Digital sustainability learning

Digital sustainability for newbies

If you are new to the topic of digital sustainability, then the following resources will get you started. The material listed here should take no more than one hour to complete. If this has whet your appetite, then it’s time to move on to the essential training, appropriate to your role. This could be:

• technology

• design

• product and delivery

• data

• leadership

• communicating and influencing

Step 1: understand the problem (15 minutes)

• UK Government Digital Sustainability Alliance (GDSA) - planetary impact (3:)18 Official UK government video on the planetary impacts of tech. High level, but very good. - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Du7rBQ8Z4pk

• Digital Decarbonisation Explained (2:09) - brief and tantalising summary of the environmental cost of data. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTPl5LlxYwA

• What the AI Boom Means for Carbon Emissions (1:45) All the talk is about AI, but one big (dark) secret is that AI generates far more CO2 than ‘traditional’ computing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDfbGk9dpWw

• E-waste ‘drawers of doom’ growing, say campaigners - BBC News (3:43) It’s easy to forget that most of our digital carbon footprint comes from manufacturing equipment as opposed to use. What is in your drawer of doom? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAAWVfcnk3A

• Use EcoGrader or Website Carbon Calculator to test some of the websites you often use (5 minutes) What is the environmental impact of a web page? https://ecograder.com/ and/or https://www.websitecarbon.com/

Step 2: assess your personal digital carbon footprint (10 minutes)

• Assessment of my individual / professional digital environmental footprint in kg CO2 eq. - Excellent tool for estimating the emissions from typical work and home digital activities. https://myimpact.isit-europe.org/. Unfortunately the calculator only has carbon intensity data for France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Belgium is the most similar to the UK for this (see https://app.electricitymaps.com to understand this further).

Step 3: learn how digital is changing in response (20 minutes)

• Green Software Engineering: Making every bit count (1:35) This very short video hasn’t had many views, but it quickly and accurately explains what all the fuss is about. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUtHzZY5Tjg

• The Principles of Green Software - How Green is Your Application - Sara Bergman - NDC Oslo 2023 (10:54) Sara Bergman co-authored ‘Building Green Software’. In this short but excellent talk she covers all the essential points of Green Software. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lYT-knNMTI

• Gartner’s Top 10 Tech Trends for 2024 (4:05) Of course AI is the top trend, but it many also surprise you to learn that Gartner sees digital sustainability abd green software as #3. Follow the link to fast-forward past the predictable AI part to hear what Gartner has to say on digital sustainability. https://www.youtube.com/live/N_sQbYJl820?si=uzb3S8TwmILxurBq&t=727

Follow-ups: move on to training appropriate to your role.

Glossary

Are you new to terms like Scope 3, GHGs, the Rebound Effect SDGs? If so, please make use of the glossary to get familiar with the relevant concepts and terminology. Digital sustainability glossary.