Drawing on a survey of GitHub users (n = 1,039), this report describes software developers’ beliefs and attitudes about climate change, the environmental footprint of AI systems, sustainable software practices, and the responsibilities of different actors in the software ecosystem. Among the key findings in this report:
Global Warming Beliefs
- More than eight in ten respondents (86%) say global warming is happening, while 7% say it is not happening, and 6% say they don’t know.
- A majority of respondents (53%) say global warming is caused mostly by human activities, and an additional 31% say it is caused by a combination of human activities and natural changes. About one in ten (9%) say it is caused mostly by natural changes in the environment.
Perceived Risks of Global Warming
- About two in three respondents (68%) say global warming will harm them personally either “a great deal” (23%) or “a moderate amount” (45%).
- About eight in ten (82%) say global warming will harm future generations of people at least a moderate amount, including 67% who say “a great deal.”
Worry and Personal Importance
- More than three in four respondents (79%) say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, including 41% who are “very worried.”
- About six in ten respondents (61%) say the issue of global warming is either “extremely” (30%) or “very” (31%) important to them personally.
AI and Environmental Impact
- About six in ten respondents (63%) say AI systems are contributing to climate change either “a great deal” (28%) or “a moderate amount” (34%).
- About seven in ten (71%) say they are either “very” (39%) or “somewhat” (32%) concerned about the environmental impact of AI systems.
Personal Impact and Agency
- Respondents are most likely to say that voting and/or civic engagement (28%), advocating for sustainability practices (22%), and personal lifestyle choices (21%) have a “large” effect on reducing their personal environmental impact. Fewer (10%) say the way they develop and write software has a large effect; 63% say its effect is “small.”
Software Efficiency and Sustainability
- Seven in ten respondents (70%) say that they were at least “somewhat aware” before taking the survey that writing more efficient software can reduce its environmental impact, including 35% who say they were “very aware.”
- Eight in ten (80%) say they are at least “somewhat interested” in using tools that help them write more energy-efficient code, including 43% who are “very interested.”
Corporate and Institutional Responsibility
- About seven in ten respondents say governments and regulators (71%), cloud and infrastructure providers (70%), and tech companies and employers (70%) should be doing “more” or “much more” to address environmental impact.
- Many (45%) say GitHub specifically should be doing more or much more; about one in five (21%) say GitHub is currently doing the right amount, and 22% say they don’t know.
- Three in four respondents (75%) say it is either “very” (36%) or “somewhat” (39%) important to them that their employer actively works to reduce its environmental impact.
Support for Local Energy and Data Infrastructure
- More than eight in ten respondents (84%) support building solar farms in their local area, and about three in four (77%) support building wind farms. Two in three (66%) support local nuclear power plants.
- By contrast, 58% oppose building data centers in their local area, and 37% support them.
Comparison with the U.S. General Population
- GitHub users are more likely than U.S. adults to say global warming is happening (86% vs. 68%), that it is at least somewhat personally important (82% vs. 65%), to expect at least moderate harm from global warming to future generations (82% vs. 68%), to say global warming will harm them personally at least a moderate amount (68% vs. 45%), and to be worried about global warming (79% vs. 66%).