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Digital Environmental Sustainability: Pioneering Multilateral Solutions

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Digital tools provide many opportunities to help tackle the triple planetary crisis. But in the absence of collaborative concerted efforts to steer them towards sustainable and equitable outcomes, these tools can instead risk exacerbating our crisis. Multi-stakeholder partnerships play a crucial role in operationalizing the needed collaborations and governance frameworks to advance sustainable environmental solutions in the digital age.At the Stockholm+50 conference in 2022, the UN-mandated Coalition for Digital Environmental Sustainability (CODES) launched the Action Plan for a Sustainable Planet in the Digital Age; co-designed with over 1,000 stakeholders across the globe. The Action Plan details a governance framework with collaborative Impact Initiatives to support sustainable and inclusive digital environmental solutions. In 2024, a crucial window of opportunity arises with the UN Global Digital Compact being developed and agreed until September this year. The objective of this side event is to discuss five central action areas that help to make a sustainable digital age a reality: the strategic use of global environmental data, the building blocks of sustainable digital infrastructure, the use of sustainable AI for the SDGs, the critical role of digital sustainability literacy and and how ‘digital public infrastructures (DPI)’ can support climate and environmental protection. The side event is open to civil society, researchers, tech innovators and Government representatives. It will be followed by an informal online meet-up for updates on the Global Digital Compact consultation process as well as opportunities for community networking and strategic discussions with a dedicated community.