đ CAT Newsletter #204 - 2023-01-28
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 204 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
- #behaviour-psychology:Â RÂ shared an article on behavioral psychology and our current trends as a society
- #greener-design: A took a Regenerative Development & Design course last year and shared reflections
- #greener-games:Â HÂ discovered that there'll be a new Settlers of Catan version called "New Energies"
- #greener-marketing: OÂ shared news about an EU ban on misleading terms such as "environmentally friendly", "natural", "biodegradable", or "climate neutral" that are given without evidence by 2026
Local conversations: S is looking for connections in #local-france, S shared some local initiatives in #local-munich, M is looking for travel advice in #local-sweden, S is looking for CATs living in Geneva #local-switzerland, D said welcome in #local-washington.
CAT Events
:wave: Tue, Feb 6 - Europe, Africa, Asia, Oceania:Â Welcome (back) to CAT
Local events were shared in #local-colorado, #local-denver, #local-london, #local-oregon
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, Feb 2. 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: The Quizumba is On: Technological Appropriation by Black Women in the AmazĂŽnia
"The concept of Quizumba and the work in this article are part of ongoing doctoral research digging into the appropriation of digital technologies by Black womenâs movements in AmazĂŽnia in the city of SantarĂ©m, ParĂĄ. The goal of the research is to understand the experiences of Black women from AmazĂŽnia with digital technologiesâtheir access processes, uses, ways theyâre appropriating technologies and the meanings that they give to these processes. Based on these discussions, we will give new meaning to the maps of their territories and their cyberactivist actions."
đŹ CAT Videos
CAT videos, geddit? 10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
Planet A: What really happens to our old ships?
Shipbreaking yards in South Asia routinely put their workersâ lives and the environment at risk when they dismantle vessels for recycling. So why do so many foreign companies continue to send their old ships there illegally?
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.
Tue Jan 30 2024 - Solar Without the Suffering: From Feasibility to Installation to GRESB Reporting
Join GRESBâs Dan Winters, Senior Director of Market Development & Strategic Initiatives, and Lumen Energyâs Peter Light, CEO, for an in-depth discussion about how commercial real estate owners can realize economic and environmental gains more easily than ever before.
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.
Thu Feb 08 2024 - Using AI / Technology for Waste and Recycling
This month Working in Sustainable Technology are exploring how innovate UK companies are using AI / Technology in order to improve, streamline and make the processing of waste and recycling greener.
đ«Speaker 1: Alisa Pritchard: Greyparrot đ«Speaker 2: Michael Groves: Topolytics
Thu Feb 15 2024 - How to: use everyday climate action as a source of joy - with Cass Hebron
Cass is a climate communications consultant and founder of The Green Fix.
In this session Cass will explore the ways in which our everyday activism can have a positive impact on our personal and community wellbeing. Use the code CATS for a free ticket.
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: Fuzzy math and food competition: The pitfalls of sourcing biomass for carbon removal
In this episode, Shayle talks with Dr. Bodie Cabiyo, senior forest scientist at climate science consultancy Carbon Direct and lead author of A Buyerâs Guide to Sustainable Biomass Sourcing for Carbon Dioxide Removal.
The Carbon Copy: How AI is advancing new materials for solar, batteries, fuel cells, and EVs
A decade ago, Greg Mulholland started playing around with machine learning to accelerate product development of materials inside LEDs. After seeing its early potential â and anticipating the rapid evolution of AI â he co-founded Citrine Informatics. In this episode of The Carbon Copy, Mulholland describes the many ways that artificial intelligence is pushing the performance of clean energy technologies in the lab and in the field â and helping clean up the materials that make up the world around us.
Environment Variables: The Week in Green Software: CNCF TAG Environmental Sustainability
Join TWiGS host Chris Adams in talking to Kristina Devochko, tech lead of the Environmental Sustainability TAG at the Cloud Native Computing Foundation. Kristina shares her journey from economics to tech sustainability, and eventually joining this Technical Advisory Group. Further, they discuss the mission and projects of the group, as well as how anyone interested and willing is able to contribute.
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
The Guardian: Biden hits pause on natural gas projects amid plans for carbon âmega bombsâ
Joe Bidenâs administration has hit the brakes on the USâs surging exports of gas, effectively pausing a string of planned projects that have been decried by environmentalists as carbon âmega bombsâ that risk pushing the world further towards climate breakdown. On Friday, the White House announced that it was pausing all pending export permits for liquified natural gas (LNG) until the Department of Energy could come up with an updated criteria for approvals that consider the impact of climate change. According to one analysis, if all proposed LNG projects were to go ahead and ship gas overseas, it would result in 3.2bn tons of greenhouse gases â equivalent to the entire emissions of the European Union.
Heatmap News: Biden Paused New LNG Terminals. The Real Test of the Climate Movement Begins Now.
Detailed analysis of the recent (huge) decision to stop export permits for liquid natural gas, and it's likely influence on the coming US elections.
Ars Technica: Air pollution from Canadaâs tar sands is much worse than we thought
Canadaâs tar sands have gained infamy for being one of the worldâs most polluting sources of oil, thanks to the large amounts of energy and water use required for their extraction. A new study says the operations are also emitting far higher levels of a range of air pollutants than previously known, with implications for communities living nearby and far downwind.
Forbes: France Introduces Possible Jail Time As Penalty For Non-Compliance With Sustainability Disclosure
Accessible guide for folks outside of Europe what the passing of the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting laws passed in the region mean in practice, and how the laws came about.
Datacenter Dynamics: Global data center electricity use to double by 2026 - IEA report
Data center electricity usage is set to double by 2026 according to a new report, which blames the rise of power-intensive workloads such as AI and cryptocurrency mining for this growing demand. The annual electricity report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) says data centers consumed 460TWh in 2022, a figure that could rise to more than 1,000TWh by 2026 in a worst-case scenario. Note: see the discussion inside the CAT slack for this for more
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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