Climate change and environmental degradation demand new approaches for large-scale, continuous, and intelligent sensing of natural ecosystems. The Internet of Trees proposes a distributed infrastructure where smart environmental probes deployed in forest environments become active nodes in a real-time environmental intelligence network—requiring computing platforms that are low-power, secure, adaptable, and affordable.

RISC-V offers a powerful foundation for next-generation environmental sensing systems. As an open-source ISA, it enables technological flexibility, design transparency, and long-term digital sovereignty, while allowing customized processors tailored to edge AI, wireless sensor networks, secure communication, and ultra-low-power operation. These features are especially critical for climate-oriented deployments in remote, resource-constrained environments.

This keynote presents the Internet of Trees as a case study for the strategic use of open-source microprocessor technology, discussing how RISC-V supports distributed sensing, local data processing, trusted operation, and scalable integration with cloud-based environmental platforms. Beyond technical efficiency, open microprocessor ecosystems can strengthen local innovation and sustainable semiconductor capacity—making RISC-V not merely a processor architecture, but an instrument for building resilient, sovereign infrastructures for planetary monitoring.

The Internet of Trees illustrates how open silicon can connect sustainability, intelligence, and environmental stewardship, a perspective particularly relevant for emerging economies seeking both climate action and technological autonomy. The convergence of open hardware and environmental intelligence may define a new class of digital infrastructure for the living world.

RISC-V can be one of its most important enabling technologies.