Key points
- Environmental costs fall unevenly on local communities
- Tech firms invest in efficiency and renewables
- Sustainability must guide global AI governance efforts
ISLAMABAD: As artificial intelligence becomes a cornerstone of modern economies, concerns are growing over its environmental footprint. Behind the rapid expansion of AI tools lies a vast network of data centres, high-performance computing systems, and energy-intensive infrastructure that is placing new pressures on global resources.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), data centres currently account for around one to two per cent of global electricity consumption, a figure expected to rise sharply as AI workloads expand. The agency has warned that without efficiency improvements and cleaner energy sources, the growth of AI could complicate efforts to meet global climate targets.
Training large AI models requires enormous computing power, often running for weeks on specialised hardware. This process consumes significant amounts of electricity and water, particularly for cooling data centres. In regions already facing water stress or energy shortages, the environmental trade-offs of hosting AI infrastructure have sparked public debate and policy scrutiny.
Economic benefits
The environmental impact of AI is unevenly distributed. Wealthy countries and major technology firms reap most of the economic benefits, while the environmental costs—such as increased energy demand or strain on local water supplies—are often borne by communities near data centres. Critics argue that this mirrors broader patterns of inequality seen in global industrial development.
In response, technology companies are investing in renewable energy, more efficient chips, and carbon-offset programmes. Some governments are also introducing sustainability requirements for data centres, linking planning approvals to energy efficiency and emissions standards. However, environmental groups caution that voluntary measures may not be enough.
As artificial intelligence continues to scale globally, experts say sustainability must become a core part of AI governance. Balancing innovation with environmental responsibility, they argue, will be critical to ensuring that the digital transformation does not come at the expense of climate goals and ecological resilience worldwide.
