SDGs should strive to be sustainable software

[mgifford]

The software and communities behind DPGs have a climate impacts.

Organisations like the Green Software Foundation and Green Web Foundation provide guidelines on how to build greener technology. Furthermore, there are communities like CAT, which offer spaces for people to learn more.

For the web there is the Web Sustainability Guidelines https://w3c.github.io/sustyweb - presently it is a list of best practices, but as a W3C Interest Group, the group will be able to produce a note which will have the backing of the W3C guideline.

Drupal is a DPG that has a Sustainability statement - https://www.drupal.org/about/sustainability

There may well be others. I do think it is reasonable to ask that DPGs are thinking about their impact on the planet as they work to build the DPGs, but that there is a commitment to following best practices as they arise.

Monitoring and reporting on the environmental impact of the community and technology needs to become a part of responsible technology. If we don't measure it, it will still matter - but we won't be able to effectively address the impact of our work.