How does software affect climate change
                     How does software affect climate 
change? 
What can software engineers do 
about it?
Software requires energy 
to run. Unfortunately, 
most of this energy is still 
supplied by fossil fuels like 
coal and natural gas. This 
causes greenhouse gases 
to be emitted into the 
atmosphere, contributing 
to global warming and 
climate change.
Software engineers 
have an environmental 
responsibility to build 
software that requires as 
little energy as possible. 
Very few data centres in 
the world operate purely 
on renewable energy. Most 
of them depend on a mix 
of renewable energy and 
energy from burning fossil 
fuels or nuclear power 
plants. 
A good way to watch 
carbon emissions and the 
energy consumption of 
running workloads has not 
been established yet. 
But engineers can do their 
part by checking the 
number of resources like 
CPU and memory that 
their workloads use and 
reducing them. The less 
resources we use, the less 
energy we consume.
Hardware production and 
usage also cause a significant 
amount of carbon emission. 
Software engineers must build 
efficient software that requires 
less hardware to run, which 
would help minimise the 
effects of climate change. 
With growing environmental 
awareness, users want to 
know the impact the software 
they use have on climate 
change. The carbon footprint 
of software will drive the 
decision-making of customers. 
Software with a lower carbon 
footprint will be in higher 
demand. By catering to the 
environment, tech companies 
can also find financial success.
Software engineers looking to advance their careers while being conscious of climate change 
can find opportunities at companies like Equinix. They build digital infrastructure taking 
environmental impact into careful consideration. They are working towards their goal to reach 
100% renewable energy by continuously increasing efficiency in their design and operations. 
They provide resource and training to ensure environmental and energy
efficiency objectives are met. Additionally, employees receive healthcare, financial security 
and other benefits and are encouraged to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Thank You