Sustainability, Accountability and Power: What Remote Work Means for the Gig Economy Emissions

Emilio Velis

Zusammenfassung
This workshop will discuss how learning about the digital services footprint can empower workers from the Internet gig economy in developing countries to act toward the reduction of Internet emissions. Critically reflecting on sustainability in digital services must begin by including those who experience the effects of climate change the most.
Workshop
Englisch
Hands On

This workshop explores a "middle-out" approach for Internet sustainability by including tech workers from the gig economy in a critical discussion about sustainability, especially those who hail from developing countries and who suffer most from the impacts of resource extraction, environmental degradation, and climate change. The workshop will discuss a systemic approach to carbon emission assessment that begins with calculating the carbon emissions outsourced by digital companies, an inventory of digital practices within the gig workers' areas of influence, and the awareness of environmental injustice created by the Internet and digital services through mining and environmental degradation in local communities. The goal is to spark a discussion among participants around how the gig economy is shifting towards remote work in developing countries and what this could mean for power relations in terms of decision-making and accountability for sustainability. The results will be used to develop this inventory as a tool to use to create awareness for Internet practitioners in El Salvador and other countries.

re:publica would like to thank its cooperation partner Robert Bosch Stiftung for making this session possible. 

Executive director, Appropedia Foundation
Executive Director