The United Nations Secretary-General has launched an initiative aimed at holding artificial intelligence companies accountable for their exploding environmental impacts, including carbon emissions, the amount of water and land used in data centers, and the energy they consume.
Speaking at London Climate Action Week on Tuesday, António Guterres noted that AI can accelerate solutions to climate change, among other important challenges, and said we need to harness its potential.
“But AI is also thirsty for land, water and power,” he stressed, adding that the data centers needed to run AI models already consume more electricity than most countries.
The United Nations Secretary-General first called on all major AI companies in July 2025 to commit to powering all data centers with renewable energy by 2030.
While some tech companies have said they are sourcing or building clean energy to power their hubs, rising demand for electricity is also contributing to U.S. gas-fired generation, according to data from Global Energy Monitor.
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The United Nations Secretary-General has launched an initiative aimed at holding artificial intelligence companies accountable for their exploding environmental impacts, including carbon emissions, the amount of water and land used in data centers, and the energy they consume.
Speaking at London Climate Action Week on Tuesday, António Guterres noted that AI can accelerate solutions to climate change, among other important challenges, and said we need to harness its potential.
“But AI is also thirsty for land, water and power,” he stressed, adding that the data centers needed to run AI models already consume more electricity than most countries.
The United Nations Secretary-General first called on all major AI companies in July 2025 to commit to powering all data centers with renewable energy by 2030.
While some tech companies have said they are sourcing or building clean energy to power their hubs, rising demand for electricity is also contributing to U.S. gas-fired generation, according to data from Global Energy Monitor.
The International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that under a high-growth scenario, emissions from the electricity used by data centers will more than double between 2024 and 2030. However, if the use of AI is widely adopted, it could lead to significant savings in the energy sector through improved efficiency.
“No more hidden costs”
Guterres on Tuesday proposed a new AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, calling on major AI companies to measure and publicly disclose the full impact of their systems on the environment, including carbon, water and land emissions.
“No more hidden costs. No more shifting the burdens to those least able to bear them. It’s time to come clean,” he said in a grand speech addressing the world’s twin climate and energy crises. “If AI is to help us build a better future, we must be honest about what it is costing us today.”
A report released earlier this month by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health said the latest assessment of the environmental costs of AI: Focus on carbon emissions from training models. But he added that this misses a large part of the picture.
For every kilowatt-hour of electricity used for AI, there is also a water footprint from cooling and power generation, and a land footprint from infrastructure and supply chain.
Explainer: Will AI data centers make or break the energy transition?
The report estimates that AI data centers around the world could consume 945 terawatt-hours of electricity annually by 2030. This is more than all but five countries and almost double France’s consumption in 2025.
They calculated that to offset this carbon footprint by 2030, we would need to grow around 6.7 billion trees over 10 years. Producing electricity for data centers consumes enough water per year to meet the basic needs of 1.3 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa and requires more than 14,500 square kilometers of land, roughly twice the size of the Jakarta metropolitan area.
The European Union announced earlier this month that it would develop minimum energy efficiency standards for both new and existing data centers and conduct a “needs assessment” by 2027, Reuters reported. It also plans to create a sustainability label for data centers, covering criteria such as water use and clean energy supply, but this has been delayed.
Backlash from American society
When asked after his speech what the reaction was, the UN Secretary-General replied, “We’ll see how it goes,” without going into details.
But in his view, pushing for transparency is “perfectly reasonable and even good for the AI industry, because at the end of the day some people will say they’re consuming a lot more than they actually are.” “I think the truth is essential,” he added.
Concerns about the environmental impact of AI and the infrastructure needed to run the technology have led to growing opposition in some communities, particularly in the United States.
This month, Monterey Park in Los Angeles County became the first city in the United States to enact a citywide ban on data centers through a voter-approved ballot measure. The developer behind a planned center in the area had already scrapped the project in April amid an increasingly challenging local environment and regulatory uncertainty.
Vote that shut down data centers: US communities question resource-intensive AI
According to the nonprofit Data Center Watch, approximately $64 billion worth of data center projects across the country have been delayed or blocked from May 2024 to March 2025 due to community opposition.
Industry lobby groups argue that data centers can provide economic benefits to host communities. Data centers generate tax revenue, support construction and technology jobs, and provide the infrastructure needed for cloud computing, scientific research and AI development, according to the U.S.-based Data Center Coalition, which represents major operators and developers.
The industry also disputes claims that data centers necessarily raise household electricity bills.
Forcibly forever?
The UN chief said that while there may be little benefit where data centers are located, “communities are often not informed about the environmental impacts of the infrastructure being built around them.”
Guterres said companies have an “obligation” to be clear and open not only about the services they provide, but also about the level of resources they require.
He told an audience of climate experts in London: “Transparency is essential for the decisions that communities have to make, and it’s also essential for the future of artificial intelligence, and to ensure that it is essentially a force for good.”
A senior United Nations official told reporters ahead of Tuesday’s announcement that while the AI industry has begun to talk about and publicize some of its impacts, its efforts are not yet comprehensive enough.
Officials said they hope the new initiative will “encourage the industry to come together and take further action.”
