Kathmandu- United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has called on major artificial intelligence companies to publicly disclose the environmental impact of their systems, warning that the rapid expansion of AI data centers is putting increasing pressure on land, water and energy resources.
Speaking at London Climate Action Week, Guterres said the environmental costs of the AI boom must be made more transparent.
“AI data centres are hungry for land, water and power,” he wrote on X. “I’m calling on every major AI company to publicly disclose the full environmental impact of its systems as a matter of transparency.”
The UN chief said communities should not be left to bear the hidden costs of the industry’s growth.
“No more hidden costs. No more shifting the burden onto those least able to bear it. It is time to come clean,” he added.
The remarks came as the United Nations launched its AI Environmental Transparency Initiative aimed at encouraging companies to report the carbon emissions, water consumption and land-use footprint associated with their AI operations.
The rapid buildout of data centers to support growing demand for artificial intelligence has attracted increasing scrutiny from environmental groups and researchers. Concerns have centred on the sector’s rising electricity consumption, heavy water use for cooling systems and the lack of standardised reporting on environmental impacts.
According to estimates cited by the UN Secretary General, data centres could consume more electricity by 2030 than all but five countries in the world and use enough water annually to meet the basic needs of 1.3 billion people in sub-Saharan Africa.
While major technology companies have announced renewable energy and net-zero commitments, the UN says greater transparency is needed to assess the true environmental footprint of AI infrastructure as investment in the sector continues to accelerate worldwide.
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