LONDON, June 23 - The United Nations has publicly pressed leading artificial intelligence companies to quantify and reveal the full environmental costs of their data centres and to transition those facilities to renewable electricity, unveiling a new transparency effort aimed at the sector.
At an address during London Climate Action Week, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres highlighted concerns about the rapid global expansion of data centres to support AI workloads, and the heightened scrutiny those facilities face over energy and water consumption and limited disclosure of environmental impacts. He warned about the scale of potential demand, saying: "By 2030, they could use more power than all but five countries - and enough water to meet the basic needs of all 1.3 billion residents of sub‑Saharan Africa for an entire year."
Guterres launched the U.N.'s AI Environmental Transparency Initiative and used the moment to press AI firms to measure and make public their water, carbon and land use impacts. He also called on companies to commit to powering all data centres with renewable energy by 2030.
"If AI is to help build a better future, it must be honest about what it costs us now," he said, emphasizing transparency as a prerequisite for responsible development and deployment of AI technologies.
The secretary-general noted that AI companies are currently relying on voluntary net-zero pledges and renewable electricity targets to reduce emissions, while many are also turning to gas or promoting nuclear power as energy options for new projects.
Guterres said the world remains off track to meet global climate goals and criticised calls for increased fossil fuel use. He argued that accelerating renewable power projects and using that electricity to electrify transport, buildings and industry presents one of the fastest ways to lower emissions and reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels.
Alongside the transparency initiative for AI, Guterres launched a call to action on methane emissions. That initiative asks fossil fuel companies to identify and repair leaks, end routine flaring and adopt a science-based global standard for methane management.
"I am urging the fossil fuel industry to step up and do what is long overdue," he said, noting that methane is a potent greenhouse gas and is responsible for around one-third of current global warming.
Guterres also said he will convene world leaders in September ahead of the U.N. Climate Conference, COP31, in Turkey, with the aim of advancing a "just transition" away from fossil fuels.
The U.N. moves aim to increase transparency around the environmental footprint of AI infrastructure and to press for more rapid deployment of renewables, while coupling that push with targeted action on methane from the fossil fuel sector.