#26 - Digital Sustainability in LATAM with Catalina Zapata and Ismael Velasco
Update: 2023-10-24
Description
This episode is not in Spanish or Portuguese but it might have been 🙂Â
With Catalina Zapata - founder of La Web Verde community in Colombia - and Ismael Velasco - founder of the Adora foundation and based in Mexico - Gaël Duez explores the momentum of Digital Sustainability in Latin America as well as the pitfalls it faces. From COP21 memories to the structure of the IT industry in LATAM, both guests share unconventional wisdom as well as tips for any IT workers based in LATAM to green the Web.Â
With Catalina Zapata - founder of La Web Verde community in Colombia - and Ismael Velasco - founder of the Adora foundation and based in Mexico - Gaël Duez explores the momentum of Digital Sustainability in Latin America as well as the pitfalls it faces. From COP21 memories to the structure of the IT industry in LATAM, both guests share unconventional wisdom as well as tips for any IT workers based in LATAM to green the Web.Â
Learn more about our guest and connect:Â
- Catalina's LinkedIn and WordPress.tv results
- Ismael’s LinkedIn
- Gaël's LinkedInÂ
- Gaël's websiteÂ
- Green IO websiteÂ
📧 You can also send us an email at greenio@duez.com to share your feedback and suggest future guests or topics. Â
Catalina's and Ismael’s sources and other references mentioned in this episode:
- ClimateAction.Tech
- WordPress Sustainability CommunityÂ
- Adora foundationÂ
-  Elena Morettini’s talkÂ
- Gerry Mc Govern’s work
- Tom greenwood’s Curiously Green newsletter
- Unitar’s article on Latin America’s e-waste management Â
- Article in Portuguese: Green Information Technology practices in University educational institutions: A systematic review
- CSIS article on The Development of the ICT Landscape in Mexico: Cybersecurity and Opportunities for InvestmentÂ
- Environmental Variables - The Week in Green Software: episode with Chris Adams and Ismael VelascoÂ
- Green Web Foundation
Transcript (in English - for Spanish check below)
(00:09 ) Gaël: Hello everyone, welcome to Green IO, the podcast for responsible technologists building a greener digital world, one byte at a time. On Green IO, we explore how to reduce the environmental impact of our digital world. Our guests from across the globe share insights, tools, and alternative approaches enabling people within the tech sector, and, beyond to boost digital sustainability.
More than 300 million digital users, home of dozens of unicorns, with vibrant tech scenes scattered across the region. 2.2 million working in the technology, internet and communication sector, according to LinkedIn. No, I'm not talking about Europe, but Latin America. Latin America, which is a significant player in our digital world and as such a significant contributor to its environmental impacts. Just following a non-rigorous approach based on the number of its users, but hey, remember that the majority of the environmental impacts come from both manufacturing and user devices, and the electricity consumption of these devices. So, resuming my on-the-go analysis, with 5.5% of world users, Latin America’s carbon footprint for its digital activities would be around 77 million tons of CO2 (2019), which is more than any country in Central America, apart from Mexico, obviously, and for instance it is more than Uruguay has emitted. So, I guess now that you understood that today's episode is about Latin America, and more specifically, how someone working in the digital sector and based in Latin America can contribute to decarbonizing the Internet.
To help us finding the answers, I'm pleased to welcome two guests today. Catalina Zapata, who's based in MedellÃn, Colombia. Catalina is a seasoned web designer who started a project called La Web Verde, (my pronunciation is terrible because it's in Spanish) in order to democratize sustainability on the web, teach designers and developers how to create more sustainable digital projects and more specifically spread green awareness about our digital footprint within the WordPress community.
 (02:34 .39) Gaël: I spotted Catalina in this vibrant WordPress sustainability group last year, and when I reached out to her, she told me that she was already a regular listener of the podcast. And when I asked her why she was so much into sustainability, she had a very straightforward answer: because we breathe the same air and we are all on the same planet. And that was pretty straightforward. Well, later, she actually told me that three years ago she read an article about internet being the fourth most polluting country in the world, and that was kind of a ‘ha-ha’ moment. But actually, I think I even love better her first answer.
Ismael Velasco is based in Mexico and I met him via the amazing CAT community. Ismael is a veteran in the software industry at large, and green software in particular. His API ‘graceful degradation’ concept immediately appealed to me, but I discovered someone whose knowledge and commitment goes far beyond green IT, with his involvement in the Adora Foundation, which forces social innovation across the globe and his recent decision to focus more on the sustainability side of technology. So, welcome Catalina, welcome Ismael. Thanks a lot for joining Green IO today.
(04:02 ) Ismael: It's great to be here. Great to be with you.
(04:05 ) Catalina: Thank you, Gael, for connecting, for inviting, and creating this space, that is not only innovative, but also is very, very, very necessary for those who design the web and consume the internet.
(04:18 ) Gaël: Wow, thanks a lot, both of you. I would love to start, actually, with a very straightforward question. Is the title of this episode all wrong? I mean, is Latin America a pertinent scope to apprehend Tech and sustainability? Ismael, do you have an opinion on it?
(04:40 ) Ismael: I think, personally that, yes, it is a meaningful category. I think the distribution of technology and the role and contribution of technology does diverge regionally. So; each country, each area will have different profiles. But I think the main realities facing Latin America in relation to technology do have a lot of parallels. I think culturally, there is probably even more commonality across Latin America than there is across Europe, in many areas. The tensions that we experience are often also mirrored across countries. So, I think it's definitely a meaningful category, which is not to say a homogenous one. I think you will find enormous diversity country to country. But I don't think that negates the fact that addressing the reality of technology at a Latin American level makes sense on very many levels. So yes.
(05:45 ) Gaël: Catalina, do you have an opinion on it?
(05:48 ) Catalina: I think that in Europe, digital sustainability has become a priority for both government and business. But there are strict regulations on the energy efficiency or data centers, the recycling of electronic devices, and the reduction of carbon emission in the technology sector. The United States has not reached European standards, but there is a growing awareness of carbon footprint reduction. But in Latin America, we have a great challenge in accessing resources and knowledge, and access to information in Spanish is limited. It is necessary to translate and adapt resources into Spanish and other native languages of the continent, to make the information more accessible and usable. However, I believe we have great potential, but more awareness and education is needed from all of us who create the web and consume the internet.
(06:57 ) Gaël: Well, that's very interesting feedback, Catalina, and there are a lot of different things to unpack here. So we'll go back to them point by point, but I'd like to bounce back on what you've just said about the level of awareness across the globe. What is the level of awareness according to you about digital sustainability in Latin America?
(07:19 ) Catalina: For me, it's very, very, very low. Digital sustainability is a strange concept in Colombia and Latin America. Everyone talks about climate change, net zero, circular economy, sustainable development goals, sustainable fashion, human rights, green mobility, recycling, inclusion, female empowerment, artificial intelligence, eco-tourism. But no one talks about green software, green web, or the impact of the internet on each of our digital actions on carbon emissions. And I ask myself why. To give you an example of how ignorant we are. I am an ambassador for the Climate Reality Project. It's a non-profit organization, one of the largest communities of world climate leaders of the world created to promote solutions to climate change. This organization has a virtual platform where everyone can connect with other leaders. There are materials, videos,
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