SEO Riders:
– UNFCCC‑TEC highlights AI’s power to drive mitigation & adaptation in vulnerable nations.
– Urgent need to close digital divide, improve data governance, and ensure ethical AI deployment.
– Recommendations include building green‑AI infrastructure, local capacity, inclusive policy frameworks, and global cooperation.
A new UNFCCC Technology Executive Committee (TEC) technical paper, launched at the AI for Good Summit in Geneva, evaluates how Artificial Intelligence (AI) can serve as a key enabler of climate action in developing countries—especially in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS). The findings underscore AI’s dual potential: it can reduce greenhouse-gas emissions—by improving energy optimization, enabling intelligent grid management, and enhancing transport and industry efficiency—and bolster climate resilience, through early warning systems, urban risk mapping, biodiversity monitoring, and water-resource management. Examples of successful AI integration include satellite-based flood forecasting models trained by big tech that match European standards, and AI-driven crop advisories that increase yields and food security in Africa.
However, the report also flags serious barriers and risks for developing countries. These include limited digital infrastructure, lack of computing power and reliable internet, weak climate data ecosystems, and shortages of skilled AI practitioners—issues that create a “structural disadvantage”. AI’s environmental footprint, especially its energy and water demands during training phases, also poses sustainability challenges. Additionally, governance issues such as algorithmic bias, privacy concerns, and inequitable benefit-sharing must be addressed . To bridge these gaps, the paper urges investments in digital infrastructure, AI capacity building, open-data platforms, green computing, and the creation of ethical, transparent AI regulatory frameworks. It also advocates for international collaboration and initiatives like the UN’s proposed AI Innovation Grand Challenge—launched at COP28—to support locally relevant climate-tech solutions.
