đ CAT Newsletter #203 - 2023-01-21
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 203 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±
CAT Community News
#ïžâŁ Slack channel highlights
- #greener-leadership: @Sandra started a conversation about community management based on a short chat with @Natalie W.. If you've got experience or are curious, comment in the thread.
- #greener-webdev: @Hannah shared the grid-aware software project and @morganm asked whether anyone had any good experiences contacting companies about their website and sharing a pagespeed insights report or WebPageTest or something similar? @Eystein shared a sustainable web win achieved by replacing images with responsive images.
- #greener-design: @Mike Gifford (CivicActions) is asking "when designing for sustainability, are we also thinking about accessibility?". Share your thoughts.
More interesting things were shared in #behaviour-psychology, #greener-infra, #greener-data-ai, and #greener-games!
CAT Events
đ Mon, Jan 22 - Americas, Europe, Africa:Â Welcome (back) to CAT
đ Tue, Feb 6 - Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania:Â Welcome (back) to CAT
Local events were shared in #local-bristol, #local-uk
đ© Community networking
Get to know other CATs and make some friends in the community. Every 2 weeks, we match 2-3 CATs so you can connect over a quick 30-minute call. Simply join #cat-roulette, pick your region and wait for a message from Donut about your match! Our next round of matches will go out on Fri, Jan 19. More info
đ Get involved
Vote for a video or podcast for our next watch party event here
Media, events, and news
đș CAT recommendations
đ± A cutting from Branch
Branch 7: Stories for Revolution
Marjahn Finlayson is a Bahamian climate change scientist, educator, and activist. She studies severe weather in our changing climate.
"When I think of the climate crisis, I think about how we got here and what physical changes the earth is going through. The word âcrisisâ elicits panic and dread. Maybe if we ignore it, it will go away. But what if we donât ignore it and instead try to survive in these unprecedented times? What if we give ourselves the chance to keep on living? Bury the world we once knew and recreate one that is so much better."
đŹ CAT Videos
CAT videos, geddit? 10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
Planet A: Are perovskite cells a game-changer for solar energy?
Imagine creating solar panels without relying on materials in short supply and adopting an eco-friendlier production process. What if we could simultaneously boost efficiency? Enter perovskite tandem solar cellsâan innovation that has long held the promise of revolutionizing the solar energy landscape. (Note: This video exists on youtube, but we're experimenting with prioritising links to ad-free versions of content. This can be less convenient though - let us know what you'd prefer.)
đ Tell us what you'd like to see more of
Submitted Events
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
Wed Jan 24 2024 - Assessing Our Digital Impact and Crafting a Responsible Path Forward
Discover the digital technology's ecological "backpack" during this new 90mn gamified and interactive conference ! In a sector in exponential growth, we will pause to understand better why questioning our digital practices has never been so important.
Thu Feb 01 2024 - GreenTech Gathering
GreenTech Gathering aims to bring West Yorkshireâs GreenTech community together to connect and collaborate. What To Expect? - Networking with industry experts and leaders. - Guest Speaker: Georgia Halston, CEO of Halston Group - Try out the UK's first and only Omnideck!
Thu Feb 08 2024 - Bristol energy and decarbonisation (hybrid event)
Join us for our hybrid event with great talks celebrating two fantastic energy sustainability initiatives which are working together for a better Bristol city â Bristol Energy Network, Laura Penny and Bristol City Leap, James Sterling.
Check #external-events in the CAT slack for more.
đ€Â Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
Zero: What Donald Trumpâs return means for US climate ambition
Tom Steyer is a hedge-fund billionaire who made his money investing in distressed assets, including fossil fuel projects. Heâs also an avowed climate activist and a major donor to US politicians seeking to tackle climate change. After a short-lived run for president, Steyer in 2021 set up Galvanize Climate Solutions, a firm that invests in companies and technologies promising emissions reductions this decade. It recently raised $1 billion. Zero host Akshat Rathi spoke with Steyer at COP28 in December, to ask why he got out of fossil fuels, the consequences of bad carbon accounting, and what the return of Donald Trump would mean for global climate ambitions.
Catalyst with Shayle Khan: Fixing the messy voluntary carbon market
The voluntary carbon market is a mess. Oil majors, big tech, and many other industries purchase voluntary credits hoping to offset their carbon emissions. But years of reporting have revealed major problems in the industry. In this episode, Shayle talks to Ryan Orbuch, partner at Lowercarbon Capital. He leads the firmâs carbon removal work. Ryan argues the market is fixable with major reforms, like overhauling incentives and ditching the idea that the voluntary carbon market can offset buyersâ emissions with as many cheap credits as needed.
The Carbon Copy: We now have a full picture of the year for climate tech venture investing in 2023
Kra, a managing director at Prelude Ventures, and Anderson, a principal at Prelude, joined The Carbon Copy this week to talk about the environment for climate tech fundraising, investment strategies, surprises, and the outlook for startups. Also discussed in the episode: the hype around artificial intelligence, the trouble with sustainable aviation fuels, the outlook for direct-air capture and fusion, and fresh anxieties for 2024.
Environment Variables: BETA Impact Framework
Asim Hussain is joined by guests Srini Rakhunathan and Navveen Balani, the technical leads on the Impact Framework. The conversation explores the framework's unique ability to handle diverse environments, from cloud systems to mobile devices, with an emphasis on the practicality and necessity of measuring software emissions accurately. Highlights include intriguing insights into integrating the Impact Framework with SCI Open Data and the future of green software development.
Greenio: #30 - Can Digital Marketing be low-carbon? with Audrey Danthony and Diarmuid Gill
Maybe itâs a good idea to dive a little deeper on the environmental impact of digital marketing after all. We bring in 2 experts in AdTech with a soft spot for Sustainability to learn how - Diarmuid Gill, Criteoâs CTO since 2019 and Digital Advertising veteran of more than 15 years, and Audrey Danthony of Impact+ the firm she works in to reduce Greenhouse Gas emissions in digital advertising.
đ° News Highlights
Grid Status: Investigating Apple's Clean Grid Forecast
Apple recently released their Grid Forecast that predicts specific times as âMore Cleanâ. Without much public information available, we decided to investigate. What metric is being used? What is Appleâs methodology? Is it any good? After a few months of data collection, weâve finally finished this post comparing Appleâs Clean Grid Forecast to data available on Grid Status.
CNN: - What is ânew denial?â An alarming wave of climate misinformation is spreading on YouTube, watchdog says
If youâve been on YouTube lately, you might have come across someone claiming wind and solar energy donât work, that rising sea levels will help coral reefs flourish, or that climate scientists are corrupt and alarmist. These are all false and misleading statements taken from a handful of thousands of YouTube videos analyzed by the nonprofit Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), and the past five years have seen a âstartlingâ rise in this ânew denial,â according to a CCDH analysis published Tuesday. In the words of Imran Ahmed, chief executive officer and founder of CCDH: âWeâre asking other platforms that claim to be green in one breath not to profit from, to revenue share, and therefore, reward or to amplify clear climate denial content that contradicts scientific consensus,â Ahmed added. âYou canât claim to be green but then be the worldâs biggest megaphone for climate change-related disinformation.â
The Hill: Study finds microplastics in nearly all American proteins: meat, fish and plants
From chicken nuggets to tofu, American proteins have a microplastics problem. An Environmental Pollution study published on Monday reviewed a wide range of meat, fish and vegetarian meat alternatives â and found that 88 percent of them contained some form of microplastics. Microplastics are tiny pieces of plastics the approximate size of a grain of sand or a human hair, which carry a host of potential health risks.
Time: Microplastics in Bottled Water at Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought
Bottled water has long been marketed as a safer alternative to what comes out of the tapâif it doesnât come straight from a mountain spring, itâs at least purified and chemical free. But a new study by scientists at Columbia University and Rutgers University demonstrates that bottled water may be far worse when it comes to microscopic plastic pollutants capable of passing into the bloodstream.
Reuters: Group of 27 Shell investors co-file new climate resolution
A group of 27 investors that own around 5% of Shell has co-filed an independent resolution urging the energy company to set tighter climate targets, the biggest such drive to date. The resolution, led by activist shareholder Follow This, will be brought to a vote at Shell's annual general meeting later this year. The effort to ratchet up pressure on Shell's climate strategy comes as CEO Wael Sawan seeks to boost the company's profits, partly by slowing down investments in renewables and growing fossil fuel production.
EDIE: EU Parliament signs off on anti-greenwashing legislation
Under the directive, businesses selling in the EU will not be permitted to make vague claims about the environmental impact of their products or services unless they can be backed up with evidence. Claims in the firing line include âeco-friendlyâ, âenvironmentally friendlyâ, ânaturalâ, ârecycledâ and âbiodegradable. Another point of contention is claims supported by carbon offsetting. Businesses will essentially be banned from labelling their offerings as âclimate-neutralâ or âcarbon-neutralâ if they rely on offsetting to balance their emissions sheets.
Eco-Business: Australia turns the screw on greenwashing with revised advertising code
Australiaâs advertiser association has released a new code for environmental claims that could prevent Big Oil from making spurious green claims. Activists say the new code could go further by preventing net-zero claims based on offsets.
Japan Times: Trawling the bottom of the ocean is kicking up tons of carbon dioxide
Your shrimp cocktail comes with a side of carbon dioxide, according to scientists who have for the first time quantified greenhouse emissions caused by a destructive fishing technique known as bottom trawling. Bottom-trawling ships deploy huge weighted nets â up to half a mile (0.8 kilometers) in length â that scour the ocean floor to scoop up shrimp, crab, cod, halibut and other fish. According to a paper published Thursday in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science bottom trawlingâs disturbance of CO2 sequestered in seabed sediments results in as much as 370 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas being released into the atmosphere each year. Thatâs more than twice the CO2 emitted by the global fishing industryâs burning of fossil fuels.
Transport and Environment: EU reaches deal on near phase-out of diesel trucks
European lawmakers today agreed CO2 targets for heavy-duty vehicles that will phase out almost all sales of new diesel trucks by 2040. Manufacturers will have to cut the average emissions of new trucks by 45% in 2030, 65% in 2035 and 90% in 2040. T&E estimates the EU targets will result in around 30% of trucks sold in 2030, and at least three-quarters in 2040, being zero emissions â electric or hydrogen. (Why does this matter? In Europe, trucks make up 2% of traffic, but 25% of transport emissions)
Guardian: Women added to Cop29 climate summit committee after backlash
The president of Azerbaijan has added 12 women to the previously all-male organising committee for the Cop29 global climate summit, which the country will host in December. The move follows a backlash after the Guardian reported the initial 28-man composition of the committee, which was called âregressiveâ by the She Changes Climate campaign group. âClimate change affects the whole world, not half of it,â the group said.
đŒÂ 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.
RouteZero - Full-stack software engineer - ÂŁ30-35k - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
RouteZero is hiring a full-stack developer (Flutter and Typescript). We're decarbonising our customer's largest source of emissions: travel. We aim to prevent millions of tonnes of COâ entering the atmosphere by helping customers deploy the most effective carbon-cutting actions, from low-carbon travel booking to carbon budgets and social influence tools.
Elemental Excelerator - Portfolio Experience Analyst - $54,600 - $85,400 - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
This role will be responsible for activating our community of engaged founders through the development of program communications, founder tools, newsletters, and general outreach, as well as supporting the organization and execution of portfolio-facing events and Elemental's accelerator program tracks. This is a dynamic position that works both cross-collaboratively within the organization to provide transparency across portfolio team initiatives, and directly with companies to help them scale and make a positive impact.
Elemental Excelerator - Policy Lab Senior Operations Manager - $86,500-$140,100/year - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
Elemental is seeking a passionate self-starter to serve as a Policy Lab Senior Operations. This position will report to Elemental's Managing Director, Policy and support our work and systems to help Elemental's portfolio companies and key policy leaders scale climate solutions with deep community impact. The role will also work closely with our Senior Policy Advisor who leads our Policy Fellows program and with our Senior Manager of Portfolio Experience who supervises coaching and other supports for our portfolio companies. The role requires excellent collaboration skills, strong workflow management, strong execution and attention to detail, and ability to create and maintain systems that assess key trends and data to enable innovation and impact in our team's work.
Elemental Excelerator - Developer in Residence - The starting hourly rate for this opportunity is $150/hr. - Contract - Flexible - remote ok
Elemental is seeking a Developer in Residence to join our team and support our portfolio of climate tech entrepreneurs as they navigate the complexities of deploying a first-of-a-kind (FOAK) or early commercial climate tech project. In addition to bringing your expertise as a project developer to 1:1 and group work with our portfolio companies, you will serve as a thought partner to Elemental as we work to develop and build out more support offerings for our portfolio, including a roster of specialized project developers to support their journey.
Ford Foundation - Technology Fellow - 117k - 136k USD - Permanent - Onsite only
Ford Foundation's Natural Resources and Climate Change International (NRCC-I) team is hiring a Technology Fellow to join their team. The Tech Fellow will integrate into the NRCC team on a two-year contract, , and will also be a part of the broader Technology Fellowship Program, which was created to support integrated learning and action at the intersection of social justice and technology throughout the work of the foundation.
The Nature Conservancy - Agile Team Coach - $88,300 - $132,500 - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
At The Nature Conservancy, "Alongside communities, weâre urgently clearing obstacles and finding solutions to the climate and biodiversity crises...To make the highest possible impact on the climate and biodiversity crises between now and 2030, weâre developing breakthrough ideas, amplifying local leaders and influencing policy." This position is with the IT department in the Worldwide Office. IT teams this position will support develop and maintain systems for data analytics and tracking, membership efforts, geospatial systems, and more.
Supercritical - Director of Climate Science - ÂŁ110k - ÂŁ130k (depending on experience) - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
You will play a pivotal role in driving innovation in climate vetting methodologies and frameworks for Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) methods. They execute rigorous climate vetting for potential projects, ensuring a robust evaluation process. Additionally, the role involves spearheading Supercritical's position on CDR, carbon markets, and climate policy. As the voice of climate within the management team, the Climate Strategy Lead actively shapes strategic development, acts as a spokesperson, and produces influential thought leadership content to elevate the organization's profile. The role also entails providing technical excellence to support sales and marketing, enhancing the quality of customer offerings. In overseeing small corporate climate consultancy projects, the lead manages emission measurement and guides net-zero transition planning for clients, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach.
Qflow - Business Development Manager - UK - Up to ÂŁ60K (plus up to double OTE) - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
After successfully raising an oversubscribed Series A investment round, our technical team is now growing. We are seeking a talented Business Development Manager who is eager to contribute to building a sustainable future. If you are passionate about sustainability, believe that with cutting-edge technology we can address tangible issues, you value radical transparency, unstoppable tenacity and encourage collaboration and curiosity within your team, this opportunity is tailor-made for you.
Weâre looking for someone that can identify and develop new business opportunities, building and maintaining relationships with key clients and growing the company's customer. Developing and implementing Qflowâs business development strategies, you will help to drive revenue growth and market share.
GitHub - Environmental Sustainability Senior Program Manager - USD $89,200.00 - USD $236,600.00 /Yr. - Permanent - Totally remote
This Senior Program Manager role will be responsible for further developing GitHubâs environmental sustainability vision, establishing and leading cross company sustainability governance through programming, product, and tooling. This individual will be accountable for growing our culture of sustainability, activating our employee and developer communities to contribute to the protection of our world.
KDE e.V. - Project lead and event manager for environmental sustainability project - (not give in ad) - Fixed term, part time - Flexible - remote ok
KDE e.V. is looking for you as an employee for a new project to promote environmentally-sustainable software and long-term hardware use. You will be the person who makes sure the administration of the project and the organization of the campaigns and workshops are on track and successful.
Verna - Senior Full-Stack Software Engineer - ÂŁ80-90k + share options - Permanent - Totally remote
Verna builds software to help people manage land in the best way for the environment â enhancing biodiversity and drawing down carbon, whilst making sustainable returns. Weâve raised over ÂŁ2m funding from private investors, including Octopus Ventures, and the UK Government. Our first products are in the market with good customer engagement: ForestFounder helps landowners and policymakers unlock treeplanting opportunities, and Mycelia supports regulators to implement Biodiversity Net Gain. We are looking for a senior software engineer. While this is a full-stack role, the emphasis will be on back-end engineering. You will need to work in Elixir. Prior experience with Elixir or Erlang is preferable, but we will consider candidates with prior experience of other functional languages.
University of Vienna - University assistant predoctoral (PhD student) - The basic monthly salary of EUR 3277,30 (on a full-time basis) increases if we can credit professional experience. - Contract - Onsite only
The aim of the PhD project is to address issues of environmental and climate mobility with the help of GeoAI and knowledge graphs. Growing empirical evidence on the relation between climate change and human mobility remains ambiguous, as research highlights nonlinearity, multicausality, and context dependency. The division is widening between detailed, micro-level case studies with valuable local insights but limited generalizability, and macro-level global and national assessments that often miss local nuances. A key challenge is to integrate & analyze data across different layers, scales, and stakeholders. Such data are challenging to model computationally, because they encode different perspectives. These difficulties in handling multi-perspective data have substantial consequences for analyzing such data and, thus, quantifying migration pressure, resilience, etc., be it using established methods or novel techniques from GeoAI or spatially-explicit machine learning.
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