Global leaders opened a week of climate talks in New York on Monday with energy strategy under pressure from two forces that have yet to be fully reconciled in the negotiations: the expansion of artificial intelligence and data centres, and higher fossil fuel prices linked to wars in Iran and Ukraine.
The talks will address the costs of climate change, rising energy prices and the toll of recent extreme weather. Yet the growing electricity needs of AI and data centres are largely absent from the formal agenda for COP31, the UN climate negotiations that Turkey will run in November.
Stiell, a UN official, said energy-guzzling AI was increasing planet-heating pollution from coal, oil and gas while raising energy bills for households and businesses. He said: “AI leaders are now on thin ice when it comes to license to operate, and sinking deep underwater when it comes to public support.”
Helen Clarkson, chief executive of the Climate Group, described the environmental footprint of AI and data centres as “very much a hot topic”. The sector’s expansion could worsen climate problems through its demand for power and water, while also offering tools that could help address them.
The immediate difficulty is that data centres are driving a steep rise in electricity demand without being formally incorporated into global climate talks. Their growth is also reshaping fuel markets. Southeast Asia’s data centre expansion is increasing demand for liquefied natural gas, or LNG.
Turkey has recently announced a new pledge for countries to join on managing the powering and deployment of AI. The brief does not set out a timetable or enforcement system for that proposal. It also remains unclear how negotiators might place AI-related electricity demand within official climate targets.
Renewable deployment is rising quickly, though the additional generation is so far serving growing consumption rather than displacing fossil fuels. Global renewable power additions peaked at 693 gigawatts in 2025, an amount about half the installed power in the US, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency, or IRENA.
The world agreed in 2023 to triple renewable power capacity by the end of the decade. A report by IRENA, the Global Renewables Alliance and Turkey said that meeting the goal would require more renewable capacity to be built from 2026 to 2030 than in all previous years combined.
Rockström said renewables were meeting rising electricity demand without “bending the curve” of oil, coal or gas use. Fossil fuels rebounded sharply compared with 2024, driven by China’s addition of coal power.
The resulting gap between clean-power additions and fossil fuel use will shape the discussion in New York. Higher fuel costs associated with the conflicts in Iran and Ukraine further complicate efforts to decarbonise energy systems while keeping power affordable.
Stiell, the UN climate chief, said in prepared remarks on Monday that climate change was “driving up food prices and wider inflation”. The human cost was also evident in the recent sudden flooding caused by a collapsing glacier on the Nepal-China border, where more than 1,300 were killed.
Some in the data-centre industry expect environmental improvements over time. Wang said data centres were five years away from water neutrality and about a decade away from ceasing to add to planet-warming emissions. The available information does not establish whether those estimates apply across the industry or to a particular company.
For now, the climate agenda sets ambitious targets for renewable capacity while leaving the new demand from AI and data centres outside its formal framework. Turkey’s proposed pledge signals that the issue has entered the diplomatic conversation. The negotiations in November will show whether it gains a more defined place in climate policy.
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