Hey CATs,

Welcome to issue 318 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

😺 Town Hall on Wednesday

CAT Directors & Organisers will share ongoing and upcoming projects and where CAT is heading and we'll welcome our new CAT Organisers. Find the full agenda and feel free to add questions for the Q&A in Outline here.

RSVP on Luma

👋 Meet other CATs in Amsterdam

The Green IO conference is coming to Amsterdam on June 9th and 10th and CATs are starting discussions in #local-netherlands. Let others know if you'll be going there too!

📅 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.

Planet A: Taiwan's secret weapon against China

Taiwan imports over 90% of its energy via sea, so a Chinese blockade would be devastating for the island. In response to increasing threats, Taiwan is racing to switch over to a more self-sufficient energy source: renewables. Can they get there in time?

🎤 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!

Outrage + Optimisim: Can $30k Change the World? The Power of Climate Giving

When climate wins happen, we often credit the market. Or the policy. But is philanthropy the most underappreciated force in the climate fight? And can less than 2% of global giving actually change anything?

Behind the headlines, people like Jennifer Kitt of Climate Lead are identifying where finite resources can be spent in order to make a real difference, and helping to grow the pie. Tom Rivett-Carnac, Christiana Figueres, and Paul Dickinson sit down with her to ask: what does well-targeted philanthropic money actually unlock? Who decides where it goes? And why, when it works, do we so rarely notice? From the coalition that quietly accelerated the EV transition by decades, to the $30,000 grant that helped take climate responsibility all the way to the World's Court.

Catalyst: Building inference data centers on the high seas

Amidst the increasing urgency of powering data centers, a new solution has entered the mix: send them out to sea.

In this episode, Shayle speaks to Garth Sheldon-Coulson, co-founder and CEO of Panthalassa. The company is building 85-meter steel "nodes" – taller than Big Ben – that it deploys into the deep ocean. These untethered, self-propelled nodes harness wave energy to power AI clusters, then beam their data back to land via satellite. The technology isn't without its fair share of logistic complications, but it nonetheless offers a pathway to powering the AI boom that's largely independent from grid or fuel constraints.

Techologie: Un grain de sable dans la machine avec Juliette Brigand et Nicolas Celnik

Marie, graphiste indépendante est installée en Bretagne avec son compagnon Adel, ouvrier agricole. Elle vit et travaille connectée, sur-connectée même. Un jour, ayant oublié son smartphone chez elle, sur la place du marché du village voisin, un individu l'interpelle : "Toi qui n'as pas l'air d'un zombi, as tu 5min ?". Elle rencontre alors un collectif opposé à un projet d'antenne-relais pour les télécommuncations mobiles.

C'est le pitch de la bande dessinée Un grain de sable dans la machine coéditée par Le passager clandestin et Sciences critiques\nEt nous avons l'occasion d'en parler avec les deux co-auteurices au micro de Techologie, Juliette Brigand et Nicolas Celnik !

Marie, a freelance graphic designer, lives in Brittany with her partner Adel, a farm worker. She lives and works connected, even hyper-connected. One day, having forgotten her smartphone at home, she's approached by a man in the market square of the neighboring village: "You don't look like a zombie, do you have 5 minutes?" She then encounters a group opposed to a proposed cell tower for mobile communications.

This is the premise of the graphic novel Un grain de sable dans la machine (A Grain of Sand in the Machine), co-published by Le passager clandestin and Sciences critiques. And we have the opportunity to discuss it with the two co-authors, Juliette Brigand and Nicolas Celnik, on the Techologie podcast!

Environment Variables: Is Using LLMs for Tech Standards Work Actually Greener?

Chris Adams invites Joseph Cook, Arctic scientist and GSF Head of R&D, to explore the latest developments in green software and the growing pressure on the tech industry to balance innovation with sustainability. From AI and energy use to policy, measurement, and infrastructure, the conversation highlights the challenges behind building a greener digital future while sharing practical insights for developers and organizations navigating this rapidly changing space.

Zero, The Climate Race: The countries plotting the end of the fossil-fuel era

At COP28 in December 2023, the world committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels. Yet in the years since, there's been little progress. A meeting in Colombia last month hoped to change that, gathering ministers and climate envoys from 57 countries to try and chart a path to end the use of fossil fuels. This week on Zero, Tzeporah Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, tells Akshat Rathi what the conference achieved and where it goes next. 

Thinking on Paper: Space-Based Solar Power - Can Wireless Power Beaming Make It Work?

The success of Space-based solar power depends on one hard question: can wireless power beaming make it work at scale?

Sanjay Vijendran returns to Thinking on Paper, now as co-founder of TerraSpark after leading space-based solar power work at the European Space Agency, to explain how the field moves from concept to staged demonstration.

The conversation covers TerraSpark's plan to power a live music concert in Portugal using wireless power transmission, its in-orbit payload on Dcube's Arrakis mission, radio frequency versus laser power beaming, near-infrared transmission and power-beaming efficiency.

The Climate Question: Can we save the world's coral?

Corals protect humans and sustain 25% of all marine life. But reefs are under threat from climate change, and mass bleaching events mean that some scientists estimate they could disappear by 2100.

In this episode, Graihagh Jackson is joined by BBC CrowdScience presenter, Caroline Steel. We go to Puerto Rico to see how self-duplicating, carnivorous coral could be the solution. We also speak to the scientist who helped discover what was causing coral bleaching in the first place - back when climate change was commonly denied.

📅 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.

Wednesday Jun 17, 2026 - Who's Going to Save Us From the Energy Use of AI? You Are.

Anne Currie will be speaking about the rising energy consumption of AI and the ways software practitioners can impact this on a local and global level.

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

Taylor Wessing: The AI Boom Meets Regulation - Mandatory EU Labeling for Data Centers

As part of the Green Deal, the EU is striving for environmental sustainability and efficient processes. Not only to reduce harmful impacts on the environment, but also to maintain and promote the EU's competitiveness.

EnergyNow: Microsoft May Abandon its Clean Energy Powered Data Centre Targets

The hyperscaler has been adding a gigawatt of data centre capacity, enough to power 750,000 homes, every three months.

The Independent: Government slammed for 'shocking' failure on hyperscale data centre emissions

Scottish government's NPF4 national planning framework states that "green data centres" will have an "overall negligible impact" on nation's emissions reduction goals.

MongaBay: Brazil Congress passes bill to bar use of Amazon deforestation satellite tool

Brazil's Congress has passed a bill prohibiting environmental agencies from using satellite images to restrict the commercial use of illegally deforested lands. Instead, areas suspected of illegal deforestation will have to be confirmed by authorities on the ground.

TechExplore: Quantum computing may need far more than power as future data centers scale up

As quantum computing moves closer to large-scale deployment, new research is examining its future energy, water, and material demands.

Le Monde: Heatwave exposes France's failure to adapt to climate change

The current heatwave starkly shows how unprepared France is. Adaptation is everyone's responsibility, from ordinary citizens to the government, and every delay in taking necessary measures to face extreme weather will only make future adaptation more painful.

The Guardian: Hidden datacentre tax' costing Irish households millions, report says

Energy demand by datacentres in Ireland has added hundreds of euros to household electricity bills in a pattern that could be replicated across Europe, according to a report.

Forbes: Most Americans Aren't Convinced Humans Are Causing Climate Change, New Data Shows

Less than half of Americans believe the Earth is warming as a direct result of human activity, new data from Pew Research shows, and 12% of Americans don't believe the Earth is warming at all.

The City Fix: African Cities Use Nature to Fight Floods and Climate Change

Built infrastructure like seawalls, dams and reservoirs is both expensive and insufficient to keep pace with ever-more-extreme weather. That's why cities are rethinking what counts as infrastructure.

💚 Papers We Love 💚

Prashant Sharma: Civil Servants as Builders: Rethinking Digital Transformation Beyond Vendors and Centralized Agencies

Government agencies work to serve the public, guided by necessary safeguards such as detailed procurement processes and strict IT security standards. These constraints, while essential for safeguarding public resources and data, can hinder civil servants outside IT teams from deploying low-cost, lightweight tools. This paper proposes a limits-aware platform that enables civil servants to develop and securely share small, domain-specific applications using Jupyter Notebooks and preapproved open-source libraries.

💼 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.

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

Verna - Head of Engineering - £Competitive + share options, commensurate with a senior role at a start-up - Permanent - Flexible - remote ok

Lead engineering at a fast-growing start-up, building software for nature recovery.

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.

Support our work

You can support us financially on Open Collective.