UN warns AI will trigger a historic resource crisis for billions by 2030
Concerns about the environmental impact of AI aren't something new, but now thanks to a new from The United Nations (UN) those concerns have been cemented in a startling reality, as they've issued a stark warning to the public.
Experts believe the advancing technology will trigger a historic resource crisis for billions by 2030. In the report by the UN, scientists detail how AI data centers could come with unprecedented environmental costs as a result of its water use and electronic waste.
In the new study, researchers have warned that AI could be responsible for nearly 3% of global electricity consumption by 2030, while they estimate that the amount of water it requires could be enough to supply drinking water for every person on Earth for more than 18 months.
The team of researchers have gone on to warn that reducing carbon output alone will not necessarily make AI environmentally friendly.
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Instead, the study highlights how some energy sources may lower emissions while dramatically increasing water consumption or land use, creating new environmental pressures elsewhere.
A big factor in this issue are the AI data centers popping up around the globe, as these huge facilities contain servers and cooling systems required to power the AI models.
These cooling systems rely heavily on water, and the report estimates that facilities consumed approximately 9.3 trillion liters in 2025 alone.
Dr Miriam Aczel, UNU-INWEH Researcher and the lead author of the report, said: “What surprised us most is how often the choices that look greenest from a carbon perspective end up worse for water or for land.
“If we keep judging AI sustainability by carbon alone, we might think that renewables make AI infrastructure clean but that is solving one problem while creating other problems, often in places that didn't ask for it.”
Professor Kaveh Madani, Director of UNU-INWEH who led the investigation team, added: “This report is not a case against artificial intelligence, a technological transformation that is improving the lives of billions of people around the world.
“It is a call for using it responsibly and addressing its unintended impacts proactively to make it sustainable and equitable.
“We have a narrow window to ensure that the backbone of the technological revolution of our era develops within planetary limits, and that the communities who provide the critical minerals for advancing AI and the ones that host its infrastructure and e-waste are also among those who benefit from it.”
The report is calling on governments and tech companies to include AI infrastructure in long-term energy and water planning in order to protect the planet.