UN presses AI companies to disclose environmental impact and go renewable by 2030
Secretary-general Antonio Guterres calls on artificial intelligence firms to reveal data-centre energy and water use, putting AI's climate footprint under fresh scrutiny.
Rajan Mehta
Writer ·
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said artificial intelligence companies should disclose their environmental impacts and commit to powering their facilities with renewable electricity by 2030.
His intervention pushes the energy and water demands of data centres firmly into the climate-policy spotlight at a time of explosive growth in AI computing.
Why it matters
Training and running large AI models requires vast amounts of electricity and cooling, raising concerns about emissions and resource use as the technology scales. Greater transparency, the UN argues, would allow the true cost of the AI boom to be measured.
What happens next
The call adds pressure on major technology firms to publish detailed environmental data and accelerate the shift to clean power, though such commitments would remain voluntary without binding international rules.
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