Open and Closed Software: A Climate Concern

Imagine that the fossil fuel industry is suddenly unable to continue with the business-as-usual extraction of oil and gas – all because of a concerted effort of climate-conscious software developers.

This is the scenario that the authors of the Climate Strike License (CSL) had in mind when in 2019 they called on their developer peers to make it impossible for fossil fuel companies to use software by adopting the new license. The CSL authors explain that despite the climate crisis, oil production is still expanding, and this is enabled by critical software that automates and optimises oil production. Much of the software used by oil companies builds on open source code that many communities of developers contribute to, and is used in a diverse range of projects. At least in theory, developers could prevent fossil fuel companies from taking advantage of open source work by putting in place explicit restrictions on who would be able to use the code – for instance by adopting the CSL.

Due to its seemingly immaterial quality, it is sometimes difficult to grapple with software’s real-world effects. Without software, most contemporary infrastructure can’t function. Oil rigs and machinery may be among the most visually striking symbols of the climate crisis, but the software that is used to run them is equally important. That also means it can be used as a weapon to stop oil extraction, in a similar way to policy.

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