We kicked off asking Gerry if he believes that digital services should be ‘retrofitted’ for Sustainability? The answer: absolutely not. In fact, he believes that innovation within technology is responsible for accelerating environmental collapse, and that Jebens law (the more efficient it gets, the more we use) means this will only accelerate.
So, cost vs carbon: Gerry stated the carbon focus of Net Zero is a dangerous single goal, open to greenwashing. Carbon reduction alone is not sufficient for planetary health - CO2 has effectively become a metric capable of being gamed by Big Tech companies, who optimise for Carbon reduction, only to increase water or mineral usage to the severe detriment of the environment. Microsoft, as an example, announced a 30% increase in CO2 last year, largely driven by building their data centres.
Gerry advises that the problem is multiple and so there must be multiple metrics too. He advocates a total-environment approach so we can better understand how we’re impacting everything from the water to the air, soil and biodiversity. We've already had a 60% biodiversity collapse, so it doesn’t make sense to strive to solely improve the CO2 picture without also supporting biodiversity.
Taking umbrage with the big tech and advertising industries for increasing consumerism, Gerry advocates for degrowth, a future where humans embrace the principles of indigenous communities who respect and live in balance with nature, governing by consensus rather than creating powerful leaders.
The conversation moved to getting back to local economies - to start to reverse the damage to the planet, we must return to living locally instead of for convenience. Slowing down and using less in total; reducing energy consumption and massively reducing material usage and easing our rate of consumption overall.
To see Gerry in conversation with Claire, Anne and Navveen, book your space for our free webinar from 11am – 12pm on Monday 17th June. You can find more information here, and register whilst there.
