WIREDGOV

This week marks the start of COP31 in Antalya and the annual Carbon Literacy Action Day (CLAD) on Thursday 12 November. It feels like the perfect opportunity to reflect on our work at the Digital Poverty Alliance (DPA) to reduce our carbon footprint, but also on our role in educating and supporting other individuals and organisations to reduce theirs.

We are proud to have recently become a Bronze Carbon Literate Organisation. However, we feel this is not the end of our carbon reduction ambitions. Carbon pledges are now embedded within our organisation, with more than 60 per cent of DPA colleagues now Carbon Literate. We are also facilitating monthly external Carbon Literacy training, supporting other individuals and organisations as they begin their own carbon reduction plans.

As a circular economy organisation, extending the life of a device is of great importance to us. By using the circular economy model, we can help people experiencing digital poverty gain access to a device for the first time. As more services move online, we recognise just how important this access is. Extending the life of a product that would otherwise be discarded moves us away from the traditional ‘take-make-waste’ model and can significantly reduce carbon emissions.

According to Circular Computing, a new laptop has an estimated average carbon footprint of 331kg CO₂e. Donating and refurbishing laptops can therefore have a significant societal impact, helping to support people experiencing digital poverty by providing them with access to technology. At the same time, this delivers environmental benefits by extending the life of existing devices, reducing the need for new production and diverting electrical waste from landfill. This demonstrates how the circular economy can deliver both social and environmental benefits.

Alongside this, we believe it is important to continue educating individuals about AI. This includes how to use AI safely, but also recognising the environmental impact of AI, which can sometimes be overlooked. It can feel incredibly easy to create an AI image or poster, something we are seeing increasingly often. However, research suggests that generating an image can use considerably more energy than generating a text response, although this varies between systems and tasks. This highlights the importance of being mindful of when and how we use AI.

Providing clear emissions indicators from AI systems also remains difficult, due to limited environmental reporting from some major technology companies, including OpenAI. This makes it harder for individuals and organisations to fully understand the environmental impact of the technology they use.

It is another reason why we believe Carbon Literacy education is so important. Through our monthly training, we want to continue helping individuals and organisations understand their carbon footprint and identify ways to reduce it.

Our next Carbon Literacy training course takes place on 8 and 10 December, with places available for individuals and organisations working across the digital and technology sectors.