Can AI Help Us Reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals?
Artificial Intelligence has become a symbol of modern progress—powerful, fast-moving, and full of potential. From accelerating medical research to powering smarter cities, it’s already being used to tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges. So when it comes to the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—a global framework for reducing inequality, improving lives, and protecting the planet—it’s tempting to view AI as the perfect partner.
But with the energy demands of large-scale AI rising fast, the picture isn’t as clear as it seems. Can AI really help us hit our global sustainability goals—or is it quietly making them harder to achieve?
The Opportunity
AI has already proven itself useful in areas directly aligned to the SDGs. In agriculture, machine learning is helping farmers manage increasingly unpredictable growing conditions, while AI-led logistics are reducing food waste across supply chains. In healthcare, AI is improving diagnostics and making specialist expertise more accessible—crucial in underserved regions. And in education, AI-powered platforms are helping to bridge the attainment gap by offering tailored learning support at scale.
Even in the fight against climate change, AI plays a key role in analysing complex data sets. From predicting wildfires to improving the energy efficiency of buildings and transport networks, the use cases are growing—and many have clear, measurable impact.
In fact, if we map AI across the goals, it supports progress in areas like:
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Zero Hunger (Goal 2): Improving yield forecasting and streamlining food distribution
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Good Health and Wellbeing (Goal 3): Enhancing diagnostics and expanding access to care
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Quality Education (Goal 4): Supporting inclusive learning through adaptive technologies
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Climate Action (Goal 13): Monitoring emissions, optimising energy use, and forecasting disasters
So far, so promising.
The Cost
The challenge lies in how AI is built and scaled. Most people don’t realise that training large AI models requires huge amounts of computing power. That power often comes from energy-intensive data centres, many of which still rely on fossil fuels. Just training a single generative AI model can emit as much CO₂ as five cars over their entire lifetime.
This is especially troubling when placed against the backdrop of the UN’s 2024 SDG Progress Report. The report makes for sobering reading: only 17% of SDG targets are currently on track, and global emissions continue to rise. Fossil fuel subsidies have more than tripled since the signing of the Paris Agreement. Despite decades of climate advocacy, public funding still overwhelmingly supports polluting industries.
And yet, the booming AI sector rarely features in mainstream sustainability conversations. That silence matters—because while AI may be helping to solve some of the world’s problems, it’s also adding to others.
The Balance
Of course, this doesn’t mean we should abandon AI altogether. But it does mean we need a more honest, balanced conversation about its role in sustainability. To truly support the SDGs, AI needs to be developed and deployed responsibly—with energy efficiency, carbon transparency, and long-term impact baked in from the start.
This is where forward-thinking organisations can make a difference. By designing AI models that require less computational power, using renewable energy to power infrastructure, and embedding ethical considerations into innovation, we can begin to align AI with our climate and development goals—rather than letting them drift apart.
Wanstor’s Approach
At Wanstor, we help businesses adopt technologies that don’t just solve today’s challenges—but do so in a way that’s resilient and sustainable. From migrating to green cloud platforms to optimising infrastructure for performance and efficiency, we make sure progress is aligned with purpose. Because future-ready IT should be both innovative and responsible.
If your organisation is exploring the role of AI or looking to make its digital strategy more sustainable, we’re here to help you take a smarter, greener approach.