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UN Urges AI Firms to Disclose Environmental Footprint Amid Growing Resource Strain
🇸🇰 Slovakia /Environment & Climate

UN Urges AI Firms to Disclose Environmental Footprint Amid Growing Resource Strain

From SME · () Slovak

Translated from Slovak, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News From a news agency Context piece
  • A UN report urges AI companies to disclose their environmental footprint, warning of increased strain on energy, water, and land resources.
  • The AI market is projected to grow exponentially, with data centers' electricity consumption expected to nearly double by 2030.
  • The report advocates for transparency and proactive monitoring of AI's environmental impact, not opposition to the technology itself.

The United Nations is calling on artificial intelligence companies to be transparent about their environmental impact, highlighting the growing pressure AI places on global resources. A new report from the UN Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-EHS) warns that the rapid advancement of AI is significantly increasing demand on energy grids, water supplies, and land.

Kaveh Madani, head of UNU-EHS, emphasized the critical need for greater transparency from AI providers. The report, titled "The Environmental Costs of AI Energy Consumption: Carbon, Water, and Land Footprints," utilizes data from various sources to estimate AI's environmental toll. The global AI market is anticipated to surge from $189 billion in 2023 to $4.8 trillion by 2033.

The environmental costs of AI energy consumption: carbon, water, and land footprints.

— UN Institute for Water, Environment and HealthTitle of the UN report highlighting AI's environmental impact.

Data centers powering AI and other digital services consumed 448 TWh of electricity in 2025, a figure that would rank them 11th globally in consumption, just below France. Projections indicate that data center energy consumption could exceed 945 TWh by 2030, placing them sixth worldwide and generating nearly 400 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions. The report also points to a widening digital divide, with most AI-focused data centers concentrated in the U.S., China, and the EU, while developing nations often bear the environmental burden of mineral extraction and waste disposal.

Madani clarified that the report is not anti-AI but rather advocates for proactive monitoring and control of its environmental consequences. Co-author Miriam Aczel of UN University for Advanced Studies suggested that AI developers and providers should publish clear, standardized data on their energy and environmental footprints. The report recommends that governments and regulators treat environmental disclosures for AI as standard practice and incorporate AI's growing energy demand into climate and energy plans, advising the strategic placement of data centers away from water-scarce regions.

Governments and regulators should consider environmental disclosures for AI as standard.

— UN Institute for Water, Environment and HealthRecommendation from the UN report regarding AI transparency.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by SME in Slovak. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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