Large companies involved in the development of artificial intelligence technologies are required to publish transparent information about their environmental impact. This call was made by UN Secretary-General António Guterres.
According to Bloomberg, the UN chief made this statement at London Climate Action Week.
“I call on every major artificial intelligence company to measure and publicly disclose the full environmental impact of their systems, including their carbon, water and land footprints,” he emphasised.
Enough of shifting the burden onto others
According to the International Energy Agency, data centres powering AI are set to double their electricity consumption between 2025 and 2030. The environmental impact of this electricity generation depends directly on the type of power generation chosen by companies.
Therefore, in addition to transparency, António Guterres emphasised that all major technology companies must commit to developing clean energy to power their equipment. In particular, every data centre must be running on renewable energy by 2030.
A particular cause for concern is the enormous amount of water required by data centres for cooling.
“By 2030, they could consume more energy than every country except five and enough water to meet the basic needs of all 1.3 billion residents of sub-Saharan Africa for an entire year,” said the UN Secretary-General.
EcoPolitic previously reported that according to forecasts, by 2027, AI infrastructure will require between 4.2 and 6.6 billion cubic meters of water annually. Experts emphasize that new data centers are being constructed primarily in less affluent countries, which already face challenges related to natural resources.
