Your Cloud Has a Dirty Secret: The Hidden Carbon Footprint of Your Company’s Tech with Tim Prosser

What's the real environmental footprint of your organisation's IT infrastructure — and is your cloud provider telling you the full story?In this episode, we welcome back Tim Prosser for part one of a two-part deep dive into digital sustainability. Tim is a specialist in digital sustainability strategy and green operations, with over 20 years leading enterprise technology teams across the UK and Australia. He serves as a mentor and community advisory board member at Climate Salad and led industry engagement at Climate Action Week Sydney in 2024–2025.Since his first appearance on The Green Fix in June last year — one of our most popular episodes — Tim has been on a global study tour, connecting with digital sustainability practitioners across London, attending Climate Week, London Tech Week, and the Global Tipping Points Conference at Exeter University. He returns with sharp insights on what organisations need to know right now.Tim unpacks why Australian cloud environments are rated E and F against the global standard, what questions organisations should be asking their technology suppliers before hard-baking data into baselines, and where the biggest gaps in IT emissions reporting sit — particularly in financial services, insurance, and media. He introduces the IT Sustainability Maturity Assessment by the global nonprofit Sustainable IT, and explains why the collaboration between sustainability, finance, and IT — what he calls the sustainability value triangle — is the key relationship for credible climate disclosure.Whether you're a sustainability practitioner preparing for mandatory reporting, an IT leader navigating digital emissions, or someone who's never thought about the carbon footprint of their inbox — this episode is essential listening.RESOURCESOrganisations & Tools MentionedSustainable IT (global nonprofit) — https://www.sustainableit.orgIT Sustainability Maturity Assessment (free, open for 2025) — https://www.sustainableit.org/news/2025-launch-of-the-it-sustainability-maturity-benchmark-programClimate Salad — https://www.climatesalad.comParents for Climate — https://www.parentsforclimate.orgNic Seton, CEO of Parents for Climate — https://www.parentsforclimate.org/nic_setonBooksThe Sustainable IT Playbook (2nd edition) by Nicholas Sundberg and Richard Pascoe — https://www.sustainableit.org/sustainable-it-playbookThe Ministry of the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson (2020)Connect with us! Support the showYour Hosts:Dan LeveringtonLoreto GutierrezLiked this episode? Subscribe to our podcast to get the latest Sustainability insights every two weeks. And follow us on Linkedin and Instagram.Email us your ideas, feedback and interviewee suggestions at [email protected]