United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres urged AI companies to “come clean” about the carbon pollution they create, along with the water and land needed to power their operations. In remarks at London Climate Action Week, he pushed for an AI Environme
For Guterres, the problem wasn’t just how much AI is expanding—it was how little people know about what it costs.
Speaking at London Climate Action Week on Tuesday. United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called on artificial intelligence companies to release information about the carbon pollution they create. as well as the water and land used to power their operations. His message was blunt: “No more hidden costs.” And he added: “No more shifting the burden onto those least able to bear it. It is time to come clean.”.
He paired the demand for transparency with a specific proposal: the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative. In his remarks. Guterres argued that AI companies should measure and disclose the impact of a technology that is increasingly in demand. He pointed to the growing resistance to rapid AI data-center expansion. where opponents cite environmental consequences as a reason to slow down.
The pressure on AI companies has been building from multiple directions, Guterres said, including governments and communities near data centers that support AI. The demand is not only for more transparency, but for more standardized reporting across the industry.
He also pressed for action on power sources. AI companies, he said, should commit to powering their facilities with electricity generated from renewable technologies—such as wind and solar—by 2030.
The stakes extend beyond corporate disclosures. Coal still plays a major role in powering data centers worldwide, according to the International Energy Agency. Coal accounts for about 30% of the electricity consumed by data centers globally. Renewables—primarily wind, solar, and hydro—provide about 27%. Natural gas supplies 26%, and nuclear makes up 15%. Renewables are expected to meet just half of that demand over the next five years.
Guterres’ warning arrives at a moment when some of the biggest technology companies have made their own climate promises. Major tech firms have vowed to power operations with cleaner sources, some by the end of the decade. Some plan to rely especially on solar and nuclear, including Amazon and Google. Yet the pace of deploying AI has complicated those commitments and contributed to rising greenhouse gas emissions driven by burning fuels such as oil. coal. and gas.
Regulatory barriers have also slowed climate-friendly projects.
The wider point is that AI’s growth is not landing evenly. As AI booms. Guterres and others have highlighted its potential to accelerate climate solutions—through improved energy efficiency and reduced pollution and emissions. But the environmental footprint of data centers is already substantial. in a way that rivals some of the world’s largest countries. according to a U.N. report released earlier this month.
That report said the water, energy use, and pollution tied to AI will double in just four years. Data centers needed to fuel AI accounted for about 1.5% of the world’s electricity consumption in 2025, and are projected to account for nearly 3% of the world’s electricity use by 2030.
“The environmental footprint of data centers already rivals some of the world’s largest countries. ” Guterres said. and he returned to a central frustration: “Despite these obvious concerns. communities are often left in the dark about the environmental impact of the infrastructure rising around them.”.
The UN chief’s remarks also fit into a broader push for climate action. Guterres has long urged serious steps to address global warming. and he plans to convene leaders again at the annual Conference of Parties this year in Turkey to negotiate plans. On Tuesday. he described AI-related measures as part of the wider effort to keep the world below the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit compared to pre-industrial levels. a goal set during the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Last year marked the first time that the three-year temperature average broke through that threshold.
Guterres said. “Every major emitter must accelerate action. ” and “every country must over-deliver on its commitments.” He called for cutting methane. a powerful greenhouse gas responsible for around one-third of global warming and significantly more potent than carbon dioxide. though it lingers for less time in the atmosphere. He also called for reducing dependence on coal, oil, and gas.
His remarks pointed to uneven progress elsewhere. Guterres noted positive developments in renewable energy, saying scale is driving down costs and adoption is increasing. Clean power generation—driven largely by solar and wind—exceeded overall global electricity demand growth last year. Renewables’ share reached more than one-third of the world’s electricity mix for the first time in modern history in 2025. and coal power’s share fell below one-third of global generation.
He said China continues to drive the world’s clean energy transition. In Europe, he said fossil generation is generally trending down.
But he placed the United States under President Donald Trump in sharper focus. saying it has embraced coal. oil. and gas and slashed support for renewables and broader climate action—against the backdrop of a global energy crisis that has been exacerbated by the U.S. war in Iran, which Guterres called “the mother of all energy shocks.”.
He summed up the moment with the metaphor he drew from Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities. ” using the phrase “A Tale of Two Crises.” “For the climate agenda. this is indeed the best of times and the worst of times. ” he said. “The worst – because climate impacts are intensifying. tipping points are looming. and the energy crisis has exposed the deep risks of dependence on fossil fuels. But also the best – because the renewables revolution is well underway.”.
António Guterres United Nations AI Environmental Transparency Initiative data centers carbon pollution renewable energy wind and solar water use methane coal climate reporting London Climate Action Week Conference of Parties
So like… the AI is polluting? Nobody told me my phone was a factory lol
I mean I get it, but “reveal pollution” feels like politics. Can they just tax it or something instead of making a whole initiative? Also what does water/land even mean, like where the servers sleep?
António Guterres always talking climate stuff, but isn’t AI already mostly in the cloud owned by… idk, Microsoft/Google? If they have to disclose, won’t that just make companies hide behind numbers? And “shifting the burden” like who is bearing it, the users? I’m confused bc I thought the climate impact was from training models, not powering them day to day.
Hidden costs is right, I bet it’s just gonna turn into more red tape. They already do sustainability reports, so why is this a new “initiative” like we’re all starting over? Also the opponents of data centers… people act like the tech is the only problem, but then they don’t want wind/solar either, so what do we do, run everything on vibes. Honestly I don’t care who “comes clean” as long as it doesn’t raise my electric bill.