Climate and AI

AI technologies demand huge amounts of water, energy, and raw materials, taking a real toll on our natural environment. At the same time, AI-driven solutions are helping us fight the climate crisis. This course explores both sides of that delicate balance.

Start the course

By completing this course, you will learn:

  • How AI is being used to amplify climate action, with real-world examples

  • AI's environmental footprint: energy and water use, raw material extraction, and human labour costs

  • AI's role in accelerating fossil fuel extraction

  • How AI changes your personal energy use

  • Practical steps you can take to reduce AI's environmental impact

This free course takes about 1 hour to complete on any device.

It assumes you have a basic understanding of AI types and applications - if not, we recommend starting with our Introduction to AI course.

Learn even more:

Free Resources
Net zero or net hero?
Climate and AI
Net zero or net hero?
Climate and AI

This explainer, created by Ada Lovelace Institute, seeks to provide information about the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and climate, including the impacts of AI on climate change and how AI is purportedly being used to address climate change.

Climate and AI
Tech workers are focussing on climate impacts
Climate and AI
Tech workers are focussing on climate impacts
Climate and AI

ClimateAction.Tech is a community of tech workers seeding climate action in companies, organisations and industries through deep, self-organized community building and support.

Work torwards a transformed tech industry that makes climate a priority, and takes responsibility for social impacts and ecological limits.

Climate and AI
Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning
Climate and AI
Tackling Climate Change with Machine Learning
Climate and AI

Climate Change AI is an organization composed of volunteers from academia and industry who believe that tackling climate change requires concerted societal action, in which machine learning can play an impactful role.

Climate and AI

Listening to the public

In Spring 2025, the Scottish AI Alliance convened the People’s Panel on AI and Climate, a civic engagement event designed to surface public perspectives on the role of Artificial Intelligence in addressing climate and environmental challenges.

This report explores the panel's critical reflection of the trade-offs, risks and opportunities of AI in the context of a changing climate.

Read the report