Artificial Intelligence and Climate Justice

January 8, 2025

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in our daily lives, we must examine its environmental costs. Training and running AI models demands massive computing power, contributing to significant carbon emissions through energy-intensive data centers. Much of this electricity still comes from non-renewable sources. Beyond energy use, AI systems raise concerns about water consumption, resource extraction, and electronic waste. Learn more about AI’s environmental impact in our presentation below.


Critical Questions for Educators

  • How do we evaluate the trade-offs between the benefits of AI in education (e.g., personalized learning) and the long-term environmental costs, and how should this influence our adoption of such technologies?
  • How can educators balance the benefits of generative AI in teaching and learning with the awareness of the significant energy consumption associated with training large AI models?
  • How can educators integrate AI assignments and activities in their classrooms to contribute to the development of solutions to the climate crisis?

Additional Resources

The Padlet below contains additional resources and ideas on the topic of AI and climate justice. It also offers an space for UBC Faculty of Education instructors, staff and students to contribute links, stories and ideas. If you have an idea for a resource or contribution, please email us and we will work with you to add it to the board.



Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.