Subak Newsletter: Data Catalogue & Subak Summit

What's new at Subak and in climate, tech & data

Hello and welcome to the June edition of the Subak Newsletter 👋

Coming up in this edition (5 mins):

• Data Catalogue now live & pre-register for Subak’s Summit

• Community updates 

• EU methane rules at risk, and 200 ‘carbon bombs’ proposed

• Get involved & jobs board 

Subak Updates 

Letter from our CEO, Amali de Alwis

It’s hard to believe we’re half way through 2022, but what a busy year it has been already! From the Subak side, we launched two new Accelerator cohorts in the UK and Australia; welcomed ten new members across Europe, Australia and Asia; accepted 15 new global climate fellows; launched our Global Data Catalogue; and welcomed four new team members. Our members and fellows have been equally busy (more on them below), and with the increasingly urgent global energy and food crises, combined with what potentially looks to be the start of a global recession, it has become ever more critical that we invest in and build sustainable solutions and reduce our dependence on fossil resources. The time for accelerating new tools and action is now.

Data Catalogue now live & public 

We recently publicly launched our Climate Data Catalogue, an online platform that forms part of our core mission at Subak, connecting people and organisations to the data that they need through our Data Cooperative. 

The aim of the Data Catalogue is to make climate data more searchable, trusted and connected to accelerate climate impact. The Catalogue is an online web portal which maps shared data assets. It is open to all, and anyone can search for, request, or add climate data, and we’re looking for people to join our community both as users, providers, and members of the knowledge community.

Pre-register for Subak’s Climate Summit 

We’re delighted to announce that later this year we will be launching our very first Subak Summit! The Summit will be a 1.5 day conference (a full day on climate data & tech, and a half day specifically for climate funders) in London to convene stakeholders from for-profit and not-for-profit climate sectors to rapidly accelerate the pace of innovation and action towards tackling climate change.

Tickets will be available soon for the Summit which will take place at the end of September (27th-28th) - you can register your interest via link below to be the first to hear about when the tickets go live.

Community Updates

Countries should move from coal to renewable energy without shifting to gas as a “transition” fuel

Countries should move from coal to renewable energy without shifting to gas as a “transition” fuel to save money, as high gas prices and market volatility have made the fossil fuel an expensive option, according to analysis from Subak Cohort Zero member, TransitionZero.

Natural gas has long been touted as a “transition” fuel for economies dependent on coal for their power needs. Matt Gray, the co-founder of TransitionZero, said:

“It no longer makes sense to think of gas as a transition fuel, and countries should opt for renewables in place of coal, as the cost of switching from coal to renewable energy has plunged by 99% since 2010.”

Subak Australia Fellow presents at G20 event in Indonesia 

Celina Agaton is the Filipino-Canadian co-founder of Open Knowledge Kit, a free and open-source tool kit to empower communities with digital employment and the stewardship of their economic, climate, and social prosperity. OK Kit regenerates supply chains in Indigenous, remote communities and creative industries to support governance, gender, and micro to medium enterprise. Celina will speak at the event ‘New Local Community, Data and Employment Strategies for Effective ESG Investments’, at the AVPN Global Conference 2022, an official side event for the G20.  

Attend CogX Festival for free with Subak  

Subak have partnered with CogX Festival, the world's biggest and most inclusive Festival of AI, Blockchain, the Metaverse and all the latest Transformational Technologies. This year’s festival takes place 13th-15th June in King's Cross, London. CogX’s 2022 mission is “to help society realise the biggest transformational opportunities of our time, and address the many complex challenges along the way.” 

Claim your free festival pass selecting the standard festival pass here and entering the code: STANDARDSUBAK.

In the news

EU’s Methane Rules Risk Being Watered Down

European Union efforts to tackle climate-warming methane emissions are being undermined by energy companies that say the measures are too expensive, according to climate non-profit groups. Tackling methane emissions is a quick and relatively easy way to help keep global warming within 1.5 degrees celsius, due to its powerful heating effects, but relatively short lifespan in the atmosphere. 

Nearly 200 carbon bombs proposed or underway 

The Guardian has uncovered evidence of nearly 200 “carbon bombs” – oil, gas and coal mega-projects, proposed or under way – that would destroy any chance of limiting temperature rises to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. The world’s biggest oil companies are on track to spend $103m a day for the rest of the decade exploiting new fields of oil and gas that cannot be burned if global heating is to be limited to well under 2C.

Subak recommends

💻  A review of open climate data by Jake Verma, Subak’s Data Cooperative Manager.

📚 Invisible Women by Caroline Criado-Perez, to understand more about data bias and the harmful consequences for women.

🎧 The Big Switch podcast, for a five-part series that explores how the power grid works, how it's changing, and how those changes can benefit society.

🤔 Stat of the month: 2300. The number of datasets mapped so far in our Data Catalogue… and counting! 

Get Involved

If you want to be a part of cutting edge projects and a great working environment at the intersection of climate, tech, and data, keep an eye on the Subak careers page. We are currently hiring for: 

• Head of Policy & Comms 🇬🇧 

You can find out about other ways to get involved with Subak here.

If you are interested in a position at one of our member organisations, you can find out more about current vacancies below:

• Fullstack Engineer, Open Climate Fix 

• Senior Account Executive, New AutoMotive

• Project Lead – Future Energy Outlook, TransitionZero

• Data Analyst - Heavy Industry, TransitionZero

• Python Engineer, Climate Policy Radar

• Front End Developer, Climate Policy Radar

• Climate & Nature Communications Expert, AimHi Earth

• Climate and Nature Crisis Action Presenter, AimHi Earth

That concludes this month's newsletter, so we’ll see you next time 👋

If you enjoyed this newsletter, please do share with your network so we can grow our impact. If there’s something you want to see in future editions, send your ideas to maisie@subak.org.

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