Political delegations assembled in Belém, Brazil's gateway to the Amazon, for the thirtieth Conference of Parties (COP30), a yearly United Nations forum designed to establish climate targets and chart a transition away from carbon-based energy. Discussions centered on equitable renewable energy shifts, curbing forest loss, and determining how to fund climate initiatives and which nations bear greater responsibility.

Yet the environmental consequences of technology firms—particularly those developing artificial intelligence—barely surfaced as a substantive topic. The digital industry produces between 1.5% and 4% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, according to UN data. From 2020 through 2023, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft and Google each saw their indirect emissions climb by an average of 155%. Technology vendors also enable fossil fuel extraction by supplying tools that facilitate greater oil production.

As artificial intelligence development accelerates, this environmental burden will likely worsen. Across the globe, including within the United States, tech firms and data center operators are competing with local populations for scarce resources—water, electricity and clean air.

A significant barrier, according to guidance released by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the UN's technology agency, during COP30, is that nations may lack precise knowledge of their technology-related emissions. Current climate reporting frameworks prevent countries from isolating tech sector emissions; instead, these are bundled into larger categories.

This means countries neither quantify digital-specific emissions nor include digital-specific targets. Bringing clearer accounting and targets for data centres, networks and devices in other national strategies would strengthen overall credibility of climate commitments and help match digital ambition with commensurate decarbonization.

ITU policy brief

On November 14, civil society groups convened a press conference in the Blue Zone—the space designated for official talks and public forums—addressing AI's global threats to climate and environmental justice, though attendance remained sparse.

Meena Raman, program director at Third World Network, an alliance of nonprofits focused on trade, climate and technology, advocated for regional efforts to halt data center expansion, a movement gaining momentum as communities resist these projects.

A notable development was the inclusion of information integrity in the COP agenda for the first time, recognizing the importance of trustworthy environmental data for climate mitigation. Twelve nations endorsed the Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change.

Tech as a solution

Although technology's environmental burden remained largely unexamined at COP30, discussions framing artificial intelligence as a climate remedy appeared throughout the summit. Sessions explored topics such as AI for agriculture and Collaborating on AI for Sustainability at Scale.

Technology has only recently become a focal point in COP discussions. During COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan in 2024, nations adopted the Declaration on Green Digital Action, a groundbreaking accord treating technology as both opportunity and threat. The declaration recognized technology's climate potential while emphasizing the necessity to reduce its footprint—including cutting emissions to net zero and lowering resource consumption.

Nevertheless, the prevailing narrative has centered on technology as a problem-solver rather than a climate driver. This framing appears in both the Blue Zone forums and the formal negotiation chambers, suggesting the conversation lags behind the actual challenge.

Artificial intelligence has emerged as the latest focal point in negotiations. AI is seen as a driver of innovation, but the challenge of its impact on territories, use of water and energy also appears in talks, according to Evelyn Gomes, executive-director at LabHacker, the Brazilian Laboratory on Digital Culture.

For officials, this is still being brushed up on, while we, as civil society, have been discussing the same topic in a much more advanced manner.

Evelyn Gomes

Outside the Blue Zone

Beyond the official summit grounds, what organizers term the parallel COP saw civil society and activist groups stage events placing technology's environmental consequences front and center. Sessions examined data centers and indigenous opposition to their construction, as well as the ecological damage from rare earth extraction supplying technology and defense sectors.

During the Global Climate March, which drew more than 70,000 participants through Belém's streets outside the summit, demonstrators carried signs proclaiming water and energy for the people, not for data centers.

Major technology corporations dispatched representatives to Belém and organized private functions during COP30, though their engagement remained limited. The official UNFCCC participants' registry documented at least 35 technology sector attendees. Microsoft, Google, TikTok, AliBaba and Nvidia each sent staff, ranging from senior executives to content creators.

Google organized a dinner at the Ted Countdown House featuring Kate Brandt, the company's Chief Sustainability Officer, discussing AI for Nature. Microsoft hosted a morning gathering with Melanie Nakagawa, its sustainability lead, titled Sustainability Markets: The role of business in building carbon removal with integrity at scale. Microsoft declined to provide comment. A Google representative stated that dispatching a delegation to COP30 continued our established commitment and participation in previous COP events, where we have highlighted our dedication to technological solutions, and fostering a sustainable future, with a particular focus on advancements in AI.

Jean Su, energy justice director at the Center for Biological Diversity, a United States-based nonprofit, characterized COP as functioning as a major conference venue for Silicon Valley, comparable to its role for petroleum industry representatives.

One of the scariest parts about big tech is that they're even more powerful than the fossil fuel industry. Right now, they're brokering deals directly with countries to get their data centers in those countries to get their cheap energy and water.

Jean Su

It's a colonial project from their end and they're using the UN publicly to show 'hey, this is for the public benefit.'

Jean Su

Source: Tech Policy Press