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UN Secretary-General Launches AI Environmental Transparency Initiative
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In Short: The UN Secretary-General has launched an initiative calling on AI companies to disclose their carbon, water, and land footprints, highlighting the environmental costs of AI's expansion.
The UN Secretary-General has launched the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative, urging AI companies to disclose their carbon, water, and land footprints. This initiative aims to address the environmental impacts of AI's rapid growth, emphasizing the need for transparency and sustainability in the tech industry.
In a report marking the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health's 30th anniversary, it was revealed that AI is not just a digital technology but also a material system with significant environmental costs. The report underscores the importance of understanding and mitigating these costs.
To tackle these environmental risks, the report advocates for a responsible AI ecosystem that prioritizes transparency, efficiency, equity, environmental justice, lifecycle responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use. This initiative seeks to foster a more sustainable and ethical development of AI technologies.
The United Nations University (UNU), the think tank and academic arm of the UN, plays a crucial role in this initiative. Based in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with a presence in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada, the UNU focuses on global issues related to human development and welfare through collaborative research and education.
Background
The United Nations University (UNU) is the think tank and academic arm of the United Nations. Headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan, with diplomatic status as a UN institution, its mission is to help resolve global issues related to human development and welfare through collaborative research and education.
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- United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. doi: 10.53328/INR26RMA002 This report, Environmental Cost of Artificial Intelligence: Carbon, Water…
- The report shows that AI is not only a digital technology, but also a material system with measurable environmental costs.
- To address these risks, the report calls for a responsible AI ecosystem grounded in transparency, efficiency by design, equity and environmental justice, lifecycle responsibility, global cooperation, and sustainable use.