AI data centres are worrying the environmental groups that use the technology, with all 15 groups interviewed by Reuters saying they use artificial intelligence and all 15 saying they are concerned about the cost. The groups work on conservation and development, and they use AI to track wildlife, map forests and sort data. The same groups say the data centres that power the technology are using more electricity and water, and that the growth is outpacing the efforts to make the industry cleaner.
The AI data centres at the centre of the concern are the large facilities that train and run the models, and their power use has grown fast. The International Energy Agency has said data centre electricity use will reach 945 terawatt hours by 2030, with more than 300 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, and that water use will rise from 560 billion litres in 2023 to 1.2 trillion litres in 2030. The agency has also said data centre electricity use rose 17 per cent in 2025, and that use at AI facilities rose 50 per cent.
AI data centres are used by Conservation International, which has an AI lead, Ali Swanson, who said the group recognises that AI can come with environmental costs. The group uses AI to spot wildfire hotspots and send alerts to forest patrols in Cambodia. Save the Elephants uses AI to sort 200,000 aerial images, a job that took nine people nine months and now takes hours. The Jane Goodall Institute is using AI to digitise handwritten notes on chimpanzees from Gombe, a task that would take years by hand.
AI data centres and the groups that use them
The AI data centres that worry the groups are also the ones the groups rely on, and the groups have set their own rules for how they use the technology. The World Resources Institute restricts the generation of video and images, and it caches queries so the same work is not done twice. The Nature Conservancy uses AI cameras on fishing vessels, with the processing done on board so the data does not have to travel to a data centre. Greenpeace uses AI tools through platforms, and it opposes the expansion of data centres.
AI data centres have drawn concern from the United Nations as well, with Secretary-General Antonio Guterres calling for companies to disclose the environmental cost of their AI use. The United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health has said the footprint of AI could more than double by 2030, to about twice the size of Jakarta. Microsoft, Amazon and Google have all reported rising emissions as they build more data centres, and the groups say the trend is moving in the wrong direction.
AI data centres and the power they use
The AI data centres at the heart of the boom are the ones that train the large models, and they use more power than the older facilities. The International Energy Agency has said the electricity use of data centres will reach 945 terawatt hours by 2030, and that the water use will rise to 1.2 trillion litres. The groups say the figures show the industry needs to be more open about how much power and water it uses, and that the companies should be held to account for the cost.
AI data centres will keep growing as the use of the technology spreads, and the groups say the question is whether the growth can be managed. The 15 groups interviewed by Reuters all use AI, and all 15 are concerned, which shows how widespread the worry is. The groups are not calling for AI to be abandoned, and they say the technology helps them do their work. They are calling for the data centres to be cleaner, and for the companies that run them to be open about the cost.
The AI data centres that power the technology will be the focus of the debate in the years ahead, as the power and water use keeps rising. The International Energy Agency has said the footprint could more than double by 2030, and the United Nations has called for disclosure. The groups that use AI will keep using it, and they will keep raising the cost. The question is whether the industry can grow without the environmental bill growing faster than the benefits.