đ CAT Newsletter 237 - 2024-09-15
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 237 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
đ CAT mini grant project update
François Burra gave a quick update on their mini-grant to collect and showcase sustainable digital case studies. The team received lots of submissions ranging from:
- Revamping a website from the ground up using sustainable and climate-conscious best practices to reduce CO2e and energy/water consumption
- Revamping an online buyback program to promote circularity and reduce waste and manufacturing demand
- Optimizing data storage on AWS and reduce emissions and the cloud expenditures
- and many more
We (as Climate Product Leaders) are working hard to compile them and hope to share them with you before the end of the year!
You can always submit your case study here if you have a great story to share!
đ§ Knowledge base deepdive
Climate Action Starter: New to climate action or CAT? Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account and explore the resources in our action starter collection. If you're short on time, the How to Climate Action in Tech page offers simple tips to get you started. And if you feel any key resources are missing, you can always help a fellow CAT by adding your own suggestions.
#ïžâŁ Slack channel highlights
#3-questions-and-ideas: B asked "Would it be interesting to have a union that was specifically focused on environmental action, collective buying power, lobbying, and knowledge sharing for workers?" - Share your answer in this thread.n#3-questions-and-ideas: G asked "What are your go-to datasets and sources for measuring different technology's carbon (or energy) usage?". A few CATs already chimed in with their answers! Join the conversation in the thread.
đ CAT events
Thu, Sep 19 - London [in-person]: Green IO Conference where CAT will have a booth and participate in the NGO roundtable
Other local events events were shared in #local-chicago, #local-france, #local-leeds, #local-munich, and #local-netherlands.
đ© Community networking
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, Sep 20th. More info
Media, events, and news
đș CAT recommendations
đ± A cutting from Branch issue 8
The perfect data paradox
"If you don't want to be a pioneer, these reasons for avoiding using imperfect data will serve you well. They are answers that are routinely used when lobbying, when answering customer demands for emissions data and when satisfying your investors.
But, if you hear them, or you're thinking about speaking them â remember that there are others who have already chosen solutions over avoidance, and there are many more lining up behind them. "
â¶ïž CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
Planet A: How to make cheese and steak without cows
The livestock industry is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and lab-grown meat and dairy promises to deliver more for less. Can they convince consumers and when will they hit the mass market?
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
Outrage and Optimism
This week, Christiana shares her awe and admiration for the athletes at Parisâ Paralympics after being lucky enough to experience some of the games first-hand. Can these incredible athletes inspire us to think and act differently on climate change? Tom quizzes Paul and Christiana about the events of 12th January 1882 (hint: coal-fired power stations) and celebrates the news that the UK will close its last coal-fired power station later this month.
Volts: This new organization wants to remake PUCs for the energy transition?
Public utility commissions (PUCs) wield enormous influence in the US energy transition â they regulate the monopolistic utilities at the heart of America's electricity system but face little public scrutiny. Now, energy analyst Charles Hua is launching PowerLines, a nonprofit that aims to pull PUCs into the spotlight. In this episode, we discuss the problems with PUCs, opportunities for reform, and the coalition the group aims to organize.
Zero: War and peace-building on a heating planet
Weather patterns have always had an impact on people and civilizations. But as anthropogenic emissions make the planet hotter, faster, Berghof Foundation Executive Director Andrew Gilmour says the risk of conflict is growing. In the 30 years he spent working with the United Nations, Gilmour repeatedly saw how competition over resources such as land and water led to conflict, but he also sees opportunities for aligning peace-building with climate solutions. âThe common solutions could be, for example, a solar powered irrigation scheme,â Gilmour tells Akshat Rathi. âIt could be joint management of a wildlife reserve, it could be a desalination project.â
Catalyst with Shayle Khan: The better mousetrap fallacy
Deploy or innovate? Scale up an existing technology or develop a breakthrough? Build, build, build, or invent a better mousetrap? The question isnât which strategy to follow; itâs which strategy to use in which sector. Virtually no one thinks that solar needs brand new tech breakthroughs to scale. But in carbon removal, batteries, nuclear, and other industries â should we develop new technologies, or scale up a promising few? In this episode, Shayle talks to his colleague Andy Lubershane about the better mousetrap fallacy in climate tech
Environment Variables: Green Software with Gaël Amongst the Whales
Host Chris Adams is joined by special guest Philipp Wiesner, a research associate and PhD student at TU Berlin, to discuss how computing systems can better align energy consumption with clean energy availability.That's the idea behind carbon-aware computing. But how can we know if our carbon-aware designs are actually better for the environment? Philipp introduces Project Vessim, a an open source testbed for carbon-aware computing, to model how software interacts with the grids they run on.
Green IO #44 - Can the data center industry become circular? with Deborah Andrews
Fueled by the ongoing artificial intelligence boom, data centers are popping up around the world like mushrooms after a good rain raising serious sustainability concerns. Hence a pressing question: can the data center industry become circular? To get some answers, Gaël Duez welcomes a veteran in Circular Economy and Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment, Prof. Deborah Andrews, from London South Bank University, the founder and academic lead for CEDaCI - Circular Economy for the Data Center Industry.
đ 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 Sep 17 2024 - Sustainability Creatives Office Hours Presents: Climate Communication & How to Become a Climate influencer
Our free virtual Office Hours are for all creatives looking to make an impact in fighting climate change. During this time, you'll have the opportunity to connect with like-minded creatives who are also passionate about innovation and sustainability.
Thu Sep 19 2024 - Green IO London
The go-to conference for responsible technologists in London. Get the latest insights from thought leaders in Tech Sustainability and hands-on feedback from practitioners scaling Green IT.
Thu Sep 19 2024 - How to: Embrace Imperfect Climate Action - with Sami Grover
Join Sami Grover, writer and author of 'We Are All Climate Hypocrites Now' to explore how embracing our limitations can unlock the power of a movement. Sami will help us move past blame, shame and carbon footprints to practical pathways to action that actually make a difference.
Wed Oct 02 2024 - BBC Climate Creatives Conference 2024
Climate Creatives returns for its fourth annual conference in association with BBC Academy Fusion.
Tue Oct 08 2024 - The Global Nature Positive Summit 2024
Global Nature Positive Summit aims to boost private sector investment to protect and repair our environment. With a focus on solutions to climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
Fri Oct 11 2024 - Better Software
Italian Conference about Sustainable IT
Mon Oct 14 2024 - SxSW Sydney
From a grassroots start in Austin TX, 1987 to a new, second home in Sydney Australia. Tech Innovation with track focus on Energy, Climate & Sustainability
đ° News Highlights
The Atlantic: Microsoftâs Hypocrisy on AI
As Microsoft attempts to buoy its reputation as an AI leader in climate innovation, the company is also selling its AI to fossil-fuel companies. Hundreds of pages of internal documents Iâve obtained, plus interviews Iâve conducted over the past year with 15 current and former employees and executives, show that the tech giant has sought to market the technology to companies such as ExxonMobil and Chevron as a powerful tool for finding and developing new oil and gas reserves and maximizing their productionâall while publicly committing to dramatically reduce emissions.
Heatmap: America Needs an Energy Policy for AI
The rapid increase in demand for artificial intelligence is creating a seemingly vexing national dilemma: How can we meet the vast energy demands of a breakthrough industry without compromising our energy goals? If that challenge sounds familiar, thatâs because it is. The U.S. has a long history of rising to the electricity demands of innovative new industries, and ideas passed in the hydrogen industry may work in tech too.
The Independent: Rich countries cracking down on climate protests while advocating for rights abroad, new study says
Rich democratic countries like the United Kingdom and United States are increasingly using harsh, sweeping criminal laws against climate protesters, contradicting their global stance on human rights, a new report has found. The report, published on Monday by Climate Rights International, documents the growing repression faced by climate activists in Australia, Germany, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Sweden, the UK, and the US.
The Guardian: The Hague becomes worldâs first city to pass law banning fossil fuel-related ads
The Hague has become the first city in the world to pass a law banning advertisements promoting fossil fuel products and climate-busting services. Legislation passed on Thursday spells the end of publicly and privately funded advertising for petrol and diesel, aviation and cruise ships in the streets of the Dutch city, including on billboards and bus shelters. It takes effect from the start of next year.
UK Authority: GDS to monitor environmental impact of 'One Login' service
The Government Digital Service (GDS) is planning to monitor the environmental impact of the GOV.UK One Login service. It has entered a partnership with cloud sustainability specialist Greenpixie to track how much energy and water is needed in powering the servers every time someone uses the single sign-on to access a government service.
Climate Home News: Human rights must be âat the coreâ of mining for transition minerals, UN panel says
The UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals launches principles to guide responsible, fair extraction of minerals for green value chains
Green Web Foundation: An experience report using the Tech Carbon Standard
Over this summer we worked with the nice folks at Scott Logic to test drive their new framework for helping organisations make sense of the environmental impact of their digital estate. Weâve contributed a case study to their open source website, detailing our experiences and workings, and in this post we share the key insights for others curious about using it.
Washington Post: Tech giants fight plan to make them pay more for electric grid upgrades
A regulatory dispute in Ohio may help answer one of the toughest questions hanging over the nationâs power grid: Who will pay for the huge upgrades needed to meet soaring energy demand from the data centers powering the modern internet and artificial intelligence revolution?
Repair Circle: City of Berlin allocates 2.5m EUR to make repairing easier and more affordable with the 'Repair Bonus'
Repair of what we own is one of the most promising ways to save money, conserve resources, and build more resilient and circular communities. If you visit a repair cafe, you could get 100% of your repair costs covered, as long as it falls between 25 and 200 euros. For those opting to go to a professional repair shop, half of the repair costs will be covered for invoices between 75 and 200 euros.
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. Remember: if you're looking for advice finding a role, check our #climate-careers channel.
Icebreaker One - Senior Project Manager - Up to ÂŁ550/day - Contract - Totally remote
Icebreaker One is a non-profit that helps organisations across the economy share data more effectively to achieve their net-zero targets. Our programmes are collaborative efforts with a wide range of stakeholders to develop legal, technical and procedural solutions for trusted data sharing. We have been successful in winning new projects for the second half of 2024 and consequently need an experienced project manager to join our existing PM team to ensure our work is delivered on time and within scope.
4WARD's Global Climate Community - Climate "Local" Community Coordination Superstar - Unpaid Fellowship - Intern Fellowship - Totally remote
Love organizing local events & creating a sense of community? Want to promote collaboration & climate impact on a global scale? 4WARD's has a part-time, unpaid fellowship to become a Climate Community Coordination Superstar to help plan, promote & support our 100s of local city meetup leaders.
Interested? For more details & to apply, please visit: https://4ward.vc/jobopenings
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