The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP30, is the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference, being held in the Hangar Convention Centre, Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025. This year’ edition themes include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting to climate change, and climate finance. However, the COP30 is significantly focused on the dual role and impact of AI and digital technologies in accelerating climate action, while also addressing their substantial environmental footprint.
COP30 & Global Digital Industry;
The COP30, the UN Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil will have key thematic days focused on forests and oceans, the energy transition, and 10 years of the Paris Agreement. The overarching goal is to turn climate ambition into tangible action and secure a global pact for the planet and its people. But discussions and initiatives will mainly center on both the immense potential for AI-driven solutions and the need for robust governance to mitigate associated risks.
Digital technologies are renowned for boosting efficiency, eliminating waste, and reducing carbon footprints across industries and sectors. However, the global digital industry must also take responsibility for its own environmental and climate impact.
Key Initiatives and Discussions at COP30;
Global Public Digital Infrastructure (Climate DPI): Brazil is proposing the official launch of a global public digital infrastructure dedicated to climate action as its COP30 legacy project. This system (called ClimateStack) would track the full lifecycle of climate interventions, from investment to emissions reduction, using technologies like digital identification, interoperable payment systems, and open data repositories integrating satellite and sensor data.
AI Climate Institute (AICI): A new global initiative launched at COP30 aims to equip people and institutions in developing countries with the necessary skills and data to harness AI for local climate solutions. It focuses on capacity building, training programs, and a digital learning repository to ensure an equitable digital transformation.
Green Digital Action Track: The third edition of the Green Digital Action track is a central feature, showcasing progress on digital climate innovations and driving new commitments. Sessions explore how AI and open digital infrastructure can accelerate climate transitions in cities and address the environmental impact of the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector.
AI in Agriculture: Brazil, the UAE, and the Gates Foundation launched the world’s first open-source AI model for agriculture, an “AI Large Language Model (LLM)” aimed at empowering 100 million farmers by 2028 with real-time insights for climate-smart decision-making.
Digital Transformation of Carbon Markets: Side events are addressing the opportunities and challenges of fully digitalizing carbon markets to enhance transparency and efficiency through the use of technologies like blockchain and smart contracts.
The Dual Impact: Opportunities and Concerns;
Opportunities:
Enhanced Monitoring: AI and digital systems enable precise, real-time monitoring of deforestation, emissions, and environmental changes (e.g., Earth observation systems like GEOSS and Copernicus).
Efficiency and Adaptation: AI supports mitigation and adaptation efforts through applications like precision agriculture, intelligent electrical grid management, and early warning systems for natural disasters, potentially reducing disaster response time by up to 40%.
Data Analysis: AI helps analyze vast amounts of complex climate data, providing crucial insights for informed public policy and problem-solving that would be time-consuming for humans.
Concerns and Challenges:
Environmental Footprint: The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure, particularly energy-intensive data centers, raises significant concerns about increased energy consumption and the extraction of natural resources (e.g., water usage and rare earth minerals). Projections suggest data center power consumption could exceed 1,000 TWh by 2026, comparable to Japan’s current electrical consumption.
Governance and Equity: There are calls for robust governance frameworks to mitigate potential risks, including data-sharing challenges, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, and the perpetuation of social disparities if systems are not designed with inclusivity and local contexts in mind.
Transparency and Regulation: Civil society organizations are demanding greater transparency regarding the environmental impacts of digital infrastructure and calling for a focus on “green AI” that prioritizes renewable energy sources and high efficiency standards in data centers.
By
Editorial, Infocus
