Topic: 2025 – Artificial Intelligence and Resource Consumption
Country: Ireland
Delegate Name: Reid Osiecki
Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have significantly increased global demand for electricity, water, and critical minerals. Nowhere is this more evident than in data center–heavy economies. According to Ireland’s Sustainable Energy Authority, data centers in Ireland currently consume more electricity than all urban households combined, showing a broader international trend in which AI infrastructure is stressing national power grids and contributing to rising household energy costs. Globally, AI systems rely on energy-intensive data processing, extensive server cooling, and mineral extraction that often involve environmental damage or unethical labor practices.
Internationally, efforts to manage AI’s resource footprint remain largely unconnected. The European Union’s Artificial Intelligence Act, adopted in 2024, introduced the world’s first comprehensive regulatory framework addressing AI safety, transparency, and sustainability requirements. As a member of the EU, Ireland is legally bound to these provisions and plays a role in their implementation. The Act sets preliminary guidelines for reducing energy consumption and mandating transparency regarding environmental impact.
Beyond Europe, multilateral bodies have begun examining AI’s environmental challenges. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has published resource-efficiency benchmarks for ICT infrastructure, and UNEP has identified AI as both a potential accelerant of environmental degradation and a tool for addressing climate challenges. Although several states endorse “Green AI” principles, there is no unified binding international agreement limiting data center resource use, critical mineral extraction, or water consumption for cooling systems.
Meanwhile, alarm over infrastructure strain has grown worldwide. Ireland is one of the first nations to halt new data center connections to the electricity grid until 2028, citing risks of blackouts and grid instability. Similar concerns have been raised in the Netherlands, Singapore, and certain U.S. states. These issues show a growing international awareness of the environmental and energy pressures associated with unregulated AI expansion.
II. Country policy
Ireland’s national policy on Artificial Intelligence and resource consumption focuses on advancing technological innovation while upholding environmental sustainability. As a major European host for global technology companies—including Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and OpenAI, whose operations contribute approximately €40 billion to Ireland’s economy—the country recognizes both the opportunities and the environmental pressures created by AI infrastructure.
Ireland is actively working to reduce the environmental footprint of datacenters, which in 2022 accounted for 17% of the nation’s electricity usage, contributing to some of Europe’s highest kilowatt-hour costs. With nearly 50% of Ireland’s primary energy supply still derived from oil, the government aims to modernize its energy system to support greener, more efficient data-driven industries. EirGrid, the state-owned electricity operator, has implemented restrictions on new datacenter grid connections in Dublin to protect energy stability.
To manage AI growth proactively, Ireland has appointed a Minister for Artificial Intelligence within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (DETE). This office coordinates national policy implementation and ensures compliance with key EU regulations, including:
• The EU AI Act, which governs the development and deployment of high-risk AI systems.
• The EU Energy Efficiency Directive, requiring reductions in national energy consumption and improved efficiency standards for large energy users such as datacenters.
• The EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), obligating companies operating in Ireland to disclose environmental impacts, including energy use, emissions, and resource consumption associated with AI models and infrastructure.
Ireland also invests in research connecting AI to climate action, including renewable energy forecasting, emissions modeling, and biodiversity monitoring. These investments reflect Ireland’s belief that AI should strengthen—not undermine—its environmental commitments.
Overall, Ireland’s policy seeks a balance between digital economic growth and environmental responsibility. The government advocates for international cooperation to
establish global standards for sustainable AI and supports greater oversight of resource intensive AI systems to prevent energy insecurity and environmental degradation.
III. Proposed Solutions
1. Establish an International Sustainable AI Infrastructure Standard (ISAIS)
To address the growing global strain AI systems place on electricity, water, and mineral resources, Ireland proposes the creation of an International Sustainable AI Infrastructure Standard (ISAIS) under the coordination of UNEP, ITU, and UNDESA. This framework would:
• Set binding efficiency benchmarks for data centers, including permissible electricity consumption per teraflop of processing and maximum water use per megawatt of cooling.
• Require transparent environmental reporting for companies operating large AI models, aligning non-EU states with principles similar to the EU CSRD. • Promote the adoption of renewable-powered data centers, encouraging states to require new AI facilities to be powered by a minimum percentage of renewable energy by 2030.
• Introduce guidelines for ethical mineral sourcing, reducing environmental damage associated with lithium, cobalt, and rare-earth extraction by harmonizing global supply chain due-diligence requirements.
• Provide technical assistance to developing states, enabling them to modernize grid infrastructure without sacrificing energy security.
This standard would allow nations to continue developing AI while ensuring that the sector’s environmental footprint is transparently measured and steadily reduced.
2. Create a Global Green AI Innovation and Monitoring Initiative (GAIMI)
Ireland further calls for UNEP to establish a Global Green AI Innovation and Monitoring Initiative (GAIMI) to support countries in deploying environmentally responsible AI technologies. The initiative would:
• Fund research and pilot programs that use AI to improve renewable-energy forecasting, grid stabilization, water-use optimization, and biodiversity monitoring— building on Ireland’s national successes in these areas.
• Develop a global monitoring platform that tracks the resource consumption of AI systems and data centers using real-time reporting, satellite observation, and independent environmental audits.
• Support countries implementing temporary moratoriums (like Ireland’s grid connection pause) by offering environmental impact assessments, capacity building workshops, and best-practice guidelines for managing rapid AI infrastructure growth.
• Promote “Green-by-Design AI models,” incentivizing companies to prioritize energy efficient architectures and cooling technologies to reduce emissions per model training cycle.
• Encourage international public–private partnerships among governments, academia, and technology firms to accelerate the development of AI systems that deliver economic benefits without destabilizing energy grids.
GAIMI would serve as both a monitoring body and an innovation hub, helping states ensure that AI development aligns with global sustainability and energy-security goals.
