Topic: 2025 – Artificial Intelligence and Resource Consumption
Country: Peru
Delegate Name: Breck Suvedi
Economic and Social Council
Artificial Intelligence and Resource Consumption
Peru
Breck Suvedi
Forest Hills Northern High School
Among all modern technologies, AI is one of the most resource-intensive. Training and operating large AI models requires massive amounts of electricity, water, and minerals such as copper and lithium. As major corporations expand AI datacenters, environmental pressure mounts-especially on countries supplying these materials. Rich in many essential minerals, Peru experiences these impacts firsthand. Mining linked with the demand for global technology has contributed to water shortages, polluted river systems, and put indigenous communities at risk. AI holds great promise for sustainability and scientific progress, but if not developed under robust global standards, it is likely to exacerbate environmental degradation.
The Republic of Peru welcomes the progress in artificial intelligence, but it is necessary to do this task with responsibility. Peru plays an important role in AI supply chains-a top copper and silver producer, with new lithium reserves opening up in Puno-but does not share equally in the economic fruits and too often pays the environmental costs. For that reason, Peru aspires toward better resource governance, more transparency of supply chains, and full respect for Indigenous rights. Artificial intelligence must not come at the cost of vulnerable people or of local ecosystems.
These are steps that Peru has already taken toward sustainable mining and protection of the environment. Through the MINAM and OEFA, Peru enforces EIAs and regulates the use of water in mining areas. The country has also joined other regional agreements concerned with responsible extraction, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement. Peru uses AI, although in a limited manner: for certain controlled uses that benefit agriculture, climate monitoring, and public administration. What’s more, the Consulta Previa law protects the rights of indigenous communities to prior consultations before every major undertaking of resource extraction.
Peru encourages UNEP to adopt strong, collaborative measures that will make AI development sustainable. Data centers shall be made to report on electricity use, water consumption, and carbon emissions while transitioning toward renewable energy. The international community should establish a UN framework for responsible extraction of copper, lithium, and other key minerals, including tracking systems to avoid illegal mining and violations of Indigenous lands. Peru also asks for technology transfer that provides cleaner mining tools, water-recycling systems, and low-emission processing methods. It could also be proposed that an environmental restoration fund, contributed to by the major AI companies, support the recovery of ecosystems and communities impacted by mining. Further cooperation among Andean nations would also serve to ensure that regional mineral resources are managed sustainably. Peru is committed to ensuring that artificial intelligence becomes a tool for sustainable progress, and not destruction to the environment. As a crucial supplier of minerals that are basic to AI, Peru urges UNEP and all member states to establish fair, transparent, and environmentally responsible standards. With shared responsibility and international cooperation, AI can develop in a way that protects both people and the planet.
