UN Secretary-General António Guterres said artificial intelligence companies should disclose their environmental impact and carbon footprints during a visit to London [1].
The demand for AI processing power is driving a surge in electricity consumption that threatens global climate goals. Guterres said that continued reliance on fossil fuels to power these systems is worsening both the energy and climate crises [2].
Speaking in the United Kingdom, the Secretary-General said AI firms must be transparent about their ecological costs [1]. He specifically said companies should commit to powering every data center with renewable energy by 2030 [3].
The scale of energy use by the industry is significant. Guterres said that if data centers were categorized as a country, they would rank 11th in electricity consumption in 2025 [4]. This level of use exceeds that of all but 10 countries [5].
These warnings come as the planet has just endured its 11 hottest years on record [6]. Guterres said that transparency is essential to accelerate action on global warming, and to ensure that technological progress does not come at the expense of the environment [2].
The UN chief said that the hidden costs of AI, specifically the water and energy required to cool and run massive server farms, must be made public to drive accountability [2].
“If data centres were a country, they would rank 11th in electricity consumption in 2025”
The UN's focus on AI infrastructure highlights a growing tension between the rapid deployment of generative AI and international climate commitments. By framing data center energy use in terms of national consumption, the UN is signaling that the tech industry's footprint is now a systemic geopolitical issue rather than just a corporate responsibility concern.
