.
Monthly CAT Thank You
đ For adding knowledge to Outline: @Elisa @Chris Pointon @melissa
đ° For supporting us financially on Open Collective: @Nic Wistreich @Poppe Guthrie @Thibaud Colas (he/him) @Mike Gifford (CivicActions) @Michael Napper @Chris Pointon @Michelle Barker @fershad @Todd Zmijewski @Nicola Bonotto @James Crowley @Luke Watts (CET) @Jeff Burka @asim @HeatherB
â€ïž For volunteering within the community: @Hannah @roundcrisis @SiĂŽn @Ismael Velasco @Brett Duboff @Cary Kloster @Elisa @Ćukasz Mastalerz @Claire Thornewill @Owen Rogers @Matt Sirkis @GaĂ«l Duez @Poppe Guthrie @Evan Hahn @Alja IsakoviÄ
For volunteering on our cross-community climate-justice programs: @Marwa Eltaib @Richard Kim @Yang Hong (she/her)