Blog articles

Energy and transport, cutting waste and methane, climate-resilient cities – amongst other topics – are all COP31 themes. Each can be both helped or hindered by the rapid development of AI and the associated growth of data centres. The upcoming global conversation should make this connection, as should boards, as they seek to balance technology adoption and competitiveness with climate considerations in a ‘turbulent’ age of AI. The authors discuss this issue ahead of COP31 and address the need for boards' understanding of the impact of AI on the environment at global, national and local levels.

How should boards think about sustainability and AI? Noela Nakos, Chapter Zero member and former Google Director, and Patricia Rodrigues Jenner, Chapter Zero Fellow, Global Non-executive Board Director and co-Chair of InfraNEDs, recommend that boards should do their research, understand what they can about the role of AI in the future, and what that means for Scope 3 reporting and their corporate ecosystem generally. Boards must think carefully about their fiduciary duty, their companies’ objectives in using AI and consider energy use.