In mid-2021, the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) was asked by Ariadne Network, the Technology and Society Program at the Ford Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation to prepare a series of short issue briefs for funders on potential priority areas for funding activities or initiatives that would bring the work of digital rights organisations and environmental justice actors closer together. The context was the recognition that there was a need for the two groups to work more collaboratively given the global environmental and climate emergency.
APC proposed four briefs, which are outlined below, and can be read in full alongside this document. The briefs are different in focus and style, but nevertheless follow the same structure and approach in identifying key areas for intervention. Each brief states the key problem from the perspective of the APC network, suggests mechanisms or processes for engagement and actors we feel are worth engaging, and includes specific recommendations for donors.
Overview of the briefs
The briefs cover the following areas:
1. Mapping the gaps between digital rights and environmental justice actors in the global South
The brief draws on key findings from background research conducted by APC, as well as on two issues of Global Information Society Watch02 published on the topic of environmental sustainability and technology from a social justice perspective. It identifies key gaps between the advocacy work and approaches of digital rights organisations and environmental justice actors, as well as potential low-hanging fruits for closer collaboration.
2. Environmental and digital rights: Exploring the potential for interplay and mutual reinforcement for better governance
The brief explores environmental governance principles and processes from the perspective of their potential contributions to the governance of the internet and digital technologies. It stresses the importance of Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, on access to information, public participation in decision making and access to justice, and of the European Union’s environmental policy principles and rights, which could be used to strengthen good internet governance.
3. Extractivism, mining and technology in the global South: Towards a common agenda for action
The brief provides an overview of key concerns in the formal and informal mining of minerals used in the production of technology from a digital rights perspective. It stresses the importance of framing the extraction of these minerals, and the impact on environmental and community rights, within the broader context of the extractive business models employed by big tech companies.
4. Addressing the impact of disinformation on environmental movements through collaboration
The brief provides an overview of environmental and climate disinformation, and the role of the tech industry in supporting the disruption of environmental advocacy. It points to the need for collaborations between digital rights organisations and environmental justice actors to understand and address environmental disinformation in a nuanced way.
Read the full report here.
These issue briefs written by Association for Progressive Communications (APC), are part of a larger body of work around the intersection of digital rights with environmental and climate justice, supported by the Ford Foundation, Ariadne and Mozilla Foundation. This research project aims at better equipping digital rights funders to craft grantmaking strategies that maximise impact on these issues. These issue briefs by APC were published alongside several publications, including a research report mapping the landscape at this intersection by The Engine Room, and issue briefs by BSR and the Open Environmental Data and Open Climate.