SHADE Newsletter 7th August 2025

Welcome to the fortieth edition of the SHADE newsletter! 

SHADE is a research hub with a mission to explore issues at the intersection of digital technologies/AI, health and the environment. It is guided by a fundamental question: How should the balance between AI/digital enabled health and planetary health be struck in different areas of the world, and what should be the guiding principles?

The SHADE newsletter comes every month, taking an in depth look at selected topics, as well as highlighting new resources, events and opportunities in the SHADE space.

In this newsletter we highlight AMR and the impact of climate change over time. We conclude with a selection of resources and opportunities - this month’s selection includes the latest on legal rulings on climate change, AI and data, bioethics and planetary justice and DHIS2. We hope you enjoy it!

Please tell us what you like, what you don’t like and what you think is missing at [email protected].   

AMR

• Three articles on the role of vaccines in addressing AMR: Firstly, Chikungunya virus burden and implications for vaccination programs. This research briefing from Nature highlights that the number of people at risk of infection of the mosquito borne Chikungunya virus is expected to rise in the coming decades because climate change is expanding the virus’s geographic range. The study provides estimates of the burden of the virus infection on public health for 180 countries and evaluates the potential benefits of vaccination campaigns. Secondly, from the One Health Trust, a Global Antibiotic Resistance Partnership (GARP) Nepal policy brief, The Role of Vaccines in Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance in Nepal. Finally, this study from Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology, on Temporal trends in vaccination and antibiotic use among young children in the United States, 2000–2019.

• A study published in Nature Communications highlights the rapid spread of antimicrobial resistant bacteria amongst malnourished children in hospital in Niger. The study underscores the urgent need for infection prevention and control measures to be strengthened in LMIC treatment facilities, particularly as concurrent humanitarian crises, such as droughts and conflicts, exacerbate malnutrition. The authors describe the findings as an “early warning” to the world and a “stark reminder of how fast antimicrobial resistance can spread”.

The impact of climate change over time

• From PLOS Climate comes Projections of heat related mortality under combined climate and socioeconomic adaptation scenarios for England and Wales. This study found that annual deaths could rise sixfold even with strong mitigation due to population ageing and locked in climate warming. Low mitigation and high population growth scenarios could see heat-related mortality rise by approximately 50 times in England and Wales.

• Temperature-Related Hospitalization Burden under Climate Change. This study in China projects hospitalization risks associated with extreme temperatures through to the year 2100 and develops the Hospitalization Burden Economic Index to assess the burden under three carbon emission scenarios in cities.

• Nature reports on the new Google AI model that mines trillions of images to create maps of Earth ‘at any place and time’. Alpha Earth Foundations, released on July 30th, could be used for multiple purposes, including studying the ecological impacts of climate change.

Resources, Events and Opportunities

• If you are involved in long term health or environmental research, this Nature technology feature gives the lowdown on best practice for data maintenance. Top tips include using a repository and updating your tech so your data doesn’t become extinct. Meanwhile, correspondance in Nature sets out why encouraging a ‘data sufficiency’ mindset is key for responsible research.

• npj Digital Medicine reports on a pilot project in a mountainous area of Italy which looks to address a significant gap in European healthcare policy at the intersection of digital health and environmental sustainability. The study ‘highlights the potential of digital health to align service delivery with environmental objectives’.

• DHIS2 has been recognised as a Global Good for Climate and Health. This follows a competitive global call for proposals and a rigorous peer review process. DHIS2 was selected based on its demonstrated global scale and recent advancements that enable integration of climate data with health information systems.

• Are you an AI expert? The UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) is establishing a new AI panel which will help shape the UK’s approach to building responsible AI in the public sector. The closing date for applications is noon on Monday 18 August.

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague has ruled that countries can sue each other over climate change, including historic emissions of greenhouse gases. Although the ruling is non binding it could have wide ranging consequences, and it is being seen as a victory for countries particularly vulnerable to climate change. Meanwhile, this report from Euronews highlights the difficulties of undertaking weather attribution studies in the global south, noting that poor countries, which have contributed the least to climate change but are the most vulnerable to it, have limited funds for climate research.

• Two visual resources on AI’s appetites: Firstly, this BBC video explains how AI uses our drinking water, and looks at what can be done to reduce this consumption. Secondly, the FT provides the visual story of the relentless race for AI capacity. Meanwhile, the Green Web Foundation reports on what the European Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) has revealed about data centre sustainability, including the fact that only 36% of data centre companies participated, despite a legal requirement to share their data. Meanwhile the Datacenter Lobby, which includes AWS, Microsoft and Google, hits back.

• As the Trump administration released its AI Action plan aiming to cut red tape and 'partisan bias' on July 23rd, more than 100 organizations had signed up to a People’s AI Action Plan, demanding an AI policy agenda that puts the interests of people first and a new policy brief from Data & Society argues that Data Centers Aren’t the Future of American Prosperity.

• As the Lancet publishes this viewpoint article on Bioethics for the planet, check out the AI + Planetary Justice Alliance, including their plan for Rethinking Data for AI Through Planetary Justice and their new project, Rooted Clouds: Mapping the Planetary Justice Impacts of AI Data Centers.

And finally, what if we reimagine digital infrastructures attuned to life systems?’. This is one of the questions considered in the latest issue of Branch magazine. The issue is a collaboration between the Green Web Foundation and the critical infrastructure lab.

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