The United Nations on Tuesday called on major artificial intelligence companies to publicly disclose the environmental impact of their data centres and transition to renewable energy, launching a new initiative aimed at improving transparency across the rapidly expanding sector.
Speaking during London Climate Action Week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that the rapid growth of AI infrastructure is placing increasing pressure on global energy and water resources.
He said that by 2030, AI data centres could consume more electricity than all but five countries and use enough water to meet the basic needs of 1.3 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa for an entire year.
As part of the newly launched UN AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, Guterres called on AI companies to measure and publicly report their water consumption, carbon emissions and land use, while committing to power all data centres with renewable energy by 2030.
“If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now,” Guterres said.