UN chief António Guterres has urged AI companies to disclose their environmental impact, warning that data centres are driving rising energy use as climate change and extreme heat intensify globally.
UN chief Antonio Guterres challenged AI firms on Tuesday to disclose their growing environmental footprint as part of a push for faster global action to curb climate change.
As Europe bakes under a second heatwave in as many months, Guterres delivered a speech in London that painted a stark picture of a planet that has just endured its 11 hottest years on record.
"Climate chaos is accelerating before our eyes," Guterres said, while the energy crisis, fuelled by war in the Middle East, is "exposing the folly of a world hooked on hydrocarbons".
"It is clear that our world is facing a Tale of Two Crises," Guterres said, referencing the 19th century British writer Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities".
