While negotiators at COP29 in Baku were grappling with agreement on climate action, delegates and experts of the UNECE Team of Specialists on Innovation and Competitiveness Policies discussed the opportunities and challenges of innovation using artificial intelligence (AI) for climate change action. Their findings and ensuing recommendations will feed into the next UNECE Commission session in April 2025 dedicated to “Climate action and resilient infrastructure for a sustainable future”.
Climate change is a global threat to ecosystems, economies, and communities. An increase of temperature above the 1.5 degrees level will lead to irreversible and catastrophic losses. The recent floods in Spain or the devastation of the hurricanes in the United States are yet another reminder that we do not have time to waste.
The time is now to urgently act to mitigate, prepare for, and adapt to climate change, decarbonizing the economy and getting to net zero or even net negative carbon emissions. Transformative innovation, based on ideas for putting the potential of AI and other frontier technologies into practice, will be essential to find sustainable solutions of all kinds.
Delegates, experts from academia, the private sector, and representative of partner organizations such as the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the World Economic Forum, agreed on the substantial potential for using AI in climate change action.
On the mitigation side, experts highlighted how AI can help in measuring emissions, radically improving climate and weather modelling and forecasting, optimizing energy consumption, and integrating renewable energy resources in the grid. AI can also manage energy distribution more efficiently by predicting energy demand.
In climate change adaptation, AI can gather and analyze large amounts of data, for example to map and track deforestation and iceberg melting. It can model weather events, predicting where and when climate disasters occur, and greatly improve early warning systems. AI can assist in coordinating emergency responses, optimizing the allocation of resources.
Yet, there are several challenges and constraints. There are risks related to access, aggregation, use of data, data bias, lacking transparency, privacy violation, security breaches, and inequality within and among countries. One of the major obstacles to the use of AI in climate change action is its large and fast-growing environmental footprint. Data centers are highly energy and water intensive. For each 20 to 50 questions asked to ChatGPT, the system consumes half a liter of fresh water according to the University of Colorado Riverside and University of Texas Arlington. Morgan Stanley predicts that by 2027, generative AI could use as much energy as Spain in 2022.
Delegates and experts identified policy recommendations and actions needed to make AI equitable and sustainable. These include the importance of investing in AI research and development, fostering an inclusive AI enabling ecosystem, building human capacity, and investing in upskilling and re-skilling. Delegates also agreed on the need for community-based solutions and collaboration across value chains, across sectors and between public and private. Finally, the Team of Specialists highlighted the role of standardization and international cooperation and technical assistance as fundamental enablers to make the use of AI equitable and sustainable.
Experts also discussed the outcomes of the Action Forum of the UNECE Transformative Innovation Network and its charter, to implement a systemic approach to sustainable transformations.
The Team of Specialists will submit its policy recommendations and conclusions to the UNECE Commission session in April 2025, the next session of the UNECE Committee on Innovation, Competitiveness and Public-Private Partnerships in June 2025, and to the newly launched SPECA Climate and Innovation Dialogue. The policy recommendations and actions identified will also be mainstreamed in policy advisory and capacity building work in beneficiary countries.