SUBSEA THE SUSTAINABLE SUBSEA NETWORKS REPORT: A Call for Participation BY NICOLE STAROSIELSKI
O
ver the past ten years, the internet’s sustainability has become a growing concern. Researchers, policy-makers, and businesses have all sought to assess and reduce the carbon emissions produced by digital infrastructure. Efforts have largely focused on data centers, energy-intensive facilities where internet content is housed. Subsea telecommunications cables have been almost entirely absent in this discussion. While many individual companies and organizations had developed their own innovative approaches to assessing sustainability and implementing best practices, as of 2021, no industry-wide metrics had been developed for assessing the sustainability of a subsea cable, nor had any industry-wide collaboration formed on sustainability. By conducting research, convening events, and hosting discussions on sustainability, the Sustainable Subsea Networks project has begun to facilitate an industry-wide conversation. The project’s final report will offer a wide-ranging guide to potential approaches for the subsea telecommunications cable industry to mitigate its carbon emissions going forward. Drawing from materials provided by many companies as well as their public disclosures, this report will document the range of sustainability initiatives and best practices that exist across the sector for the first
time. Subsea telecommunications cables have long been recognized as an enabler of a more sustainable future, providing opportunities for reduced travel, more efficient access to information, and facilitating international climate-related science. The information compiled in the report will offer a striking picture of an industry in transition--moving towards a more efficient and sustainable future across the lifecycle of a cable. By centralizing information on these efforts, the report will provide insight into sustainability initiatives that can be scaled and replicated across many parts of the industry worldwide. The report will also address the
major drivers of sustainability: customer demand, future regulatory change, green finance, parent companies’ climate values, and the commitment of individuals. Building on these documented, existing efforts, the report will outline paths for future development. The report will also identify ways that companies might work together to build a sustainable future. We publish this article to welcome members of any subsea cable company to contribute information about their sustainability best practices to our report. Please contact us at nicole. starosielski@berkeley.edu before October 15 to be included. SEPTEMBER 2023 | ISSUE 132 9