UN-Backed Climate Initiative Asks AI Companies to Disclose Energy, Water and Land Footprints

The Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change, co-chaired by the United Nations, UNESCO and Brazil, launched the Priorities for Action on AI and Climate Information Integrity on Friday at the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Türkiye. The document is guidance, not regulation. It adds to pressure on AI developers to report environmental data that most of them do not disclose in detail.

The priorities ask AI companies to assess how their systems affect the integrity of climate information and to publish what they find, alongside the footprint data. They urge governments to build information integrity into their national AI strategies and climate plans.

"The question isn't simply whether AI is good or bad for the climate. It's whether people can rely on what they're told by AI and about it," said Charlotte Scaddan, information integrity senior adviser at the UN Department of Global Communications.

The co-chairs said more people are turning to AI for climate information. They cited a warning from the Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, which the UN General Assembly set up last year, that "producing fluent text is easier than producing factual text". They said the risks grow during climate disasters, when AI-generated images and videos can spread faster than official warnings. They added that the public is asked to accept claims about AI's own climate impact without the data needed to judge them.

A second document, the Charter for Climate Information Integrity in Advertising, was launched the same day. Jake Dubbins, co-founder of the Conscious Advertising Network, said it targets problems including the "monetization of disinformation and denial". The charter calls for transparency across the advertising supply chain, so that advertisers can see where their ads appear, while respecting user privacy.

COP31 is organised around 10 priority themes, including the clean energy transition and electrification, zero waste and climate-resilient cities. The conference ends on 20 November.