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Thrive 2050 and Green Software Ireland
At Thrive 2050, we are building a Digital Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification (dMRV) tool to support vital nature-based projects in peatland, forestry, and agriculture. Our core mission is to empower effective climate action by providing accurate and scalable technology for these projects. As we develop digital solutions to help in the fight against climate change, we have been troubled by a question: What if the software we are building is part of the problem? Global digital infrastructure consumes significant resources, which contributes to the pressure on the planet’s critical global processes. This is a challenge — IT now contributes as much CO2 globally as the Aviation sector does. But it is also an opportunity for direct action. We believe that the software we are building to help solve climate problems must also minimise its own environmental impact. Thrive 2050 and Green Software We have adopted the practices and principles of Green Software within the Thrive 2050 dMRV platform. Green Software by Design: Efficiency is intrinsically linked to sustainability. By minimising computational load, we use less energy, water, and other resources and achieve a smaller environmental footprint. This aligns nicely with one of the main concerns of any business, but especially a startup like ours, - cost. If we can achieve the same result with less resources then this directly translates to lower costs for our company. Green Software in Practice: Employing strategies like serverless architectures, responsible AI usage, and Minimal Viable Data (MVD) helps us to maintain this efficiency while also limiting complexity within the platform. Less is more. Spreading the word: The green software movement is growing but it is still in the early stages of this growth. We recognise that to achieve the potential impact of these principles and practises then they must be shared across our industry. We haven’t just adopted these practices - we are spreading the word about this approach and the impact it can have on sustainability. In 2024 we founded the Green Software Ireland community with the goal of creating a national hub for sustainable software development. Thrive 2050 and Green Software Ireland (GSI) Our role within the community is to actively sponsor the community’s activities through organising meetups and developing resources. This is a direct extension of our commitment to enabling effective climate action through technology. The potential impact of many organisations adopting green software principles and practices can affect real change. Our community has grown to over 400 members. You can join the community on our Meetup page at https://www.meetup.com/green_software_ireland/ and on Linkedin at https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-software-ireland. The target audience is broad and inclusive. Green Software Ireland is for everyone who interacts with digital technology. This includes engineers, architects, product design and management, leadership and anyone interested in sustainability and the environment. Initially all our meetups were virtual events which enabled us to reach people across the world with an interest in green software. Since July of this year (2025) we have been joined by Toast who provide co-sponsorship of the community and a venue in central Dublin. Some examples of recent talks at our events are: The Responsible AI Product Mindset: Driving Value Through Data Minimisation Adriana Ignat, an ex-Google Product Management executive and founder of VEKT AI, will challenge the “more data is always better” assumption for AI. She’ll introduce mindsets and frameworks for Product Managers and engineers to define the minimum viable data set (MVD) required to achieve a product’s core value. Learn how excessive data is a security, compliance, and massive environmental liability, and how to successfully guide your teams toward building more responsible and sustainable AI. Green Product Thinking Leah Schwarz and Niall Hunt from Toast presented - When talking about green software, we often focus on reducing energy spend and carbon impact. But what if we’re missing the environmental impact that comes from the products we build? This talk will demonstrate how integrating sustainable features into existing products, like Toast’s Food Waste Tracker and Packaging Preferences tools, can help customers adopt greener habits at scale. Quantifying the Public Health Impact of Data Centres in Ireland Conor Muldoon and Michael Bane presented. Scaling the sustainable software engineering mindset Karl Kyck and Alan Carolan presented. Goals and Next Steps The overarching goal of our community is to make sustainable software practices the default - because green software is good software. We hold regular events and invite you to join the conversation and contribute your expertise. To stay up to date with all the latest info and news you can join our Linkedin group at https://www.linkedin.com/company/green-software-ireland You can also follow us on Meetup where all events are posted - https://www.meetup.com/green_software_ireland/ We believe that when technology is built with environmental sustainability at its core, it is a powerful tool in the fight against climate change. Join us in building a greener digital future.
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The True Cost of Measuring Carbon
Is Your MRV Draining Your Project's Financial 'Leafy Green Funds'? 🌳 Accurate MRV is the bedrock of a successful carbon project. But have you ever considered the true cost of your approach? It could be draining your project's financial 'tree', leaving little for actual implementation. Imagine your project as a thriving tree, ready to grow and deliver impactful climate solutions. The leaves on this tree represent the funds available for implementation, community engagement, and long-term sustainability. Traditional, manual MRV methods involve: Extensive surveys Data collection Travel costs Time-consuming report generation Longterm maintenance and storage of data This is incredibly resource-intensive and costly. These costs can represent a significant portion of a project's budget. Sylvera, a leading carbon rating agency, notes that MRV, community engagement, and sales can add 10 – 30% to lifetime project spend. And this is all before credits are even issued! In addition, the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment published that MRV can account for over 50% of costs for some techniques e.g. soil organic carbon. Each leaf that falls represents money spent on manual processes, often leaving the tree with very few leaves to maintain project activities in the long run. By streamlining and automating with dMRV, you can significantly reduce these operational costs. Our digital solution is designed to free up more of those precious "leaves" to be invested directly into core project activities, community benefits, and ensuring the long-term success of your carbon initiative. Thrive 2050 dMRV's platform is designed to provide significant cost savings, from a 20 - 60% reduction in expert hours to a 10 - 40% reduction in travel and logistics costs. By minimising resource consumption and maximising efficiency, our solution ensures that more revenue can be reinvested back into the project - making it more sustainable and viable for the long term. We are committed to helping you turn your projects into profitable and impactful ventures, unlocking their full potential. Which tree best represents your project's financial reality? Are you finding your MRV costs are an unforeseen drain? 🍃 Contact us for more details. Follow us on Linkedin to keep updated.
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Dousing the Flames - Is Manual MRV burning down the Carbon Market?
Feel the heat? 🔥 That could be the frustration of manual Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV). Manual MRV can often feel like a dumpsterfiling cabinet fire! In the carbon market, a project's success is measured by the quality of its carbon credits. But with so many projects relying on outdated, paper-based processes, a hidden inferno of compromised data is holding things back. dumpsterfiling cabinet fire! Digital MRV offers a 50% time saving over manual MRV." /> Manually recording and managing project data long term is a hazard to your business. (Maybe not the actual fire hazard it used to be in the days of paper records! But a hazard nevertheless.). In any manual process issues around errors, data loss and data integrity are a factor. Often a big factor - MSCI, a leading global provider of ESG ratings, reports that fewer than 10% of projects achieve a top-tier "A" rating due to issues around the integrity of the data. The consequence of all this is a serious hit to your business's bottom line. Carbon credits with questionable data sell at a steep discount. Consider this: while a traditional MRV rice credit might fetch $5 per tonne, a digital MRV credit with enhanced integrity and transparency can command $25 per tonne. This is not just a minor fluctuation; that's a fundamental value gap fueled by a lack of trust. The good news is, by adopting a digital MRV solution like Thrive 2050's platform you can keep up with evolving regulations and increasing demands from customers while improving your revenue. Standard bodies like Verra and Gold Standard are actively encouraging the adoption of dMRV and the use of tools like remote sensing and AI. The message is clear: it's time to put out the fire and restore trust to the market. At Thrive 2050, we're building the future of carbon project management. Our mission is to give every stakeholder the confidence that their data is accurate, their projects are sound, and their impact is real. Contact us for more details. Follow us on Linkedin to keep updated.
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Video overview of Thrive 2050 dMRV platform
The carbon market is evolving, and so should your monitoring. Our new video is out now, showing how our digital MRV platform can accelerate the market! Standard bodies like Verra and Gold Standard are increasingly encouraging the use of digital MRV tools to enhance verification efficiency and transparency. Our platform is built with these standards in mind, providing a robust solution for a new era of carbon accreditation. Join us in building a more credible and transparent carbon market. Watch the video to learn more! Contact us to learn more or Follow us on Linkedin to get our latest updates.
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