Can AI save nature, or will it cause more harm?

In this episode of EY Sustainability Matters, David Rae, EY Global Lead for Technology, AI and Innovation at EY Climate Change and Sustainability Services, explores the complex intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and nature. The host poses the question: Can technology solve the nature loss crisis, or will its resource-heavy footprint only accelerate the problem?

Hear industry voices and activists debate whether AI is a necessary tool for nature's survival and offer holistic views on the risks and opportunities ahead, drawing on a hypothetical debate from The EY AI x Sustainability Exchange: from big questions to real solutions, where activists were asked to take opposing sides of the argument.

Gilad Goren of the Nature Tech Collective argues that reversing nature loss is impossible without AI, which is essential for de-risking private sector investment and closing the nature finance gap. We also hear how companies, such as SAP, IBM, Treefera and others, are leveraging real-time data to track deforestation and optimize crop yields in hard-to-abate sectors.

Conversely, activists Livia Pagoto and Fred Werner highlight the "shadow effect" — the skyrocketing energy and water demands of massive data centers. The conversation also explores ethical governance, questioning whether potentially biased algorithms can ever replicate human care required to protect the environment.

• AI is already accelerating nature protection, from monitoring deforestation and biodiversity to improving climate risk assessment, supply‑chain transparency and renewable energy optimization.
• However, AI's rapid growth is resource‑intensive, driving significant increases in energy and water use, and raising concerns about scalability, equity and environmental impact.
• Progress requires collective action, combining human wisdom, inclusive governance, Indigenous knowledge and responsible innovation, to ensure that AI strengthens — rather than replaces — our relationship with nature.

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