Enviro News Asia, Washington — Türkiye’s COP31 Presidency has officially launched the Antalya Artificial Intelligence Pledge to strengthen the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in global climate action. The voluntary declaration aims to harness AI’s potential while reducing the environmental impact of high energy and water consumption by data centres.
Evan Tachovsky, Chief Data and AI Officer at the World Resources Institute (WRI), described the pledge as a positive first step towards balancing AI’s benefits with environmental considerations. However, WRI highlighted the absence of binding accountability mechanisms for participating countries and technology companies.
Financial and infrastructure support for AI development in developing countries is considered a critical component of the initiative, provided it is backed by concrete funding commitments. However, the document has been criticised for lacking provisions on local community participation and safeguards for water and air quality around data centre facilities.
WRI called for responsible AI development through the use of clean energy to power data centres, greater transparency in water and electricity consumption, and requirements for companies to cover the costs of electricity grid upgrades. It also stressed the importance of involving local communities in decision-making from the earliest stages of infrastructure development.
The first stocktake of the pledge is scheduled to take place at the upcoming COP32. The review is expected to provide an opportunity to assess whether participating countries and industry stakeholders are translating their commitments into concrete action and adopting transparent, environmentally responsible AI management standards. (*)
