Paris, 11 February 2025 – To promote environmentally sustainable practices in artificial intelligence, more than 100 partners, including 37 technology companies, 11 countries, and 5 international organizations, have formed a coalition. This initiative was led by France, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and has subsequently culminated in the formation of the Coalition for Environmentally Sustainable AI, which would contribute to addressing the ecological challenges that follow AI technologies.
It was announced at the AI Action Summit in Paris, which also gathered participants who included heads of state and governments, representatives of international organizations, CEOs, academics, and civil society. The summit aimed to set out actions for innovative ways of using AI, figuration of relevant regulatory frameworks, and ensuring the benefit of all nations, including the developing world, from these technologies.
Its objectives include the promotion of AI initiatives towards the decarbonization of economies, prevention of pollution, conservation of biodiversity, management of oceans, as well as ensuring that human activities operate within planetary boundaries. This collaborative approach will involve governments, academia, civil society, and the private sector to introduce standard methods for measuring the environmental impact of AI and focus research priorities on sustainable practices in AI.
“We know that AI can be a force for climate action and energy efficiency. But we also know AI power-intensive systems are already placing an unsustainable strain on our planet,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in his remarks at the Summit. “So it is crucial to design AI algorithms and infrastructures that consume less energy and integrate AI into smart grids to optimize power use.”
Research indicates that while AI can address significant environmental challenges, such as mapping destructive sand dredging and tracking methane emissions, it also poses ecological concerns. The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure contributes to electronic waste and consumes substantial electricity and water resources.
“The AI Action Summit is a turning point: for the first time, the ecological transition has been at the core of the discussions in an international AI summit. I am very proud that France organized this first Forum for sustainable AI with 200 stakeholders present,” said Agnès Pannier-Runacher, France’s Minister of Ecological Transition, Energy, Climate and Risk Prevention.
“Today, my Ministry, with ITU and UNEP, launched the Coalition for Sustainable AI – more than 90 members, including 37 companies, have joined this ambitious initiative on green AI and AI for green.”
The coalition seeks to assimilate concerns for sustainable AI into international dialogues, on the model of AI safety and ethics. New initiatives are being launched to build knowledge on AI and the environment, including position papers that outline challenges concerned with maximizing the positive effects of AI while trying to minimize negative contributions to the environment and hackathons that focus on the design of energy-efficient AI models for environmental applications.
“The power of AI to solve complex global challenges is becoming ever clearer, but so too are its environmental impacts and the need for environmental guardrails to ensure the field grows sustainably,” said Golestan (Sally) Radwan, Chief Digital Officer for UNEP.
“The new Coalition brings together critical stakeholders who have the power to work together and build systems that ensure the net effect of AI on the planet is positive as the technology continues to deploy rapidly.”
Source: https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/new-coalition-aims-put-artificial-intelligence-more-sustainable-path
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