Climate Talks

The Climate Talks are a series of more public disseminations of our research. It includes two large parts:

On the one hand, it includes a series of texts on digital technologies in the Amazon that originate in the DFF-funded research project Amazonia 4.0. The project has for the last four years worked to understand the roles ascribed to technoscience in the conservation of the Brazilian Amazon. The occasion of the UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (‘COP’) in Belem, Brazil, in November 2025, makes the sharing of this research more pertinent than ever, because of the renewed global attention brought to bear on the region and its challenges. The format here is one of interviews with promising young and well-established senior social science researchers, who we have become acquainted during the project, and who visited Copenhagen for a workshop in May 2025. They are all engaged in studying the effects of technoscientic innovations in the Amazon, and together their voices point to many of the finer nuances in technologically driven conservation efforts - nuances often lost under the dominance of geopolitical or Big Tech corporate interests.

The interviews were conducted and transcribed by Peter Krogh Andersen, the text edited by Priscila Santos da Costa and Steffen Dalsgaard, and the work funded by the Independent Research Fund Denmark.


On the other hand, the Climate Talks include short research videos by faculty members from diferent research sections at ITU. The purpose of the talks is to inform and inspire staff, students, and the world beyond ITU by highlighting some of the exciting climate related research underway at the university. It is our desire to begin a series of urgent conversations on the climate implications of IT at the research, teaching, and organizational levels. These talks and texts are part of a series of initiatives that we hope will facilitate such conversations and begin to lay the groundwork for a more climate-ambitious university.

The videos are produced by James Maguire (Associate Professor, Technologies in Practice Section) and Luis Landa (External Lecturer, Ethos Lab). Video footage by Rina de Place Bjørn.


Local fatigue and a shift in global food security are bad news for deforestation in Amazonia

Recently, some of the world’s biggest companies have withdrawn from a voluntary agreement in the Amazon that prohibited the use of soy grown on land deforested after 2008. Fábio Zuker investigates the conflicting data behind the agreement and explores how this shift is connected to changes in global food security. Read the full article here.

Green technology is often framed as the solution. Local reality is often different

When apps, certification systems, and AI are introduced in Amazonia, they often bring profound changes for the local communities — changes that are not always for the better, says Magda Ribeiro. She argues that the key lies in asking better questions before implementing new technologies. Read the full article here.

Scientists often erase the people who live in and shape the forest

Indigenous territories in Brazil are where deforestation is most effectively controlled. Yet, as Felipe Mammoli notes, Indigenous knowledge is rarely integrated into scientific research in Amazonia. He warns that data and technology often shape – and limit – how the forest is perceived. Read the full article here.

We need more social scientists who dare to engage in criticism of all sides

Critical analysis from within environmental science can be extremely unpopular and even damaging for an academic career. But it is as necessary and as it is urgent, says Myanna Lahsen. Even if the criticism seems to get the research too close to the other side. Read full article here.

Starlink’s rapid growth in Amazonia raises concerns about Brazil’s digital sovereignty

The desire to ‘develop and connect’ may obfuscate democratic debate and work contrary to local populations’ interests, says scholar Luisa Lobato.  In this interview, she reflects on how satellite technologies like Starlink are reshaping the Amazon – not just through infrastructure, but though politics, power and the redefinition of territorial control. Read full article here.

"Bioeconomy" will be a hot topic at COP30 – but no one agrees on what it means

In Brazil, the Amazonian bioeconomy is often presented as a strategy to stimulate economic growth while protecting forests. Yet, beneath this apparent consensus, lies significant differences in what various actors hope to achieve. Emiliano Cabrera Rocha argues that recognizing these differences is essential to fostering genuinely collaborative agendas. Read full article here.

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James Maguire on Eco-Tech Climate Imaginaries and DNA Storage

Drawing on empirical work, in this episode, Associate Professor James Maguire talks about the advent of DNA as a means of storing data and the various imaginaries (colonial, temporal, and environmental) that are at stake in the construction of such eco-tech futures. What questions are raised by the potential for storing data in the DNA of trees for example?

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Tom Jenkins about Designing for Sustainable Transitions

In this Climate Talk, Associate Professor Tom Jenkins talks about his research on designing for sustainable transitions.

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Michael Szell on Modelling Urban Bicycle Pathways

In this episode, Associate Professor Michael Szell talks about his research on modelling sustainable urban bicycle networks. Here Michael explains how he, and his team, are using large data sets such as OpenStreetMap to computationally model more effective routes for urban areas. The hope, says Michael, is to develop models for planning bicycle infrastructures that will lead to future cities that more concretely support different modes of transit.

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Leon Derczynski on How to Get More (from AI) with Less (Carbon)

In this episode of Climate Talks, Associate Professor Leon Derczynski talks about AI energy deintensification strategies and explains how current coding methods emit unnecessary CO2.
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Anna Vallgårda on Designing More Sustainable Digital Artefacts

In this episode, Associate Professor Anna Vallgårda talks about how we can make our digital artifacts more sustainable by recognizing not only their functional and aesthetic values, but by focusing on their biographical (sustainability) stories.
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Irina Papazu on Green Transitions

In this episode, Associate Professor Irina Papazu brings together questions of climate with questions of democracy. By focusing on the disappointing outcome of the recent Danish Climate Citizens Assembly, Irina asks about the role of the political class and their techno-solutionist approach to climate change.
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Jonas Fritsch on the Climate Emergency as an Existential Crisis

In this episode of Climate Talks, Associate Professor Jonas Fritsch focuses on the emotional and affective technological aspects of the climate emergency. Living in ‘catastrophic times’ Jonas explains, is also an opportunity to develop new relationships to the world round us, to develop new ecological sensibilities.
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Pinar Tözün on the Sustainable Use of Hardware

In this episode, Associate Professor Pınar Tözün talks about her research on computer and hardware sustainability. Pınar sketches out the current landscape of hardware issues and how some of them can be addressed by more climate sensitive approaches to computing.