Measuring What Matters – Balancing AI Innovation, Impact, and Sustainability

Time: 11 November, 9:00-10:00
Venue: UN Climate Change Global Innovation Hub (UGIH) – Tapajós

Artificial Intelligence offers significant gains in efficiency, but its own environmental price tag – compute-hungry models, energy-and water-intensive data centres, and the material footprint of hardware production – must be measured before it can be managed to ensure AI contributes positively to climate and resource-efficiency goals. This session showcased the finalist solutions from the AI Environmental Footprint Measurement Hackathon, and highlighted innovative tools and frameworks for tracking carbon, energy, and resource impacts across AI lifecycles. 

Building on ITU’s  AI for Good and Green Digital Action initiatives, this panel brought together global experts to discuss standards, metrics, and industry practices that can guide greener innovation. The discussion emphasized collaboration between governments, academia, and industry toward sustainable digital infrastructures and environmental accountability. 

Objectives 
This session: 
1) showcased the finalist solutions from the AI Environmental Footprint Measurement Hackathon;
2) highlighted innovative tools and frameworks for tracking carbon, energy, and resource impacts across AI lifecycles;
3) discussed how collaboration between governments, academia, and industry can advance sustainable digital infrastructures and strengthen environmental accountability. 
 
Target audience 
This Side Event was open to all.  
 
 Agenda:
Opening remarks: Seizo Onoe, Director, Telecommunication Standardization Bureau   

Hackathon Winners Showcase: AI Environmental Footprint Measurement Hackathon 
This segment highlighted the outcomes of the AI Environmental Footprint Measurement Hackathon, featuring the three winning teams presenting their innovative solutions to measure and reduce AI’s environmental impact. The showcase also announced an upcoming report summarizing key findings and policy recommendations from the hackathon. 

Host/Moderator: Alayna Van Dervort (OptiCloud)

Speakers:
Thomas Basikolo, ITU
Vishal Jain, GreenMind
________
AI Environmental Footprint Measurement Hackathon.
Recognition of 3 winning teams:
Winning team showcase their solution
Announcement of a report to be published post-event with summaries and policy recommendations.

Expert Panel: Measuring and Managing AI’s Environmental Footprint – Standards, Tools, and Collaboration for Sustainable Innovation 
This panel explored emerging tools, metrics, and standards to measure AI’s environmental footprint. It highlighted ongoing standardization work, collaboration with international organizations, and partnerships between governments, industry, and academia to advance sustainable and accountable digital infrastructures. 
 
Moderator:  Jean Manuel Canet (Orange)
Panellists: 
Paolo Gemma, Standards Lead, Huawei  
Guilherme Canela de Souza, Director, Division for Digital Inclusion & Policies and Digital Transformation, UNESCO 
Adam Elman, Director of Sustainability, Google 
Rob McGreevy, Chief Product Officer, AVEVA  
Vishal Jain, GreenMind

Questions & Answers 

Closing remarks