Paris summit launches Coalition for Sustainable AI

The article reports that a new global initiative, the Coalition for Sustainable AI, was launched at the AI Action Summit on 11 February 2025. France started it together with the UN Environment Programme, the International Telecommunications Union and partners. More than 100 partners joined, among them tech firms numbering 37, eleven countries and five international organizations. The stated purpose is to build a community that helps steer AI development toward the Sustainable Development Goals and supports responsible AI for environmental policy.

A UNEP press release cited in the article says AI can assist with large environmental problems, for example by mapping sand dredging or tracking methane emissions. It also points to a downside of the AI boom, including electronic waste and heavy use of electricity and water. The Coalition names two challenges: putting AI's abilities to work against environmental crises while understanding and reducing its own footprint. It wants sustainable AI discussed globally just as AI security and AI ethics are studied.

It aims to raise visibility, encourage collaboration, prevent duplication and extend the reach of existing and future initiatives. Companies, associations and research institutions can become members, whereas governments and international organizations can become supporters. It will serve as an engagement platform linking committed stakeholders and as a hub promoting open, collaborative, international work on science, standards and solutions. Its goals include decarbonizing economies, cutting pollution, preserving biodiversity, protecting oceans and keeping humanity inside planetary boundaries.

The summit took place in Paris on 10 and 11 February 2025. A statement was also signed there by the EU, the African Union Commission and 58 countries, favoring AI that is sustainable and trustworthy as well as open, inclusive, transparent, ethical, safe and secure.