U.N. Secretary-General Sounds Alarms on Global Data Center Impacts
LONDON — U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called on the tech industry and global data center developers to embrace clean energy and be transparent about the energy, water and land impacts their projects would have in a speech during London Climate Action week. This comes as the world scrambles in response to massive developments for artificial intelligence and the global energy crisis spurred by the war in the Middle East.
Following is reaction from Julie Cerqueira, Chief Program Officer at NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council):
“The rapid development of data centers to power AI technology is dramatically changing the world around us. This new industrial sector consumes massive amounts of energy and water, pollutes our air, and raises household energy bills.
“The world’s most profitable corporations are building these projects—under no circumstances should they be locking in new pollution from additional fossil fuel infrastructure and looking to the rest of us to pick up the tab. The Secretary General is right to sound the alarm bells about potentially massive climate pollution spikes, water drawdowns and land use pressures. The AI Environmental Transparency Initiative stands as a key step to give global communities information they desperately need to prepare and protect themselves from the impacts individual data centers can bring.
"There is a better way to meet this demand—clean energy. The cheapest and quickest way to meet increased energy demand also happens to be the cleanest and healthiest. That’s what we should expect from big tech around the world, and nothing less.”
More resources:
- Julie recently discussed the biggest climate challenges ahead, including data centers, on NRDC’s What the Earth podcast, available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXfLLz-WvvE
- Read NRDC President and CEO Manish Bapna's statement on London Climate Action Week at https://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/london-climate-week-falls-amid-increased-urgency-ramp-speed-and-scale-action
- Yamide Dagnet, NRDC’s International Senior Vice-president, published a blog further outlining the global climate context at LCAW's opening at https://www.nrdc.org/resources/nrdc-london-climate-action-week-culmination-global-sustainability-action
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NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) is an international nonprofit environmental organization with more than 3 million members and online activists. Established in 1970, NRDC uses science, policy, law and people power to confront the climate crisis, protect public health and safeguard nature. NRDC has offices in New York City, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Beijing and Delhi (an office of NRDC India Pvt. Ltd).