🌍 CAT Newsletter 282 - 2025-08-24
Hey CATs
Welcome to issue 282 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
✏️ From the blog
A new Climate Careers profile is up: See how @Clifton Reddy, a software engineer, advocates for climate through teaching & advancing sustainable software principles.
🙋 Looking for Slack channel hosts
In the CAT Volunteering team we're looking for more hands on deck with Slack channel hosting (more info). In particular, we're looking for hosts for: #2-greener-tech, #greener-ai, #greener-data, #green-teams, #greener-design
🍩 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, September 5th. More info.
Media, events, and news
😺 CAT recommendations
🌱 A cutting from Branch
Branch issue 9: Finding Harmony between Business and Sustainability with Grid-Aware Computing
With the latest issue Branch magazine out, it's time to bring back a cutting of Branch, where each week we feature a single piece from the magazine by and for people who dream of a just and sustainable internet for all.
Our pick from issue 9 this week is Finding Harmony between Business and Sustainability with Grid-Aware Computing, from CAT member Michael Oghia, James Hobbs, and Andy Eva Dale, on how translating digital sustainability into a language stakeholders and shareholders in a business can understand.
▶️ CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
PBS Terra: When Will The World Run Out of Water?
A Bloomberg investigation found China is building a small city of AI data centers in a remote desert and looking to buy 115,000 of Nvidia's best chips to power them despite a US export ban. There's a construction boom under way on the edge of the Gobi desert in Xinjiang; Xinjiang, and especially the Hami region which includes Yiwu County, is rich in wind and solar energy, as well as abundant in coal, offering a ready source of affordable power.
🎤 Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs
Green IO: #62 Thirsty datacenters in the heart of Silicon Valley with Masheika Allgood
A month ago, Google released its 2024 sustainability report. Its overall water consumption increased by 28% in a year. Less publicized than the data center energy boom, water is also pivotal for the Tech industry and data is even scarcer.
To better understand this secret but serious love affair between big tech and water, what better location to investigate than its birth place? Yes. THE silicon valley. And no one there is better qualified to explore the topic than Masheika Allgood who lives in Santa Clara and recently created a Data Center Water Consumption Calculator based on public data.
Environment Variables: The Week in Green Software - AI Energy Scores & Leaderboards
Host Chris Adams is joined by Asim Hussain to explore the latest news from The Week in Green Software. They look at Hugging Face's AI energy tools, Mistral's lifecycle analysis, and the push for better data disclosure in the pursuit for AI sustainability. They discuss how prompt design, context windows, and model choice impact emissions, as well as the role of emerging standards like the Software Carbon Intensity for AI, and new research on website energy use.
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.
The Impact Equation: Mikela Druckman, CEO & Cofounder, Greyparrot AI
Mikela Druckman is the visionary Co-Founder and CEO of Greyparrot - a groundbreaking company transforming waste management through cutting-edge AI and waste analytics. Under Mikela's leadership, Greyparrot has earned global accolades, making the World Economic Forum's "Tech Pioneer" list, the Global Cleantech 100, and Fast Company's "Most Innovative Companies" of 2025 all while accelerating progress toward a more sustainable and circular future.
Consider This from NPR: It's not your imagination. Hurricanes are getting more severe.
In August of 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, leaving more than 1300 people dead and becoming the most expensive hurricane in history with overall economic losses estimated at $125 billion. It was also a harbinger of what would happen to hurricanes in the years to follow, as climate change would make them an increasingly powerful and a regular threat. NPR Alejandra Borunda explains how the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina spurred a better understanding of these intensifying storms and a improved storm preparedness.
📅 Submitted events
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
Monday Aug 25, 2025 - Portfolio Tips and Tricks: Climate Career Switchers
In this session, we will be doing a live portfolio redesign for a member of our community. The purpose of this session is to show you (not tell you) how to craft a beautiful portfolio that lands with employers and to connect you with others face who similar challanges to you.
Tuesday Aug 26, 2025 - DIGITAL IMPACT PITCH : Discover the impact of digital & AI on our lives and planet + how to act !
The Digital Impact Pitch is a 60 to 90 minute interactive conference based on visual storytelling which gives you the BIG PICTURE around Digital & Tech evolution, risks, consequences on planet & people and new ways to look at digital with more future-proofed practices.
Thursday Aug 28, 2025 - Design it. Prove it. Promote it: Practical LCA Tools for Materials, Manufacturing, and Marketing Teams
This free webinar is for product innovators - engineers, sustainability managers, marketers, and those simply interested in making better product decisions! We’ll show you how to use Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to analyze and communicate your product’s environmental impact.
Tuesday Sep 02, 2025 - Portfolio Tips and Tricks: Climate Career Switcher
In this session, we will be doing a live portfolio redesign for a member of our community, Ely, who is hoping to apply their copywriting / social media marketing skills to jobs in the sustainability space.
Tuesday Sep 02, 2025 - Portfolio Tips and Tricks
In this session, we will be doing a live portfolio redesign for a member of our community. The purpose of this session is to show you (not tell you) how to craft a beautiful portfolio that lands with employers and to connect you with others who face similar challenges to you.
Thursday Sep 04, 2025 - The Customer Traction Lab – A 3-Part Workshop Series
A hands-on series for climate and sustainability innovators to use behavioral science to spot and fix friction in the customer journey. Apply tactics to your own business and learn from peers. First session: Sept 4
Thursday Sep 04, 2025 - Sustainability Essentials for Professionals
AimHi Earth would love to invite you and your team to join our free Sustainability Essentials for Professionals session, a live and interactive 90-minute crash-course designed to boost clarity, confidence and momentum around sustainability 🌿
Monday Sep 08, 2025 - VC-Founder Climate Matchup
Announcing the 2025 Climate Tech VC-Founder Matchup, with meetings taking place online between Sept 8th (Monday) to Sept 12th (Friday). Read more - https://sosv.com/announcing-sosvs-vc-founder-climate-tech-matchup-sept-8-12/
Tuesday Sep 09, 2025 - Doubling Your Startup's Runway: Survival Strategies for a Tough Funding Climate
💰 Facing startup funding challenges in 2025's tough climate? Sept 9, 4pm CEST Join Cornelius Schmahl & Matt Ward for battle-tested runway extension strategies. .
Learn cash conservation, alt funding & emergency fundraising tactics.
FREE!
Tuesday Sep 09, 2025 - Portfolio Tips and Tricks
In this session, we will be doing a live portfolio redesign for a member of our community. The purpose of this session is to show you (not tell you) how to craft a beautiful portfolio that lands with employers and to connect you with others who face similar challenges to you.
Wednesday Sep 17, 2025 - Agilists4Planet Conference - Grounded in Hope
Are you curious about how you could contribute to a brighter future for humanity? Come join us to get inspired by real-world stories, learn about impactful ways to use your skills, and solve problems together.
Thursday Sep 18, 2025 - Agilists4Planet Conference - Grounded in Hope
Are you curious about how you could contribute to a brighter future for humanity? Come join us to get inspired by real-world stories, learn about impactful ways to use your skills, and solve problems together.
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.
📰 News Highlights
MIT Technology Review: In a first, Google has released data on how much energy an AI prompt uses
Google has just released a technical report detailing how much energy its Gemini apps use for each query. The company also provided average estimates for the water consumption and carbon emissions associated with a text prompt to Gemini. It's the most transparent estimate yet from a Big Tech company with a popular AI product, and the report includes detailed information about how the company calculated its final estimate.
Ketan Joshi: Big tech’s selective disclosure masks AI’s real climate impact
And the alternative take: What seems like a massive step for transparency and disclosure must be seen in the context of the absence of anything before it. Coming off a baseline of disclosing nothing, the industry can now choose to carefully set the narrative around precisely what they desire and get accolades for doing so.
Lets dig into the problems with what has been presented.
African Mining Market: Africa's Mineral Wealth and Digital Transformation
Africa holds 30% of the globe's mineral resources, and 19% of the reserves of essential metals for modern energy infrastructure. The shift toward electrification and clean energy depends heavily on raw materials such as copper, silicon, lithium, and these operations demand advanced solutions.
BBC: Data centres to be expanded across UK as concerns mount
The number of data centres in the UK is set to increase by almost a fifth, according to figures shared with BBC News. Data centres are giant warehouses full of powerful computers used to run digital services from movie streaming to online banking - there are currently an estimated 477 of them in the UK.
Discover Wildlife: 61 black mambas captured in African city. Here's what experts found in their scales – and why it matters
A new study has revealed that Africa's most deadly snake, the black mamba, accumulates heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium and mercury in its scales. The discovery means scientists can now monitor environmental health by taking harmless scale clippings from the venomous reptiles.
Tech For Good: Achieving Climate-Friendly Low-Carbon Rice through Digital Innovations
Climate change and global disruptions undeniably affect Asia's rice production. Although stakeholders strive to develop solutions, they have only attained small-scale pilots to date. This article offers a perspective on the significance of a digital innovation hub for a more sustainable tomorrow.
The Register: Google agrees to pause AI workloads to protect the grid when power demand spikes
Google will pause non-essential AI workloads in Indiana and Tennessee to protect power grids, the advertising giant announced on Monday. The web giant already does this sort of thing for non-essential workloads like processing YouTube vids, which it moves to datacenters where power is available rather than continuing to run them in places demand for energy strains the grid.
💼 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.
People Powered Retrofit Coop - Software Developer - £39,000 - £43,500 (Full time) - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok
We're looking for an experienced software developer to join our team. You will play a key role in improving and evolving our modelling platform, which involves integrating elements of building physics so that trained assessors are able to generate various retrofit scenarios.
Ambitious Impact - Non-profit Entrepreneur — Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program - This is a fully funded training program with no fees. Participants receive a stipend of approximately £1,900 per month, with flexibility for those who may need more (or less) support based on their personal circumstances. Post-Program Salary: After the program, founder salaries depend on the seed funding secured, generally ranging from £100,000 to £150,000. Most founders set their own salaries between £30,000 and £45,000, depending on individual financial needs. - Permanent -
Want to work on high-impact climate interventions? Launch your own charity through our fully funded Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program. In just two months, you’ll get training, funding, and mentorship to start an organisation tackling global inequalities at scale.
Too many charity jobs focus on fundraising over real impact. We help founders create field-leading nonprofits that solve major problems efficiently. Since launch, we’ve started 50+ organisations improving the lives of 1B+ animals and reaching 75M+ people.
Our research team invests 5,000+ hours annually identifying top solutions. Charities from our program have gained recognition from funders like the Gates Foundation, USAID, Open Philanthropy, and GiveWell. For example, Giving Green, founded in 2020 with $60K, has since raised $31.8M for high-impact climate nonprofits.
Program Dates: - Spring: Feb 9 – Apr 5, 2026 - Summer: Aug – Sep, 2026
Apply by Sep 21, 2025 at charityentrepreneurship.com!
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