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AI is quickly becoming a necessity of everyday life. From answering questions to shaping the services we use, it is changing how we live, work and interact with the world around us. Behind the convenience of these tools is a rapidly expanding physical infrastructure, and its environmental impact is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

This is because AI relies on data centres with thousands of servers, which require substantial electricity and cooling to prevent overheating. According to the International Energy Agency, data centres consumed around 485 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity globally in 2025, equivalent to around 1.5% of global electricity consumption. By 2030, this is predicted to more than double, with AI expected to be the biggest driver of this growth. As world leaders prepare to gather at COP31, AI’s growing energy demand raises pressing questions about how countries can meet rising electricity needs while delivering on emissions-reduction targets.

It is also important to recognise how AI can actually support climate action, from improving renewable energy forecasting to identifying methane leaks and helping communities prepare for extreme weather. However, this should not distract from the environmental cost of building and operating the technology itself. A technology that can reduce emissions in one area while increasing energy demand elsewhere cannot simply be treated as a climate solution. The challenge for governments is to understand and address these competing impacts, ensuring that decisions about AI take account of both its potential benefits and its environmental costs.

What could COP31 actually achieve?

Türkiye has already put AI on the agenda through the Antalya Pledge on Artificial Intelligence, developed with the UN’s International Telecommunication Union. The proposed pledge aims to encourage climate-conscious decisions about how AI is designed, powered and used. The COP31 Presidency has also announced an AI for Clean Technologies initiative to develop pilot projects in areas such as smart energy and green industry.

These are important steps, but only the beginning, as the impact depends on wider cooperation. This includes companies’ willingness to become more transparent about their energy use, what AI infrastructure runs on, and whether AI applications deliver measurable emissions reductions. Alongside this, existing climate plans do not consistently account for future energy demand from AI. If governments are planning how to electrify transport, buildings and industry, they also need to understand how expanding data centres will simultaneously affect those plans.

COP31 therefore has the opportunity to make AI’s energy demand a more visible part of climate planning, rather than letting it become an afterthought. Greater transparency and clearer expectations would help governments and businesses make better-informed decisions. But even if international discussions establish that direction, delivering emissions reductions will depend on decisions made by organisations, communities and individuals long after the summit ends.

Climate action needs people, not just technology

AI is one example of a much wider challenge facing climate action: the right technology and ambitious commitments aren’t enough if everyday people lack the knowledge to put them into practice.

Every day, organisations make decisions with serious environmental effects. An IT team choosing digital infrastructure or a senior leader approving investment in new technology can drastically influence an organisation’s carbon emissions. Understanding these consequences is essential if climate commitments are to shape real decisions. This is where Carbon Literacy connects global climate challenges to practical action. Through Carbon Literacy training, people develop relevant knowledge about climate change and explore the carbon impacts of everyday activities and decisions, including those made in their workplaces and communities. They identify practical actions they can take individually and collectively, building the motivation and confidence to make changes within their own spheres of influence.

By helping people understand both the scale of the climate challenge and their own capacity to address it, Carbon Literacy connects organisational climate ambitions to the people and decisions that can make them happen. When an organisation shares this understanding, it can embed climate action into everyday decision-making and transform workplace cultures.

While leaders talk, we act

As world leaders prepare for COP31, Carbon Literacy Action Day (CLAD) is bringing people together worldwide to turn climate knowledge into action. The sixth annual Action Day takes place from 9 to 12 November, with training delivered by organisations and communities working towards a low-carbon future alongside the international climate negotiations.

The impact of this collective action is already clear. In 2025, 2,782 people from 133 organisations across 21 countries completed Carbon Literacy training through CLAD. Together, they pledged 5,564 carbon-reduction actions, with estimated savings of more than 10,000 tonnes of CO₂e. This demonstrated the real-life impact of climate education and how it can translate into measurable action across varied sectors and communities.

Carbon Literacy Consultant Georgina Patel, who received the 2025 CLAD Catalyst Award, worked with five UK-based and nine international organisations. Her training included senior leaders from Uganda’s Office of the Prime Minister and Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change, helping connect climate knowledge with policy-making and local collaboration.

Transport for London also demonstrated how Carbon Literacy can reach across a large organisation. Its CLAD training brought together learners from diverse business areas, including internal senior leaders and people working in the construction industry. It also engaged suppliers and created opportunities for colleagues to share knowledge and strengthen climate action across the organisation.

This shows how climate action is already happening beyond the negotiating rooms. By equipping people with the knowledge and confidence to act, Carbon Literacy helps turn international climate ambitions into decisions and commitments that can make a difference in workplaces and communities across the globe.

Turn the conversation into action

The future of AI and climate action will be shaped by the choices we make today. Understanding the carbon consequences of those choices is essential to ensuring technological progress aligns with climate goals. Carbon Literacy helps turn that understanding into meaningful change, empowering people to challenge assumptions, rethink everyday practices and take responsibility for reducing emissions. As COP31 brings global attention to these challenges, CLAD demonstrates how people are already putting climate knowledge into practice.

Find out more about CLAD 2026 and the action taking place around the world.