UN chief calls on AI firms to come clean on environmental costs
The United Nations called on major artificial intelligence companies to publicly disclose the full environmental cost of their data centers, including water, carbon, and land use impacts. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged firms to commit to powering all data centers with renewable energy by 2030, citing concerns that AI data centers could use more power than most countries and vast amounts of water by 2030.
U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres launched a new transparency initiative, calling on artificial intelligence (AI) companies to publicly disclose the environmental costs of their data centers and transition to renewable power by 2030. Speaking at London Climate Action Week, Guterres highlighted growing concerns from environmental groups regarding the high energy and water consumption of rapidly expanding data centers.
He warned that by 2030, AI data centers could consume more electricity than all but five countries globally and enough water to meet the basic needs of 1.3 billion residents in sub-Saharan Africa for a year. The initiative urges AI firms to measure and publicly report their water, carbon, and land use impacts, emphasizing that for AI to contribute to a better future, its current costs must be transparent.
Guterres also criticized ongoing reliance on fossil fuels, urging the fossil fuel industry to address methane emissions and advocating for increased deployment of renewable energy projects to electrify various sectors and reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels. The article included a photo caption referencing "NO DATA CENTER signs in Mantua, Ohio" from June 15.