🌍 CAT Newsletter 290 - 2025-10-26
Hey CATs,
Welcome to issue 291 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.
We're excited to announce the kickoff of our Responsible AI event series on October 29th! Sign up for the first workshop, Designing Responsibly in the Age of AI, on lu.ma. More details below.
There is also an opportunity to participate in setting software carbon intensity specifications with the Green Software Foundation. Links are in the Get Involved section.
Remember you can unsubscribe from this newsletter at any time - the link is at the bottom.
Stay curious 😌💚🐱
CAT Community News
🙋 Get involved with Responsible AI month at CAT
Apply for a CAT mini grant to get some funds for a community-benefitting project
Join the Slack volunteering team as a Slack moderator or introductions volunteer
#️⃣ Slack channel highlights
#3-questions-and-ideas: Make the most of our 'Responsible AI' channel theme and vote for which area of Responsible AI interests you most, answer 'What ethical considerations do you think about most when using AI?', or ask questions on this topic
#culture-society: Earlier in the month M posted an article titled 'The curious, intertwined history of climate and digital rights activism' and M shared an article on why it matters that 'The words we use to talk about nature are disappearing' which a bunch of CATs have responded to in the thread
#greener-infra: I is wondering whether anyone else is thinking about the AI infrastructure bubble bursting and what that would look like in terms of excess data centre "stuff "?
📅 Upcoming CAT events
Wed, Oct 29th - Workshop: Designing Responsibly in the Age of AI [online]
November - We're planning some local roundtables on the topic of Responsible - get involved
Local events were shared in #local-chicago and #local-germany
🍩 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, Oct 31st. More info.
Media, events, and news
😺 CAT recommendations
▶️ CAT videos
10-15 minute videos providing accessible explainers to climate related issues.
PBS Terra: We Just Crossed Our FIRST Tipping Point… And It's NOT What You Think
Scientists just released the 2025 Global Tipping Points Report. And they say we've already crossed our first major tipping point, but it's not what you think. From melting ice sheets to collapsing ocean currents, these sudden, irreversible changes could reshape the planet in ways we can't undo. But what does it really mean to cross a tipping point? How do we know we've crossed one? And how close are we to triggering others?
🎤 Podcasts
The latest climate-related podcast episodes. Don't forget, if you're looking around, there's a list of podcasts maintained by CATs - and there's a full playlist of all the podcast episodes shared in this newsletter in 2025 so far, on ListenNotes.
Renewable Energy Smartpod: Are AI Data Centers the New Power Centers?
One of the hottest topics these days -- not just in the energy sector, but across the entire economy -- is the anticipated energy demand from AI data centers. In an effort to separate the signal from the noise, Jeffrey Jakubiak, a partner at Vinson & Elkins, stops by the show to share his insights on the specific load demands AI data centers place on the grid. Perhaps most importantly, Jeffrey also discusses whether or not the US will be able to overcome a smorgasbord of challenges in order to build out enough generation capacity to meet that demand.
Techologie: #98 Tracer des chemins de redirection du numérique avec Martin Deron
Responsable du défi numérique à l'université de Montreal, Martin Deron est aussi Doctorant à l'université de Concordia et mène ses recherches sur la redirection du numérique en connaissance des limites planétaires.
Martin Deron, Head of Digital Challenges at the University of Montreal, is also a doctoral student at Concordia University and is conducting research on the redirection of digital technology, in the context of planetary boundaries.
Green IO: #67 Can we be optimistic about AI sustainability? With Iuna Tsyrulneva
The potential impact of Artificial Intelligence on our worsening climate crisis is certainly a hot topic, pardon the pun.
Fortunately, we have an expert on today's show to help us make sense of it all. Iuna Tsyrulneva is one of the leading voices in AI and sustainability. Well versed on both topics, Iuna holds a PhD in materials science, and works at Earth Observatory of Singapore with an interdisciplinary approach. She's full of interesting insights, and brings a dynamic approach to thinking about the larger issue.
Climate Curious: Why charismatic megafaunas are vital ecosystem engineers
"Elephants are some of the last megafauna we have left. And without them we are kind of screwed," says Dr. Julia Shaw on the latest 'Climate Curious on Crime'. Tune in with Julia and co-hosts Ben Hurst and Maryam Pasha as they discuss the role of megafauna in engineering ecosystems, what charismatic megafauna bias is, and how international ivory poaching bans have helped elephant populations bounce back.
Catalyst: Five big questions about the future of energy
AI. It's the driving force behind much of the change and uncertainty in the energy world right now, from the error bars around our demand for electricity to the lineup of technologies vying to meet that demand.
In this episode Shayle talks to his colleague Andy Lubershane, head of research and partner at Energy Impact Partners, about five big questions arising in this uncertain load-growth environment.
Springboard: AI's Double-Edged Sword- Navigating Environmental Impact and Opportunity
Host Ahlia Bethea dives into the urgent and complex intersection of artificial intelligence and environmental sustainability with guests Shaolei Ren (Associate Professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of California, Riverside) and Will Kletter (COO at ClimateAi). Together, they explore the environmental costs and transformative potential of AI, from the resource demands of large language models to the promise of predictive modeling in enhancing climate resilience.
📅 Submitted events
Want an event listed here? Use this event listing form to submit the details so we can add it in the newsletter.
📅 CAT Workshop: Designing Responsibly in the Age of AI
Wednesday, October 29th | 16:00 - 17:30 GMT
Zoom 📩 RSVP https://luma.com/2cf0sfmc
Through stories, small-group reflection and hands-on exercises we'll examine and discuss how AI is showing up in our work, and what we can do to shape it with a bit more care, curiosity and conscience. You don't need to be an AI expert (in fact, that's the point). This session is open to the public, invite your colleagues! Led by CAT member Paolo Rizzi, Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability Principal at ustwo.
Thursday Nov 13, 2025 - ecoCompute Conference 2025
Full Programm Released
The ecoCompute conference coming up in November 2025 has just released it's full two day program .
It will feature three tracks:
Software & Hardware
Data Centers / Infrastructure / Management
Community Track
as well as hands-on workshops.
Thursday Dec 11, 2025 - Startup Tank: Climate Edition
Join us for the next edition of 4WARD's Startup Tank Climate Investor Pitch — the premier platform where vetted climate tech founders pitch live to a global panel of leading climate VCs and investors.
📰 News Highlights
Le Monde: French court convicts TotalEnergies of greenwashing over climate claims
Judges ruled on Thursday that the energy giant had misled consumers by overstating its carbon neutrality goals. The case could set a potential precedent for corporate climate advertising.
The case could set a legal precedent for the kind of environmental claims corporations, which are starting to face tighter regulations in the European Union, can make.
ESG Today: EU Parliament Rejects Agreement to Cut Sustainability Reporting and Due Diligence Laws
Lawmakers in the European Parliament rejected a compromise agreement on forming its negotiating position on the EU Commission's Omnibus I, which would have seen more significant reductions in the EU's sustainability reporting and due diligence regulations than those proposed by the Commission, but less than those proposed by right-wing parties.
CEBA: The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Opens Two Public Consultations- why it matters
As of Monday, Oct. 20, stakeholders have 60 calendar days to weigh in on the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol's proposed updates to the Scope 2 Guidance and an emerging consequential accounting method While the proposed Scope 2 Guidance maintains many aspects of the previous version, the draft introduces stricter temporal and spatial granularity reporting requirements. Feedback will inform further revisions before the final publication of the new standard in 2027.
CNET: Your AI Videos Use Way More Energy Than Chatbots. It's a Big Problem
There's a high energy cost to generative AI. But even the massive amount of energy needed to train and operate the large language models pales in comparison to what's required to run the video models which are flooding our social media feeds with goofy fake clips.
Oceanographic: Fiji's cyclone-ravaged coral reefs show "remarkable recovery"
A study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the University of the South Pacific has found that coral reefs severely damaged by Category 5 Tropical Cyclone Winston in 2016 have made a significant comeback.
Air Quality News: New tool reveals how facilities expose 1.6 billion people to dangerous air pollution
A new tool has been launched by global nonprofit Climate TRACE, allowing users to watch in real time how plumes of harmful air pollution flow out of facilities and into more than 2,500 urban areas worldwide. The interactive platform visualises PM2.5, allowing people to see how pollution from power plants, ports, refineries, mines and heavy industry is carried into the air breathed by more than 1.6 billion people, with the worst impacts concentrated in global megacities.
BBC: The liquid air alternative to fossil fuels
An overlooked technology for nearly 50 years, the first liquid air energy storage facility is finally set to power up in 2026. It's hoping to compete with grid-scale lithium batteries and hydro to store clean power, and reduce the need to fall back on fossil fuels.
💚 Papers We Love 💚
APRI: Youth inclusion in green technology in Africa - A policy landscape analysis of Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana
Active youth engagement and access to green technology are crucial for African economies to achieve net-zero targets. However, current policy and investment gaps are hindering youth involvement in this area.
💼 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.
Thalo Labs - Director of Software Engineering and Machine Learning - $190,000-$240,000K - Permanent - Onsite only
Thalo Labs is looking for a Director of Software Engineering and Machine Learning to join us in our mission to change the landscape of HVAC Infrastructure and transform the built environment into a carbon sink!
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