š CAT Newsletter 270 - 2025-06-01
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 270 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.
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CAT Community News
š Systems Series 2: Current reality [online]
RSVP on Luma | Thursday June 5 | 8am PT | 11am ET | 4pm BST | 5pm CEST | 8:30p IST
For session 1, members of CAT came together to build a shared vision for sustainable tech. The recap of the first part is summarised in the CAT's blog: Building a Shared Vision
In session 2, CAT members will have a chance to actively build a shared understanding of the systemic forces driving unsustainable tech, together using systems thinking. If you want to participate in understanding the current reality with other CAT systems change makers, register for the Systems Series 2 workshop. If you can't attend, you can keep contributing to the series by putting your thoughts on Miro and participate in discussions in the #systems-series channel.
š Code Green London June meetup [in-person]
RSVP on Meetup | Tuesday Jun 24th | 6:30-8:30pm BST
Join host and CAT volunteerĀ @April BatesĀ and hear fromĀ @Adam NewmanĀ about 'Digital Sustainability: measuring what matters, from data to decisions' and fromĀ @Mark BussĀ about 'Advocating for Digital Sustainability'. This is also a great opportunity to connect with otherĀ #local-londonĀ CATs - head to the channel and share whether you'll be there!
Want to see some local meet-ups in your city / region? Why not join the volunteering team as Local Meetup Organizer?
š Other local events
You can also meet CATs facilitating and participating at external events like theĀ Climate Fresk sessionĀ inĀ #local-san-francisco-bay-areaĀ on June 3rd, theĀ Green Tech ForumĀ inĀ #local-belgiumĀ on June 17-18,Ā Climate Action WeekĀ inĀ #local-londonĀ on June 21-29, orĀ Green IOĀ inĀ #local-munichĀ later in July. Simply coordinate with other CATs in the corresponding local channels.
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, June 13th. 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: Countries are quietly claiming Antarctica. Here's whyā¦
Antarctica has been an example of international cooperation for decades, but there are signs that change is coming with the melting ice.
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
Catalyst: How geothermal gets built
Geothermal seems to be nearing an inflection point. With rising load growth, clean, firm power is more valuable than ever. Next-gen geothermal players like Fervo Energy and Sage Geosystems are signing PPAs with major tech firms. Even U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright ā a known critic of renewables ā has praised the potential of geothermal.
So what does it actually take to develop a geothermal project ā and how are new tools reshaping the process?
House of Life: #006 - Veganism as a first principle... seriously?
Episode 6 begins with Tom's composting toilet being the great teacher of circular economics, leading to gardening tales ā "s**t tomatoes", invasive food, and a mysterious driveway pumpkin ā revealing how chaos in nature can be a key ally in sustainable living. Then he and Asim dive into the main focus of this episode. Tom proposes veganism as a first principle of sustainability, and Asim nearly falls off his chair laughing. It leads to a deep discussion of exploitation versus compassion as key factors in sustainability.
Zero, The Climate Race: The device throttling the world's electrified future
To slash emissions fast, the formula is simple: electrify everything and clean up the grid. But in practice, progress is slowed by all sorts of bottlenecks ā from arcane permitting processes to sky-high electricity costs. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi sits down with producer Oscar Boyd to spotlight a surprising culprit slowing the transition: a global shortage of transformers, and why it has industry insiders so worried. This episode kicks off Bottlenecks, a new series exploring the lesser known obstacles standing in the way of our electrified future.
Environment Variables: How to Explain Green Software to Normal People
Host Chris Adams speaks with James Martin about how to communicate the environmental impact of software to a general audience. Drawing on his background in journalism and sustainability communications, James shares strategies for translating complex digital sustainability issues into accessible narratives, explains why AI's growing resource demands require scrutiny, and highlights France's leadership in frugal AI policy and standards. From impact calculators to debunking greenwashing, this episode unpacks how informed storytelling can drive responsible tech choices.
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š Submitted events
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
Wednesday Jun 04, 2025 - PM Talk: Reducing Carbon Emissions in Consumer Products
In our "Product Manager's Perspective" meeting, weāll be talking to Mike Alcazaren, a sustainability-focused product leader helping decarbonize Amazon Devices & Services. His career spans over a decade across aerospace engineering and cleantech entrepreneurship.
Tuesday Jun 17, 2025 - Green Tech Forum Brussels
The event highlights innovative solutions in frugal AI, energy-efficient data centers, eco-friendly software development, green cloud computing, IT refurbishing, WEEE recycling, and more.
Saturday Jun 21, 2025 - London Climate Action Week
London Climate Action Week 2025:- 350+ Events, 45,000 attendees Themes; Building climate ambition on the road to COP30, Financing inclusive and resilient climate transition, Delivering a net zero and resilient London and UK, Mobilising Whole of Society Climate Action
Saturday Jun 21, 2025 - London Climate Action Week
London Climate Action Week mobilises Londonās unparalleled ecosystem of climate and non-climate organisations to accelerate global climate action and supports action in London to ensure it acts as a global climate leader.āÆāÆ9 days, 300+ Events, 45,000 attendees.
Thursday Jul 03, 2025 - Green IO Munich 2025
Apidays Munich and the Green IO podcast have partnered to bring you the first Green IO conference for the DACH region, packed with the latest insights from thought leaders in Tech Sustainability and hands-on feedback from practitioners scaling Green IT.
Sunday Jul 06, 2025 - Pacific Northwest Climate Week
Pacific Northwest Climate Week is a community-powered event series that unites individuals & organizations. Accelerates the fight against climate change. The week-long gathering brings together climate innovators, thought leaders, & enthusiasts from Seattle, Vancouver, & Portland
Sunday Aug 29, 2027 - Biodiversity Basics for Product Professionals
The products we build rely on and affect nature. This workshop will address: 1. What is biodiversity and why is it relevant for product professionals 2. What can you do & practical examples 3. Your takeaway: first biodiversity analysis along your product's value chain
š° News Highlights
USA Today: Hawaii becomes first US state to charge 'Green Fee' on tourists
Hawaii became the first U.S. state to establish a climate impact fee on Tuesday, placing an additional tax on tourists to fund climate change resiliency projects and environmental stewardship within the islands.
Sustainable Times: Europe's SMEs set to accelerate low-carbon tech adoption through ā¬200 million deal
The European Investment Fund (EIF) has taken a significant step toward accelerating the continent's green transition, unveiling a ā¬200 million guarantee agreement with BNP Paribas Leasing Solutions. This move is set to improve access to sustainable asset financing for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across France, Germany, Italy, and Spaināregions where the appetite for green innovation continues to grow, yet financing often falls short.
Sky News: More than 40% of Europe slides into drought, including pockets of Greece, southern Italy, and Spain
More than 40% of Europe is now in some form of drought, brewing trouble for farmers in northern Europe and firefighters in Greece, where "overtourism" is making matters worse.
Tech.EU: Ecosia levels up: new features let users track their climate impact in real time
The new experience enables users to see more clearly how their daily actions are having a wide-ranging impact on tackling the climate crisis.
The Guardian: AI could account for nearly half of datacentre power usage 'by end of year'
Artificial intelligence systems could account for nearly half of datacentre power consumption by the end of this year, analysis has revealed. The estimates by Alex de Vries-Gao, the founder of the Digiconomist tech sustainability website, came as the International Energy Agency forecast that AI would require almost as much energy by the end of this decade as Japan uses today.
Mashable: AI is helping rescue a nearly extinct bird species
A bioacoustics algorithm is helping conservationists locate the tooth-billed pigeon.
š Papers We Love š
University of Rhode Island, University of Tunis, Providence College: How Hungry is AI? Benchmarking Energy, Water, and Carbon Footprint of LLM Inference
This paper introduces a benchmarking framework to assess the environmental impact of large language model (LLM) inference across 30 models. By combining API performance data, regional environmental factors, and hardware inference, the study ranks models using Data Envelopment Analysis. Findings reveal major disparities in energy use, with some models vastly more resource-intensive.
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.
Green Coding Solutions GmbH - Green Software Developer - 70k-100k - Permanent or Freelance - Totally remote
We at Green Coding Solutions (Berlin, Germany) are hiring and looking for a Green Software Developer to join our team š
Key facts: - Small team dedicated to deliver specialized open source software solutions to help developers reduce carbon emissions of the digital world - Freelance, Part time or full time possible - No restriction days or hours per day - 70k-100k (EUR) for full-time equivalent depending on qualification - Fully remote but occasional need to be in Berlin for Meetups, conferences, client business (no more than 3 times per month) - Must be proficient in German (C1+)
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