Digital, Industry and Space

The European Commission’s investment of over 15 billion EUR into digital, industry, and space research and innovation under Horizon Europe (Cluster 4 in Pillar II) underscores the scientific significance of these areas in driving economic growth. At the same time, the Commission has recognized that even while such innovations are necessary for digital and green transitions, a number of urgent climate and environmental ethics challenges connected to Cluster 4 activities need to be addressed. Digital, industry and space technologies and scientific practices in these fields are resource-intensive, often leading to substantial carbon emissions, pollution, critical raw material extraction, and toxic waste. Beyond environmental impacts, there are critical concerns related to intergenerational and global justice, fairness in resource distribution, labour exploitation, and the protection of human rights. Social Lab 2: Digital, Industry and Space will engage various Cluster 4 stakeholders to deeply explore and bring these and other relevant climate and environmental ethics issues to the forefront in the research and innovation practices, and also discuss strategies to mitigate them.