🌍 CAT Newsletter 215 - 2024-04-14
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 215 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.
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Stay safe & healthy 😌 💚 🐱
CAT Community News
🙋 Get involved
2min: Complete this quick survey on digital sustainability efforts within your organization to support the Ecoweb project in advancing a greener web. Learn more about the Ecoweb project here.
5min: Share our Ecoweb survey via LinkedIn to help us gather as much valuable insight as possible. Your participation makes a difference!
30min/week: We need YOU! Help write and curate a section in this very newsletter. Reach out to @Sandra if you can spare 30mins every week to help!
💚 CAT projects
Our revised Code of Conduct (CoC) is now live on Outline! We've clarified and simplified most sections of this document. Please take a few moments to review this updated CoC. Moderators will now use this CoC for their efforts.
We made some light updates for clarity to the Community Principles (formerly known as Community Guidelines) as part of this process. Please take a look at this refresh too. This is also part of the documentation moderators use for their work.
Many thanks to @melissa for organizing the months of twice-weekly meetings we needed to make these updates and gather community feedback! Thank you to those who provided input as well.
✏️ From the blog
@Alja Isaković wrote a post about our knowledge base. Meet the CAT knowledge base: A resource that supports community learning and action.
🧠 Knowledge base nosedive
Climate careers: Looking for new career opportunities? Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account to explore advice and resources on how to transition into climate work. And help a fellow CAT learn something new by sharing your own climate career advice.
📅 CAT events
Fri, May 17 - Zurich [in person]: Zurich hackathon (for more info see Fiona's message on Slack)
Tue, May 21 - Vienna [in person]: Meetup organized by @Björn Ganslandt in #local-austria
Other local events were shared in #local-vancouver,
🍩 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, Apr 26. More info
Media, events, and news
😺 CAT recommendations
🌱 A cutting from Branch
Open call for Branch Issue 8 (Spring 2024)
The open call for Branch magazine has closed! Remember though - there are still 7 issues worth on Branch website that have been created over the years, all ready for you to read. The site design is an open source wordpress theme, and pull requests are accepted. There a handful of issues open on the github repo for the Branch theme, so if you know your way around wordpress they may be of interest.
▶️ CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
Planet A: Why people want to put small nuclear reactors everywhere
The race to develop small modular reactors is on, with the promise to provide fossil-free energy everywhere. But only one has been built so far. What's going wrong?
🎤 Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
Outrage and Optimism 240. Two Years to Save The World? With Simon Stiell
In this week's episode, Tom files an exclusive report live from London, where he's on the ground covering Simon Stiell's ( highly anticipated Chatham House speech, "Two Years to Save the World". Not stopping there, Tom also snags a quick interview with Simon right after the event. Back in the studio, Christiana, Paul, and Tom dive headfirst into the heart of Simon's speech. They navigate through the maze of mixed public reactions it sparked, delving into the underlying tensions it brought to light. (See also, further links to coverage in news highlights).
Shift Key: A Skeptic's Take on AI and Energy Growth
(We posted the wrong link to this last week, so we're linking to it again. Also Jon Koomey's is one of the most respected reseachers in this field, so this is worth a listen)
Will the rise of machine learning and artificial intelligence break the climate system? In recent months, utilities and tech companies have argued that soaring use of AI will overwhelm electricity markets. Is that true — or is it a sales pitch meant to build more gas plants? And how much electricity do data centers and AI use today? In this week's episode, Rob and Jesse talk to Jonathan Koomey, an independent researcher, lecturer, and entrepreneur who studies the energy impacts of the internet and information technology. We discuss why AI may not break the electricity system and the long history of anxiety over computing's energy use.
Environment Variables: Building Green Software
In this episode of Environment Variables, host Chris Adams introduces the co-authors of Building Green Software - Anne, Sara, and Sarah. Through candid discussions, they explore the process of writing about green software development and highlight key insights gained along the way, touching on the interconnectedness between sustainability and existing best practices in software engineering, and the lessons learnt writing the newest O'reilly book on green software.
Green IO #36 - Climate change challenges to data centers: lessons from Singapore with PS Lee
In episode 36, Gaël Duez discussed with Professor PS Lee, National University of Singapore Dean's Chair of Mechanical Engineering and one of the top experts worldwide on data center cooling. They cover the challenges of making data centers sustainable in some of the hottest, most humid parts of the world, where it's a challenge to keep both computers and people cool enough to function.
The Guardian Science Weekly: The senior Swiss women who went to court over climate change, and won – podcast
This week, in a landmark case, the European court of human rights ruled that Switzerland's weak climate policy had violated the rights of a group of older Swiss women to family life. Ian Sample talks to Europe environment correspondent Ajit Niranjan about why the women brought the case and what the ruling could mean for future climate policy.
Drilled: Climate News Update: The New Carbon Majors + Swiss Elders Win Landmark Climate Case
Lots of news lately on stories we've been following, so in today's episode: an update! The landmark Carbon Majors report has been updated with some surprising new data, and the European Court of Human Rights has sent down an historic ruling that will shape how EU legislators look at energy and climate. Including analysis by the Climate Litigation Network, and InfluenceMap.
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📅 Submitted events
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
Thu Apr 18 2024 - Green IO Singapore
The go-to conference where responsible technologists based in South-East Asia can get the latest insights from thought leaders in Tech Sustainability and hands-on feedback from practitioners scaling Green IT.
Mon Apr 22 2024 - ClimateCon Boulder 2024
The second ever ClimateCon! in Boulder will be an engaging and unforgettable day focused on sustainable solutions to combat climate change. There will be 20+ panels to discuss the latest in climate innovation.
Wed Apr 24 2024 - Simplifying Nature with Origami & AI
An in-person event in Denver Colorado to explore different ways to represent the natural world, including using AI to tell stories of climate change and origami to represent the formation of galaxies! 🤯
Thu Apr 25 2024 - Eco Compute 2024
Discover EcoCompute, the first engineering conference on sustainability in hardware & software! Join us in Munich on April 25-26 at the House of Communication. Immerse in cutting-edge talks, connect with industry leaders, explore practical solutions. https://www.eco-compute.io/
Thu May 16 2024 - Climate Action Week Sydney - Does Cloud Co$t the Earth?
"Does Cloud Cost the Earth?", Every decision in the cloud has a 'cost, an economic cost, and an environmental cost. We're asking if decision making is costing businesses and the planet more than it should. Is it the technology or is it the way we are using it?
Thu May 16 2024 - Building a Climate Action Habit Into a Busy Life
Whether you're at the start of your climate and nature journey, or you've been taking action for a while but feel in a bit of a rut, this session will leave you feeling energised and ready to be part of building a better world. Use code CAT for a free ticket.
Fri May 17 2024 - Climate Solutions Intensive — A two-day deep dive into strategy, scenarios, and systems thinking (California)
The course delves into climate solutions, impacts, and system structures. Gain clarity on high-leverage actions you or your team can take to address the climate and equity challenges, using En-ROADS—a global simulator Climate Interactive co-developed with MIT
📰 News Highlights
Associated Press: UN climate chief presses for faster action, says humans have 2 years left 'to save the world'
OXFORD, England (AP) — Humanity has only two years left "to save the world" by making dramatic changes in the way it spews heat-trapping emissions and it has even less time to act to get the finances behind such a massive shift, the head of the United Nations climate agency said. With governments of the world facing a 2025 deadline for new and stronger plans to curb carbon pollution, nearly half of the world's populations voting in elections this year, and crucial global finance meetings later this month in Washington, United Nations executive climate secretary Simon Stiell said Wednesday he knows his warning may sound melodramatic. But he said action over the next two years is "essential." (Link to the transcript and recording on UN website)
BBC: European court rules human rights violated by climate inaction
A group of older Swiss women have won the first ever climate case victory in the European Court of Human Rights. The women, mostly in their 70s, said that their age and gender made them particularly vulnerable to the effects of heatwaves linked to climate change.
The Court ruled that Switzerland had "failed to comply with its duties under the Convention concerning climate change" and that it had violated the right to respect for private and family life. The ruling is binding and can trickle down to influence the law in 46 countries in Europe including the UK. See Swiss coverage, and further analysis.
Grist: Corporate climate plans are improving, but still 'critically insufficient'
New analysis finds "quite a big gap" between 51 companies' emissions targets and their plans to actually achieve them. The 2024 Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor, a report by the European nonprofits Carbon Market Watch and NewClimate Institute, finds that many of the world's biggest companies are making better climate pledges — for example, by beginning to move away from misleading "carbon neutrality" claims and setting quantitative emissions reduction targets alongside their net-zero pledges. But huge problems remain - the report finds that 51 major companies' climate plans would, collectively, fall far short of the reductions needed to stay below 1.5 degrees C of heating.
The Guardian: Qantas and Virgin Australia put on notice over offsets after landmark decision on greenwashing
Australian airlines could be found to have misled consumers in the way they present their net zero goals and market offset options during flight bookings, climate advocates have claimed, after a landmark legal decision on aviation "greenwashing". The warning from Climate Integrity, a new Australia-based advocacy group, follows a Dutch court late last month ruling that airline KLM misled customers with vague environmental claims, and that its affirmation to the goals of the Paris Agreement was "misleading and therefore unlawful".
Reuters: AI could add 1 million tons to copper demand by 2030, says Trafigura
Copper demand linked to artificial intelligence and data centres could add up to one million metric tons by 2030 and exacerbate supply deficits towards the end of the decade, commodity trader Trafigura said. "If you look at the demand that is coming from data centers and related to that from AI, that growth has suddenly exploded," said Saad Rahim, chief economist at Switzerland-based Trafigura, at the Financial Times Global Commodities Summit in Lausanne. The one million tons is "on top of what we have as four to five million ton deficit gap by 2030 anyway", Rahim said. "That's not something that anyone has actually factored into a lot of these supply and demand balances."
DatacenterDynamics: Equinix signs deal to procure up to 500MW of nuclear power from Oklo reactors – makes $25m pre-payment
Equinix has signed a pre-agreement with small nuclear reactor firm Oklo to procure up to 500MW of nuclear energy. It is the first SMR deal signed by a colocation data center company. In an S4 filing with the SEC this week by AltC Acquisition Corp ahead of the merger, the company revealed a deal with data center colocation firm Equinix. Following a letter of intent signed in February, Equinix has made a $25 million prepayment to Oklo for the supply of power by Oklo.
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.
TransitionZero - Product Manager - £ 44,286.17 - £51,808.55 - Permanent - Onsite only
We are a climate analytics not-for-profit established in 2021. We're building easy to use energy transition modelling software to give governments, businesses and investors the tools to understand and decide how to transition to carbon free energy. The Product Manager will work collaboratively with the Head of Product on the product strategy and roadmap for our energy systems modelling software. A key aspect of the role will be to drive usage of and engagement with the product.
Twist - Senior Fullstack Dev - 75-90k - Permanent - Totally remote
Twist is a software company that is helping unlock financing sustainable assets and innovative business models. Think electric truck, heat pumps and batteries. Our role is to assist banks in effectively deploying debt capital towards these ventures. By compiling comprehensive risk and environmental data, we enable banks to accurately assess, monitor and simulate both the risk and impact of their investments. Read about our mission here. We are looking for a Full Stack Developer to join our small team to help build the Twist platform. You'll be part of a core team that's responsible for the full software development life cycle, from conception to deployment. We need a candidate who is comfortable owning and running what they build. We're looking for someone whose comfortable with some or all of the technologies we use.
Marble - Founder in Residence, Geothermal - Anywhere - 2.5-3K per month - Contract - Flexible - remote ok
Dive into the geothermal revolution and help unlock clean, sustainable energy for our planet. We're on the hunt for entrepreneurial engineers/scientists from geothermal, oil & gas, or similar sectors. If you're passionate about innovation and ready to explore cutting-edge approaches to power the net zero economy, we want you.
Elemental Excelerator - Senior Director of Financial Planning and Analysis - $125,000 to $238,000 / year - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
Elemental is seeking an experienced and forward-thinking financial planning and analysis professional to join our team. This new team member will be an innovative, collaborative, and communicative problem solver who understands the leverage to be gained from financial data in driving organizational results.This newly crafted role will develop and lead new financial processes and analyses in order to substantially scale our team and impact.
This position will report to the Chief Financial Officer. The role will be tasked with developing financial plans and reports that serve all of the various units within the organization including philanthropic fund development, government grant management, and the portfolio company investment operation.
ExpectAI - Full Stack Engineer & Data Scientist - £35-45K, commensurate with experience - Permanent -
Join me in building ExpectAI's climate action platform that enables our customers to find and take profitable decarbonisation actions with confidence
Icebreaker One - Trust Framework Solutions Architect - Up to £500/day - Contract - 3 days/wk until Dec 2024 - Totally remote
Icebreaker One is a UK-headquartered non-profit working to improve data sharing between organisations in order to accelerate the transition to net zero. Inspired by the explosion of financial service innovation brought about by Open Banking, we are applying the same model, known as a Trust Framework, to collaboratively design, govern and operate secure data sharing infrastructure across the economy. The Trust Framework Solutions Architect will help organisations from startups to PLCs understand and participate in these ecosystems from a technical perspective.
Terawatt Infrastructure - Senior Manager, Grants & Incentives - $160,000-$180,000 - Permanent - Onsite only
Looking for someone to lead critical grant and incentive acquisition and execution strategies in the EV space! Terawatt is an EV fleet charging company looking to decarbonize fleet transportation.
Vizzuality - Back End Engineer - NodeJS - 30.000 - 49.000 EUR - Permanent
We are looking for a passionate Back-End Engineer to join team Vizzuality! Are you a skilled developer who thrives on using your talents to make a positive impact? Vizzuality creates data-driven tools for international organizations tackling climate change, biodiversity, and inequality. This could be your chance to make a real difference!
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