š CAT Newsletter 256 - 2025-02-23
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CAT 256 - 2025-02-23
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 256 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 outĀ our onboarding checklist.
Remember you can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time - the link is at the bottom.
Stay safe & healthy š š š±
CAT Community News
#ļøā£ Slack channel highlight
#climate-careers: VolunteersĀ EĀ andĀ JĀ are starting a new format where CATs share their own climate career stories. In the first postĀ SĀ said 'you don't have to be in a climate-focussed company to create ripple-effects'.Ā Read the full post
š¦ Feedback & collab spotlight
A is looking for classic green team advice: How to encourage office workers to be more sustainable in their building - from recycling to keeping the place clean,Ā share your tips in the thread
TĀ isĀ looking for Python sustainability collaborators
JĀ and OĀ areĀ looking for feedback on their online platform where they'll host monthly climate 'solvathons'
MĀ isĀ looking for contacts in publishingĀ (journalists or media organizations) to publish research findings on e-waste
M has been getting feedback on his project about developing software and methods to support climate groups in their organizational capacity -Ā add your thoughts in the thread
āļø From the blog
We want to encourage and support CAT members in taking climate action together throughout 2025. Read the announcement blog post for the Community climate action challenges for more details and join our first action-focused event on February 28th.
š CAT events
Fri, Feb 28 ā Economic Blackout & Life Fixup [online] - RSVP on Luma
In support of the US boycott, we are going to fix-repair-maintain what we already have and have a chill chat about consumer activism & the tech industry. Bring your own high- or low-tech fixup project to work on and a cozy beverage! Not sure what to bring? Check out some ideas here.
Tue, Mar 4thĀ -Ā CAT Open Meeting: Organizer Update and AMAĀ [online] -Ā register now
Join us for an update from ourĀ Organizer group: Chris Adams is stepping down as an organizer but staying involved as a CAT Director, and we're looking for aĀ Tech organizerĀ andĀ Comms organizerĀ to help keep the community going! We'll share what it's been like to collaborate in the Organizing team, followed by an AMA session with the Organizers.
š§ Knowledge base deep dive
Learn about climate justice: The impacts of climate change aren't equally distributed. Log into the CAT knowledge base with your CAT Slack account to learn more about various types of climate injustices, anti-racism, and other resources that can help you become a more intersectional CAT.
š© Community networking
Every 2 weeks, we match 2-3 CATs so you can connect over a quick 30-minute call. Join #cat-roulette, pick your region and wait for a message from Donut. The next round of matches will go out on Fri, Mar 7th. More info.
Media, events, and news
šŗ CAT recommendations
ā¶ļø CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
Planet A: How companies try to trick you with dubious promises
Most of the world's biggest companies have made some kind of promise when it comes to the climate ā whether that's going net zero or carbon neutral. But frequently, reality doesn't match up with the green picture these companies are painting. Whether it's creative accounting or lofty claims: Here's what to look out for in companies' climate promises, so you don't get duped by Greenwashing.
š¤Ā Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
Environment Variables: How to tell when Energy is Green
In this episode, host Chris Adams is joined by Killian Daly, Executive Director of EnergyTag, to explore the complexities of green energy tracking and carbon accounting. They discuss the challenges of accurately measuring and claiming green energy use, including the flaws in current carbon accounting methods and how EnergyTag is working to improve transparency through time-based and location-based energy tracking.
Green IO #51 Exploring the digital revolution paradox from a UN perspective
It's a 252 pages report talking about digitalization and sustainability. And, for once, it's not another report from the UN stating "let's digitize everything to boost sustainability". Quite the contrary, as it states a "unequal ecological exchange between developed and developing countries regarding digitization".Ā \nTo discuss this "scientific report based on an ethical approach" as he described it, Gael welcomes two of its contributors, to share their perspectives and the report's!
Euronews Tech Talks: Does Europe need lithium mining projects?
Although Europe possesses several lithium reserves, many European citizens and environmental groups have strongly opposed mining projects. As a result, Europe remains heavily dependent on importing lithium and lithium-ion batteries. In this episode, Euronews explores the debate over lithium mines in Europe, featuring insights from two experts with differing viewpoints on the issue.
Outrage and optimism: Inside Costa Rica's Climate Fight: Can the nation hold on to its green ideas?
How does a nation transform its forest coverage from 21% to 60% in half a century? What are the policies that can place nature at the very heart of political thinking? And why does Christiana Figueres see a picture of her dad when she visits an ATM?
Christiana is joined in her home country by co-hosts Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson as they explore Costa Rica's remarkable history and constitutionally guaranteed environmental safeguards.
š Submitted events
Tue Feb 25 2025 - Urban Futures: Harnessing Nature Based Innovation for Resilient Cities
Join us for an engaging fireside chat with Dr. Nadina Galle, a pioneering ecological engineer, researcher, and author, as we explore how cities can embrace nature-based solutions and technology to build thriving and resilient cities.
Thu Feb 27 2025 - Climate Dinner: Theories of Change
The world is at a tipping pointāpolitically, environmentally, socially. In uncertain times, community is our power.
Join the Climate Action Clubās first dinner party for great food, deep discussions, and actionable ideas. Limited spotsāregister now!
Wed Mar 12 2025 - Tech's Next Power Move
Join Renewabl, Tech Zero, and Octopus Energy to learn about clean energy procurement in the tech industry and connect with sustainability leaders.
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
š° News Highlights
Gartner: Innovation Insight for Using Green Software Engineering to Drive Sustainability
Sustainability by design requires an end-to-end systems thinking approach covering business impact, technology stack and the SDLC. This blog post provides an overview of key takeaways from a a recent Gartner report, exploring Green Software Engineering.
EuroNews: Swiss scientists have taught fungi to generate electricity. How do mushroom batteries work?
Battery demand is increasingly unsustainable, especially due to the minerals mining in their supply chain. Swiss researchers are developing mushroom batteries, which not only address those concerns, but are also non-toxic and biodegradable!
The Register: Dark mode might be burning more juice than you think
Using apps and websites in dark mode can actually use more energy than standard mode, according to researchers, as it causes people to crank up the brightness.
This counterintuitive finding is claimed by BBC Research & Development (R&D), which says that despite the popular energy saving recommendation to cut electricity consumption by switching to dark mode, doing so might actually make things worse.
For climate-conscious web users, or just those looking to minimize their energy use, the Beeb team recommends lowering the brightness on your phone or laptop, and switching to a smaller device may also help conserve energy.
Tech Explore: Ā Humans generate 62 million tons of e-waste each year. Here's what happens when it's recycled
What can be done to increase the amount of e-waste that's recycled? And what actually happens during the e-waste recycling process? Here Sukhbir Sandhu (University of South Australia) explores this global issue issue via the case study of Australia.
Project Syndicate Events: AI Action Summit 2025 with Sasha Luccioni
AI and Climate Lead at Hugging Face and an Invited Researcher at Ecole Normale SupƩrieure, Sasha Luccioni, speaks at the AI Action Summit 2025 in Paris.
FOSDEM: How do we work out the environmental savings from sustainability?
Green Web Foundation's Chris Adams discusses just how beneficial designing for accessibility can also be a sustainable design approachā¦ and how we work that out.
š Papers We Love š
As an experiment for the next 3 issues, we'll be linking to a paper for people interested in doing a deep dive into the world of digital sustainability. Suggest a paper by sending a recommendation toĀ hello@climateAction.tech, along with why you shared it
UN Digital Economy Report 2024
As is discussed in the Green IO episode linked above, the Digital Economy Report 2024 underscores the urgent need for environmentally sustainable and inclusive digitalization strategies. Digital technology and infrastructure depend heavily on raw materials, and the production and disposal of more and more devices, along with growing water and energy needs are taking an increasing toll on the planet. Dip into the report's different sections - or, read the whole report! - to learn about how the Digital Economy is having an impact on the world - and which issues we need to address.
Jobs
Wan to post a job here? Submit your job to go out to the 10k member strong CAT community with this helpful form.
Elemental Impact - Director of Development - $106,400- $191,000 - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
The Director of Development will primarily focus on materials creation, as well as researching new funding opportunities to build an expanding portfolio of private and public funders. They will work in close collaboration with the Managing Director of Growth and across a team of practitioners and partnership builders in order to create an aligned fundraising strategy.
Green Web Foundation - Mid / senior Django Developer - 350-500 EUR / day - Contract - Flexible - remote ok
Weāre looking for an experienced freelance django developer whoās comfortable working at mid-level or above to join our small, but ambitious team on a part-time contract basis.
This role will support feature development and maintenance for our django-based Green Web Foundation platform
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.
Support our work
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