The report finds that AI’s environmental cost is often mismeasured—focusing solely on carbon emissions. However, cooling and generating power for data centers comes with a “water footprint,” while the energy infrastructure and supply chains to build the data centers have a “land footprint.” These are important factors to consider, the report says, when analyzing the stressors a region might be facing due to data centers.
But switching to cleaner sources of energy isn’t as simple as it sounds. Minimizing one footprint could come at the expense of magnifying another, researchers say. For example, switching from coal to bioenergy cuts electricity’s carbon footprint by 70%—but increases its water footprint more than 30-fold and its land footprint 100-fold.
For a number of communities around the globe, AI is already using up significant energy resources. In 2025 alone, data centers consumed an estimated 448 terawatt-hours of electricity, the report found—more than the country of Saudi Arabia. In many cases, this excessive energy use comes at a cost to those who reside near them. In Ireland, data centers accounted for 21% of total metered electricity in 2023, exceeding electricity use by urban households. (The country’s national grid operator has since paused new approvals around Dublin until 2028.)
In addition to the strain on resources and impact to local environments, there is a separate inequality at play, the report notes. As data centers continue to explode around the world, the researchers warn of a widening “digital divide,” in which wealthier countries are able to invest in AI infrastructure while lower-income nations struggle to access and participate in the AI economy. In some ways, this divide is already apparent. As of 2025, only 32 countries—16% of nations—host AI-specialized data centers, and 90% of that capacity is concentrated in two countries: the U.S. and China. Moreover, AI infrastructure could generate up to 2.5 million metric tons of electronic waste each year by 2030, which could expose frontline communities—predominantly in low-income countries where many countries export their waste—to toxic substances.
To ensure that data center development doesn’t come at a cost to communities, the report calls for a "responsible AI ecosystem," and notes that permitting, environmental impact assessment, and community consultation should reflect the reality of water and land use along with carbon.
Governments, investors, and financial institutions must implement the guardrails that will minimize environmental consequences, said Kaveh Madani, director of UNU-INWEH. “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."
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