Can AI Combat Climate Change? Google's CSO Thinks So. - The Wall Street Journal
Can AI Combat Climate Change? Google’s CSO Thinks So.
Can AI Combat Climate Change? Google’s CSO Thinks So.
Processing all of the data needed to run artificial intelligence can take a lot of energy. But according to Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt, AI can also be a tool to combat climate change by harnessing its ability to optimize and maximize efficiency. At WSJ’s Journal House at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP 28, Brandt spoke with WSJ Paris bureau chief Stacy Meichtry about what AI can do to help the world meet its emissions goals. Alex Ossola hosts. Photo: Anna Moffat for The Wall Street Journal
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Related Knowledge Center: Climate economics
Climate change is now a driver of the world’s economy. The impact is profound:
- Catastrophic weather events — hurricanes, floods, droughts, high temperatures — are more frequent and more extreme. The cost can be measured in both the initial damage caused and the longer-term impact on the economy.
- Vulnerable communities are increasing climate-related investments, hardening infrastructure and taking other protective measures.
- Investment in carbon capture and storage technologies is increasingly rapidly.
- Governments are making investments and crafting regulations to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
On top of all of this is the cost of uncertainty. As the Fourth National Climate Assessment, released in 2018 by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, says, “The assumption that current and future climate conditions will resemble the recent past is no longer valid.”