Topic: 2025 – Artificial Intelligence and Resource Consumption
Country: France
Delegate Name: Gloria Turner
Country: France
Delegate: Gloria Turner
School: Williamston High School
Committee: UNEP
Topic: AI and Resource Consumption
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become a major new technology over the last decade and has exploded in the past few years. AI has become an everyday tool for many, easily accessible and without limitations. At first glance, it seems like a valuable resource that can process information and provide solutions that are accessible for everyone. The reality is, the fake world of AI is actively destroying our very own and ruining the planet to the point of no return. While AI might seem harmless to some, the physical ramifications of it are all too real. AI data centers consume immense amounts of water and energy, as well as unsustainably mined rare materials that exploit workers and generate an immense amount of electronic waste. Unfortunately, AI is so new that the world hasn’t yet been able to estimate its full environmental impact, but the information the world has now calls for alarm. Because AI is so new, many countries have done little to combat this issue.
France has taken a nuanced approach when it comes to AI. In 2021, France mandated security in data, as well as promoting AI and supporting the OpenEuroLLM Project. The OpenEuroLLM Project is an EU-backed and funded plan to advance AI even further. During the AI Paris Summit in February of 2025, France’s ideas were confirmed further. France’s 2030 investment plan alone is funding more than 109 billion euros in the country’s AI investment, which involves development and simpler legislation for AI. However, the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, believes that AI is not just a technological tool, but is a political one as well. He went on to say that the US and China were Europe’s main AI competitors, but were open to collaboration. Macron calls his view of AI the “third way,” which provides a more complex insight into AI sovereignty that centers on collaboration with other countries, interdependence, and setting themselves apart from the US and China. Concerning privacy issues, the government has funded domestic AI technology companies to reduce security breaches. This view comes in the form of an alliance between France, India, and other European and non-European countries. Macron has proposed efforts to support India’s AI industry, as well as receiving funding from the UAE, as well as companies and investors from Canada, America, and domestically for France’s AI project, Stargate.
France is heavily influenced by US politics and procedures on AI, as the US has shown strong support for AI within the last and current presidency. France’s competition with China has prompted private companies to compete within the AI industry. While France is a global leader in material research and science, it is not a country in which raw materials are harvested. France, in collaboration with the UN Environmental Program and the International Telecommunication Union, created the Coalition for Sustainable AI. The project was launched at the Paris AI Action Summit, which focuses on a collaborative approach to AI while keeping in mind global ethics and UN environmental standards. Companies and institutions are allowed to become members, while governments and international organizations are allowed to be supporters, as both roles support the Coalition as a whole. Considering 70% of France’s electricity comes from nuclear power plants, a clean energy source, France also plans to harness nuclear power with AI development, as France keeps in mind the environmental effects of AI. France would be interested in working with: US, UK, Germany, NATO, EU, and G7.
Sources:
https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/ai-has-environmental-problem-heres-what-world-can-do-about
https://www.sustainableaicoalition.org/
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/france-sovereign-ai-infrastructure/
https://www.gzeromedia.com/gzero-ai/france-puts-the-ai-in-laissez-faire
