Hey CATs,

Welcome to issue 317 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

In her post Fiona writes about how CATs met in #local-switzerland for the 3rd edition of the Zurich Hackathon

Read the post

❤️ Help a CAT

G would love to hear from other software engineers (or people working in tech) about how you're creating impact today, or which companies and organizations you'd recommend applying to in the climate space. Reply to Gus

B asked for cloud storage provide recommendations. Share your recommendation

G is looking for NGOs focussed on making the tech industry greener based in #local-spain. Share an NGO

#️⃣ Slack conversation highlights

#3-questions-and-ideas: P is asking for thoughts about degrowth. Do you think that creating and selling new eco-products could be worse than not creating and selling anything at all? Share your thoughts

#cat-book-club: S shared a quote from Empire of AI

#greener-ai: G, S and A shared articles like Why 'open AI' models are gaining ground on LLMs and resources like the AI Resist List and a resource for unions and labour organisations fighting AI and automation at work. Share your thoughts by replying their messages in the #greener-ai channel

📅 CAT events (see all)

Wed, Jun 3 - CAT Town Hall - learn about ongoing and upcoming projects, where CAT is heading, and meet the new CAT Organisers

🍩 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 5th. More info

Media, events, and news

▶️ CAT videos

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

PBS Terra: The Perfect Storm Hasn't Happened Yet. But It Will.

After two devastating hurricanes in two decades, New York City is racing to prepare for the true superstorm, one that combines the storm surge of Sandy with the record rainfall of Ida. The innovation and investment are unprecedented but the warming climate is quickly raising the sea level, and the stakes.

The Perfect Storm Hasn't Happened Yet. But It Will.

🎤 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 this year so far, on ListenNotes - catch up with last year's here!

Green IO: AI & Sustainability - follow the money! with Boris Gamazaychikov and Sasha Luccioni | #79

What if the biggest barrier to sustainable AI isn't carbon — it's the economics? ... again! On today's episode of Green IO, Gaël is joined by Boris Gamazaychikov and Sasha Luccioni, two leading voices at the intersection of AI, energy, and sustainability, who recently left their roles at major tech companies to tackle these questions head-on. Together they unpack the financial architecture driving the AI infrastructure boom — and why understanding the money is the key to understanding everything else.

The AI Sustainability Podcast: AI, creativity, and sustainable communities with Steve Diasio

In this episode of the AI Sustainability Podcast, host Nina Benoit speaks with Steve Diasio, founder of the School of Creativity and Innovation, about the intersection of AI, creativity, and sustainable communities. They discuss how he is currently leveraging AI to transform part of his city in St Pete, Florida based on community stories and collaboration.

The Peggy Smegley Show: The Next Decade of Smart Infrastructure

Peggy shares why the next 10 years may define the future of infrastructure more than the last 10. She says the question is not whether the technology is coming, but rather the bigger question we need to be asking is if our infrastructure is ready for it.

Environment Variables: Carbon Debt, Energy Smells, and the Missing Water Story in AI

Live from Green IO, Tzviya and Kate are joined by Niki Manoledaki and Susannah Hill as they share highlights and key takeaways from the conference, exploring how sustainability is becoming a bigger priority across the tech industry. From practical engineering strategies to broader conversations around AI, infrastructure, and digital responsibility, the episode captures the energy of the event while unpacking what these discussions mean for developers and organizations trying to build greener software.

Catalyst: A blueprint for scalable fusion power

For years, the prospect of commercial nuclear fusion felt a long way off. But recent breakthroughs—like Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's historic 2022 net energy gain—have marked a new chapter in the quest for fusion. Proving the physics in a lab, however, is a lot different than building a power plant that can compete on the open grid. Massive hurdles remain across physics, financing, and scaling.

In this episode, host Shayle Kann sits down with Carrie von Muench, COO of Pacific Fusion and a former venture capitalist. Carrie brings a unique, investor-minded perspective to this singular challenge.

Thinking on Paper: Lithium and Copper Mining - The Environmental Cost of the Energy Transition

Lithium and copper mining are central to the energy transition. From EV batteries and grid storage to copper wiring, solar power, wind turbines, and data centers, these minerals are essential.

But the environmental costs of mining, especially water use, local pollution, biodiversity loss, and community impact, are still difficult to measure.

Zero: Reform UK's plan to end decades of climate action

Reform UK is currently the most popular party in Britain. If voted into government, it wants to end all subsidies for renewable energy, ban battery energy storage, end net-zero targets, drill for more oil and gas in the North Sea and encourage fracking on British soil.

This week on Zero, Akshat Rathi asks Reform's deputy leader Richard Tice about the party's climate and energy plans, and why he calls it "net stupid zero." 

📅 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 03, 2026 - Charging Forward: What's Next for EVs and Vehicle-to-Grid Innovation

The EV industry is evolving from transportation into connected energy assets. Join Climate Conscious Leaders to explore bidirectional charging, V2G innovation, policy challenges, and emerging opportunities.

Thursday Jun 04, 2026 - Climate Scaling Summit: Financing the Full Capital Stack

Calling all startups! Join LACI climate programs @ BATWorks, Urban Future Lab (UFL) at NYU Tandon, and the ClimateTech Expertise Network (CTEN) to meet 1-1 with climate financiers, their resources, and opportunities.

Tuesday Jun 09, 2026 - CiviCamp Birmingham

A practical one-day conference for anyone that uses or is interested in using CiviCRM (the open source CRM for non profits and similar). With a few sessions focused on case studies from sustainability and environmental charities - see https://brm2026.civicrm.org/sessions/

Thursday Jun 11, 2026 - Ask a Chief Product Officer -- Office Hours for Climate Tech Founders

Office hours for ClimateTech founders & CEOs navigating MVPs, traction, and early product-market fit. Get direct feedback from Renee Davis, Fractional CPO and 5x Head of Product with 16+ years scaling SaaS across startups, unicorns, and Fortune 500s.

Friday Jun 19, 2026 - Pixel Pioneers Bristol

Pixel Pioneers, a conference for front-end developers and UX/UI designers, this year features a talk on designing and building for the low-carbon web. Sustainable web designer & developer Nick Lewis will explore how to reduce the footprint of our digital products and services.

Saturday Jun 20, 2026 - London Climate Action Week

London Climate Action Week harnesses the unique power of London for global and local climate action.

Mobilising London’s unparalleled ecosystem of climate and non-climate organisations to accelerate global climate action and supports action in London.

Tuesday Jun 23, 2026 - Sustainable IT Impact Summit

Green IT isn't just compliance—it's a growth driver. At the 2026 Sustainable IT Impact Summit, leaders explore building the business case for sustainable IT, cutting costs via circular tech, deploying responsible AI, and turning sustainability into lasting business value.

📰 News Highlights

GoodGoodGood: Job training program gives formerly incarcerated a fresh start as solar installers

In the inaugural 22-week training, called "Vulnerable to Vibrant," 50 participants left with an $18/hour paycheck and a certification in solar installation. And for some, it also provided a sense of purpose. 

Earth.org: UN General Assembly Backs Historic World Court Climate Ruling

The International Court of Justice, the world's top court, ruled last year that government actions driving climate change are illegal and that states are required under international laws to reduce emissions, prevent harm, and collaborate to safeguard vulnerable populations.

The Atlantic: Hawaii vs. Citizens United

State lawmakers want to change the terms of personhood for corporations, to prevent dark money flowing into elections.

Planet Labs: From Data to Action, Colombia's High-Tech approach to Conservation

Washington Post: Fight over plan to build up to 37 data centers heads to Virginia Supreme Court

One of the two developers behind the Digital Gateway Project in Prince William County said it will challenge an appeals court ruling against the initiative. The second dropped out.

AP: Air conditioning battery program for renters could help cities manage grid stress during heat waves

A renter-friendly pilot program in New York City is testing a different approach: plug-in batteries that can power air conditioners offline during peak demand, helping take pressure off the grid at its most stressed moments while still keeping residents cool.

The Guardian: More than 100 UK datacentres plan to burn gas to generate electricity

Requests for gas connections by operators amount to more than 15 terawatt hours per year, endangering climate targets.

💚 Papers We Love 💚

KU Leuven, Belgium: Is Chiplet the Key to Greener AI Accelerators? A Quantitative Benchmarking of Real Chiplet Architectures

The growing carbon footprint of AI accelerators highlights the urgent need for greener hardware design strategies. Recent works point out that the chiplet-based architecture can be a more sustainable alternative to the monolithic System-on-Chip (SoC) solution due to its modular design methodology and lower design cost. However, the carbon benefit of chiplet-based accelerators has never been benchmarked quantitatively based on real hardware architectures, limiting the applicability of these works. To address the gap, the team developed an analytical carbon model and simulator for the cutting-edge chiplet-based AI accelerators and conduct a thorough quantitative comparison between the chiplet and SoC solutions.

💼 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.

Global Canopy - Full Stack Developer (senior level) - £500 per day inc VAT (£400 outside UK due to reverse VAT charges) - Contract - Totally remote

We're looking for a contractor to start the build of a new platform to help us assess how companies and financial institutions address their links to deforestation. These assessments feed into impactful data products like Forest 500 and Forest IQ. We have a PRD and SRS in place, so are looking to get started building asap. The contractor will work in close collaboration with the existing small team. Our tech stack is Python FastAPI backend, Next.js with TypeScript frontend, hosted on AWS and deployed using terraform and GitHub Actions. We have funding for 66 days but are actively searching for more.

Einride - Public Incentives & Sustainability Policy Manager - 155K-170K (for NYC candidates) - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok

Einride is an autonomous and electric heavy-duty freight company; in this role you will be responsiblef or managing government incentive and grants, as well as transportation and sustainability policy

King's College London - Postdoctoral Research Associate in Human-Computer Interaction - £45,031 - £52,514 per annum - Contract - Flexible - remote ok

Applications are invited for a Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) position on the EPSRC project “User-centred Eco-feedback For AI’s Environmental Impact” led by KCL and in collaboration with partner organisations. This project will bring an empirical and human-centred perspective to the ongoing discourse on the environmental impact of AI systems, complementing and extending existing research which currently focuses on energy and water metrics and measurements.

Candidates should hold a PhD in HCI, Computer Science or a related discipline and demonstrate skills in sustainable computing, sustainable HCI and/or AI deployment. Experience in conducting participatory design research would be advantageous.

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