How AI can be a powerful tool in the fight against climate change

This report explores how advanced analytics and artificial intelligence (a pairing referred to the report simply as “AI”) are tools uniquely positioned to help manage the complex issues brought about by climate change. Three areas of application are particularly relevant: Mitigation, adaptation and resilience, and fundamentals. AI’s unique capacity to gather, complete, and interpret large, complex data sets on emissions, climate impact, and more, the technology can be used to support all stakeholders in taking a more informed and data-driven approach to combating carbon emissions and building a greener society.

The report finds that most existing AI-related climate solutions are still scattered, difficult to access, and underresourced for scaling. The disproportionate focus on the Global North risks creating blind spots in AI research and development, and it prevents promising AI solutions from being applied in the contexts where they are most urgently needed. To maximize the effectiveness of AI in addressing climate change, particularly in the Global South, resources and networks are needed. They require deployment at scale by trained users. And they depend on extensive capacity building. AI must also be applied responsibly, use granular and reliable underlying data sets, and emphasize results that leaders can interpret and understand.