The Climate Action Tech Newsletter - Issue Zero
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** Welcome to the first ever Climate Action Tech Newsletter!
You’re getting this newsletter, because you’ve joined the Climate Action Tech slack group. It’s a slack group, and it’s easy to miss stuff, so we’re experimenting with a summary newsletter to share some of the highlights.
In this, we’ll showcase some of the cooler projects people like you are working, share of the most interesting or inspiring links from our members this month, let you know about some interesting climate related events, and put a call to the CAT hivemind, to help out in building the Climate Action Tech Guide.
We’re still working out the format for this newsletter, and this is issue zero, so please, hit reply to this email to let us know what you’d want to see more of, and we’ll try to take it on board for the next issue.
** Project Showcase
Climate Choice (https://climatechoice.co/) from the impact maker gang, is a gorgeous site designed to give you an idea of what you can do right now, about the daily choices you make to help prevent climate breakdown.
Fund Climate Vote Database - brand new CAT member Eric McKay shared this this week. If you have a pension with work, or you work somewhere that invests money, you can now see a fund’s climate record , so when a CEO says one thing about contributing to society (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/15/business/dealbook/blackrock-laurence-fink-letter.html) , you can see what the fund is really doing (https://voting.greengovernance.org/) , and act accordingly.
Trase (https://trase.earth/) - a project that member Alvaro Leal has been working on. Trase maps out the supply chains that go into the things we use, so you can see the connections between rainforests and beef, palm oil and supermarkets, and so on. Watch the two minute video - it’s very cool.
Want to be featured here? Submit your project to the volunteer board project (https://airtable.com/shrcUEaJl7D46f9Tb) .
** Helping with the CAT guide
The topic of carbon offsets for air travel has come up in Slack a few times, so we’d like to put together a short guide to help others get started. Do you have experience with the offsetting travel? Does your company offset travel? If so, we’d love to hear your thoughts! DM @melissa to schedule a quick chat in slack.
You can also see the links in the current CAT guide, as well as submit ones yourself (http://climateaction.tech/guide/)
** Top 5 links from the slack
We end up with some really fantastic links shared in slack. These are the top 5 for this month.
The best books on climate change, chosen by actual experts on climate change (https://www.thereadinglists.com/best-books-on-climate-change/) - the Reading Lists website exists to provide the best curated lists of fiction and non-fiction books on a range of subjects. This is theirs on climate change. It’s good.
I am a climate abolitionist (https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/i-am-a-carbon-abolitionist/) - if there was one essay this year that does a good job of capturing the growing shift in sentiment around climate, it would be this one. It’s a 15 minute read, but it’s absolutely worth it.
An emerging climate code of conduct in tech (https://www.thecloudcast.net/2019/06/a-climate-code-of-conduct-for-events.html) - There are a lot of conferences in tech, and that makes for a lot of flying. For many people, also that’s where norms are formed. this podcast interview introduces using this idea in a Climate Code of Conduct, to extend compassion outside of a conference to think about the impacts of our daily working practices in tech.
How to declare a climate emergency in your company (https://pardot.bcorporation.net/climateemergencyplaybook) - this free playbook by B-Lab in the UK is informative, accessible, short and full of useful links and guidance. Worth a quick read.
Tacking Climate Change with Machine Learning (Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning) - finally, if you work in tech, this recent paper outlines some of the really high leverage places where there’s scope to apply machine learning for meaningful impact.
** Upcoming events
In addition to being an slack group, we also have physical and remote events - these are run by members or CAT organisers:
Anywhere in the world, from July 10th - CAT members, the Tech Impact Makers are starting a Climate Fixathon this week. (https://fixathon.io/) If you have a project, you can enter it to get some support, and win cash prizes.
In London, on July 11th - CAT friends 1010, are organising a roundable on the climate action, and to get feedback on new scheme for employers, to make low carbon travel easier for employees. It’s free and the 1010 group are absolute climate heroes. Sign up - Could you be a Climate Perks Pioneer? (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/could-you-be-a-climate-perks-pioneer-a-roundtable-with-1010-climate-action-tickets-64230784004)
In New York, on July 24th - there’s a workshop, Intimate Dilemmas in the Climate Crisis: Kids and Feelings about the Future (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/intimate-dilemmas-in-the-climate-crisis-kids-and-feelings-about-the-future-tickets-62954435411) .
In New York, on August 7th we have a physical CAT meetup. Join #local-new-york (https://climate-tech.slack.com/messages/CGKS4G6QJ) for more details. Shout out in #events if you’re up for organising one in your part of earth, too (https://climate-tech.slack.com/messages/CDH9TKPMM) .
In the Indian Standard time zone, August 9th - we’re running another Clean Coffee - a remote, interactive meetup to talk climate change and tech! Join #climate-lean-coffee (https://climate-tech.slack.com/messages/CFJFEEA0Y) for more, and see the previous ones for more info (https://medium.com/clean-coffee) .
In 6pm Central European Time, July 18th - CAT Show and Tell - there’s a fast growing roster of projects people are working on in this group, so we’re experimenting with having a recorded show and tell session, to help make a showcase of what we’re all up to, but also give folks a chance to get some valuable feedback. It’s free, and you can sign up on eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/e/cat-show-and-tell-tickets-65030242205) .
Want to organise or publicise an event? Join#events to chat, and work out where best to share it. (https://climate-tech.slack.com/messages/CDH9TKPMM)
** Help us help you
We had about 70 members in this slack last year, and we’re now at around 470 members. We’re trying to work out how to make it as useful as possible.
If you found this newsletter interesting or useful, please take 5 minutes to fill out this onboarding survey (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfMKntKL3Y0zqStrIsHhJlkMUZAxuPz1-Sg4iCjKVoGjlFxRw/viewform) - it’ll help us help you.
For extra points, please forward it to a friend - we need more of us to deliver some meaningful changes, because as Bill Nye says, this is an actual crisis.
** OK, you made it!
How was this? Too long? Too short? What do you want to see more of? We’re looking for guest newsletter editors, so if you’re up for making the next one of these, hit reply!
Stay cool, CATs.
Chris (and the rest of the CAT organising crew)
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