AI dominated the conversation at Climate Week

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🗞️ Driving the news: Artificial intelligence has become a central issue at New York Climate Week, with debate focusing on its rapidly growing energy demand and its potential to accelerate climate solutions
• AI is driving investment into nuclear, geothermal, wind and solar technologies, but is also contributing to new natural-gas capacity and higher emissions from major technology companies

🔭 The context: Climate-tech venture investment reached $26 billion in the first half of 2026, up 55% year-on-year, according to Currence
• However, funding is increasingly concentrated on technologies that can serve data centres, while investment in carbon management and low-carbon fuels has fallen

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: AI could support climate research and clean-energy innovation, but its expanding electricity demand can also increase fossil-fuel use, emissions and pressure on water resources
• The climate impact will depend on whether new computing capacity is powered by genuinely low-carbon energy and whether AI-driven innovation delivers measurable emissions reductions

⏭️ What’s next: The debate is shifting from AI’s potential to its infrastructure footprint and public acceptance
• Data-centre operators and technology companies face growing pressure to demonstrate that the benefits of AI justify its energy, environmental and social costs

💬 One quote: “Artificial intelligence could help solve all these challenges, or it could make them worse.” — António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

📈 One stat: Global climate-tech venture investment in H1 2026 hit $26 billion, according to Currence

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