ABSTRACT

Digitization is often presented as one of the key technologies to avoid or mitigate the climate crisis. Yet, we see the same technologies being used to promote disinformation, facilitate unsustainable business models, and to surveil climate justice advocates and land defenders.We also see a growing digital divide, a disparity between communities that reap the benefits of modern internet infrastructures, and those communities whose land and labor are essential for the production of these infrastructures but who remain comparatively disconnected and are exposed to the negative material and social impacts of the technology. In this paper we report and discuss our findings from exploring the intersection of the climate crisis and digital rights in an interactive workshop with civil society representatives and policy makers at an important digital-rights event in Brussels in the European Union. We asked participants to collectively explore prevalent issues, framing(s), and governance initiatives at that nexus.We found that, while our workshop participants were predominantly concerned with material aspects of digital infrastructures, awareness of governance and business models as relevant factors for equitable and just digital infrastructures is present. These aspects need to make their way into upcoming legislation.