COP28: Why AI is the best ally to combat climate change - CIO
COP28: Why AI is the best ally to combat climate change | CIO
Artificial Intelligence has emerged as a powerful tool to address the challenges of climate change. From climate modelling to energy management, optimizing renewable energy and adapting to extreme weather events, AI is deploying its power to improve our fight against climate change.\n\nAI methods based on machine learning allow us to model climate and weather, identify patterns and make accurate predictions of changes in global temperature by analyzing large amounts of weather and climate data.\n\nBeyond the direct application of AI techniques to model and predict the climate, AI methods can be applied to industries or sectors that have a negative environmental impact to enable the reduction of GHG emissions. According to a report commissioned by Microsoft from PwC, the use of AI in environmental use cases could contribute up to 5.2 billion USD to the global economy by 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 4%.\n\n\u201cWe need to think broader about the role of tech to accelerate climate change demands, technology needs to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. Data centers and cloud solutions have to be manufactured with low-carbon materials. It\u2019s our responsibility to provide green data centers. For that we have to measure the environmental footprint,\u201d said Sherif Tawfik, Chief Sustainability Commercial Officer, Microsoft Central, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.\n\nAccording to a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), which shows that AI has the potential to help mitigate 5-10% of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 \u2014 the equivalent of the total annual emissions of the European Union.\n\n\u201cFrom a data and AI perspective, technology is here to drive visibility, every company is focused on data and addressing the data challenge should help us to be clear about what data is the best o understand our sustainability challenge and green IT. The legal aspect of AI is understanding how AI is coming up with an answer; if we talk about responsible AI, the AI progression has changed everything in the last twelve months and responsible AI has to be the foundation to be there in the right way,\u201d explained Jack Azagury, Group Chief Executive, Strategy&Consulting, Accenture.\n\nHow can technology and innovation drive collaboration and sustainability efforts? \u201cThe ICT sector is responsible for around 3% of the emissions, the possibilities of using technology to reduce those emissions can go up to 20%. Technology is critical to reduce those emissions, when we talk about green energy we need to talk about energy efficiency and reducing the level of consumption, both are equally important, 40% of the energy is being wasted, but what if we can reduce that?\u201d Salvador asked. \u201cFor example, 40% of CO2 emissions are coming from buildings around the world, my point is as a tech company we need to emphasise in how to create efficient energy\u201d added Salvador Anglada, CEO of e& enterprise.
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.”