July 20, 2025

🌍 CAT Newsletter 277 - 2025-07-20

Hey CATs,

Welcome to issue 277 of the ClimateAction.tech (CAT) Newsletter - your weekly summary of what's happening inside the CAT Slack community (join here and check out our onboarding checklist), and in the wider world of climate and tech.

Remember you can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time - the link is at the bottom.

Stay curious 😌💚🐱

CAT Community News

#️⃣ Channel highlights

#3-questions-and-ideas: A and O have been chatting about how to report GHG accouting for digital emissions in this thread

#greener-data-ai: D shared an article shining a light on Big Tech and Big Oil - have a read and share your thoughts in the thread (a few years back we had a CAT Salon talk on this topic as well - watch the recording here)

Also check out the recent posts in #share-your-work!

💬 Discuss & connect on Slack

• O is asking in #greener-marketing 'What do you think about using website badges to highlight that your website is using an eco-friendly web host'? Share your thoughts
• Brand-new CATs A, A, S and D introduced themselves in #1-announcements this week! Head to the channel to get to know them and say hi!

📅 Meet CATs at local events

Wed, Jul 23 - #local-london: Code Green London x CAT x Climate Play meetup where we'll use LEGO to explore the Future of Tech

🍩 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, July 25th. More info.

Media, events, and news

😺 CAT recommendations

▶️ CAT videos

10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.

Planet A: This is what's holding back electric cars

Even the most EV-crazed countries can have so-called charging deserts where your electric car could run out of juice any minute. Why were these areas overlooked? And how do we get charging stations there?

🎤 Podcasts

The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs

Energ'Ethic: Ensuring Accountability in Corporate Climate Strategies

What ignites a lifelong passion for climate justice and energy transition? For Shana Gallagher, it was the haunting beauty of the ocean and the stark realization of how human actions can devastate marine ecosystems. Join host Marine Cornelis as she delves into the inspiring journey of Shana, the Dynamic Net Zero Engagement Manager at the British Standards Institution (BSI). Shana's transformation from political activism in the U. S. to a pivotal role in the private sector underscores the essential need for corporate engagement in achieving ambitious net-zero emissions targets.

Téchologie: La réalité ouvrière du numérique avec Bela Loto, Agnès Crépet et Fabrice Warneck

Le 11 juin 2025 à Paris, l'association Point de MIR organisait une conférence sur la réalité ouvrière du numérique, avec comme personnes intervenantes : Bela Loto, présidente de Point de MIR et animatrice de la conférence, Agnès Crepet, responsable de l'ingénierie logicielle de Fairphone et Fabrice Warneck, ancien d'Electronics Watch et actuel directeur et fondateur de Indewo, qui travaille sur le droit du travail des ouvriers. Merci à l'association Point de MIR de la mise à disposition de cet enregistrement pour une diffusion via le podcast Techologie.

On June 11, 2025, in Paris, the Point de MIR association organised a conference on the working-class reality of the digital world, featuring the following speakers: Bela Loto, President of Point de MIR and host of the conference; Agnès Crepet, Head of Software Engineering at Fairphone; and Fabrice Warneck, former member of Electronics Watch and current Director and Founder of Indewo, which works on labour rights for workers.

Zero: How to fight against Trump's attack on clean energy

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cuts almost $500 billion in US clean-energy spending, just as the country was starting to get serious about its climate goals. Some say the country is acting like a petrostate, waging war against clean energy. Others are more sanguine and believe that the US will stay the course in the long term. This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi is joined by Jigar Shah, a clean energy expert and former head of the Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office, to make sense of the bill's impacts, and whether it's as bad for climate as it seems.

Outrage + Optimism: Planes, Protests, Pensions... and have banks given up on saving the planet?

Can a pilot really be the change-maker who helps us to holiday nearer home? Why aren't governments and institutions doing more to help climate activists? And can climate progress happen without sacrificing prosperity, especially in countries like Brazil? Christiana Figueres, Paul Dickinson and guest host Fiona McRaith (Director of The Climate Pledge at Global Optimism) are back with more of the knottiest and most urgent questions you've ever sent us. Plus: are the world's biggest financial institutions abandoning climate action?

📅 Submitted events

Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.

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Tuesday Jul 22, 2025 - Portfolio Tips and Tricks

Building a portfolio is like trying to hit a moving target. Every job is looking for something different, so how can you ensure you're resonating with your target audience? In this session, we’re going to break down how to build a portfolio that leaves a great first impression.

Wednesday Sep 24, 2025 - Green IO London 2025

Green IO and apidays London have partnered to gather 350+ responsible technologists to answer a simple question requiring complex answers:

"Good for the Planet, Good for Business?"

Hosted by Apidays, this takes place on September 23 to 24, 2025 in etc.venues, 155 Bishopsgate.

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

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📰 News Highlights

WEF: How AI use impacts the environment and what you can do about it

Much of the public discourse around AI centres around cybersecurity and such issues, but its environmental impact also needs to be considered. While AI and the data centres it relies on use large amounts of energy and water, the technology can also be used to help tackle climate change. By adopting practical strategies, there are actionable steps that organizations can take to align their AI strategies and sustainability goals.

Good: These 4 high-tech inventions are giving Mother Nature a fighting chance at a brighter future

Science continues to come up with new ways to help the environment. You might have heard of plastic eating algae. Maybe you know about giant machines pulling CO2 out of the air. But there are some new technologies and older ones that are showing unexpected value when it comes to protecting the environment.

GoodNewsNetwork: 10,000 Young Corals Grown in Just Weeks by New Portable Spawning Lab in the Maldives

In the Maldives, a mobile coral spawning system has been trialed with scintillating success, as 10,000 juvenile corals were grown by local operators. It represents not only a major hope that island nations can abate the loss of coral reefs, but also that the spawning system's $1.5 million grant investment was well-spent, and that an expansion in production of the technology could well be warranted.

ThinkChina: Water and energy demands behind Asia's data centre boom

Data centres are fast becoming the backbone of Southeast Asia's digital ambitions — but their soaring demand for electricity and water threatens to trigger a sustainability crisis. Driven by national digitalisation strategies, rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI), and booming cloud computing, the Southeast Asian region is accelerating its data infrastructure buildout. These facilities — critical for AI training, big data processing and digital services — are now central to Southeast Asia's economic competitiveness and technological growth.

CHEManager: Green Tech Africa – Nature's Answer to Industrial Waste

A start-up from Congo developed an organic absorbent fibre from a local invasive plant, the water hyacinth, to clean up oil spills. Their solution addresses two problems at the same time: an environmental pest and pollution by oil spills, which both contribute to lowering the quality of life in coastal communities.

💚 Papers We Love 💚

Huggingface, Salesforce et al: Misinformation by Omission: The Need for More Environmental Transparency in AI

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) models have grown in size and complexity, driving greater demand for computational power and natural resources. In parallel to this trend, transparency around the costs and impacts of these models has decreased, meaning that the users of these technologies have little to no information about their resource demands and subsequent impacts on the environment. This paper explores pervasive myths and misconceptions shaping public understanding of AI's environmental impacts, tracing their origins and their spread in both the media and scientific publications.

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.

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Vizzuality - Business Development Sustainability - €27,000 – €35,000 Eur a year - Permanent - Totally remote

Hiring / Business Development Sustainability

Do you have experience in Sustainability, ESG, business development, and client relationships? If yes, you might be our next team member!

🔍 Role: Business Development - Sustainability 📍 Remote work (Spain, Portugal, UK) 💼 Full-time or part-time (min. 80% dedication) 💰 Salary range: €27,000 – €35,000, depending on experience

🌍 At Vizzuality, we design and develop data-driven tools and applications for international organizations that focus on Climate Change, Biodiversity, and Inequality. Our teams are passionate, values-driven, and committed to making meaningful change.

Why work with us?

• ✅ Work on projects that tackle climate change & environmental justice.
• ✅ Flexible hours, generous holiday, and remote work.
• ✅ A culture rooted in autonomy, care, and collaboration.

Overstory - Senior Product Designer - 130k-200k depending on location - Permanent - Totally remote

Helping to build an AI climate resiliency platform for electric utilities. We use remote sensing data (satellite, aerial...) to pinpoint risky locations alongside a utility network and help them reduce the risk of a wildfire or power outage.

Openestead - Founding Engineer - £55k-£65k - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok

Openstead is an early-stage climate finance startup. Our mission is to mobilise funding that protects the places we live and work from climate risk.

Following the development of our MVP with industry support and funding, we are now looking to expand on our product to help insurers and property investors manage climate risk across their property portfolios.

Urban flooding risk is causing billions in losses for insurers and property investors. While climate adaptation is an urgent priority, nature-based solutions in cities—despite their proven effectiveness—remain drastically underfunded because their financial benefits to asset owners and insurers are difficult to quantify. This disconnect leaves billions in urban assets vulnerable and insurance incorrectly priced.

Our ambition is to make urban nature-based solutions into a mainstream investment class by providing the financial intelligence needed to scale green infrastructure as essential climate infrastructure.

Yottar - Full Stack Engineer - £70-100k + generous equity - Permanent - Totally remote

Yottar is a startup on a mission to speed up the shift to clean energy. We’re building a SaaS platform that helps energy developers figure out where they can connect new infrastructure - like EV chargers, batteries, or solar - to the electricity grid.

Right now, one of the biggest blockers to building the infrastructure we need for net zero is grid congestion. We’re focused on solving this - helping developers see where there’s spare capacity on the grid, and plan smarter, faster projects as a result.

We're looking for an experienced Full Stack Engineer who's excited to build something from the ground up. You'll get to shape both the product and how we build it. The ideal candidate is someone who happy making decisions, owning solutions end-to-end and working with a high degree of autonomy.

Our tech stack is boring: Django, Python, PostGIS and we're proud of that.

The deadline for applications is 16th July

GovTech (Government Technology Agency of Singapore) - Senior/Lead Product Manager - (assumed $8-10K per month) - Contract - Flexible - remote ok

this product has two goals. - key goal — help gov agencies reduce their resource consumption (e.g. elec, water, fuel, waste), through accessible data and actionable insights. - sub goal — walk-the-talk in our product’s digital design and SWE process; document learnings; share with the rest of SG gov 💚. --- so we can get buy-in to green more SG gov’s digital services 🥹

you’ll be part of a team that’s building a tool to: - gather relevant data, help gov agencies more easily and quickly understand what actions they can take. and importantly, - humanise the data to nudge gov officers to take action 💪🏽.

JOIN ME PLEASE!!! (cos i'm currently a one-pax team 😂 we're in the midst of forming the team!)

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