AI and Sustainability at LCAW: Driving Smart Climate Action

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the science of creating systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning and language understanding.

At Sustainability LIVE: The Leadership Summit, the Future of AI in Sustainability Panel explored how AI is reshaping the way organisations measure, manage and reduce their environmental impact. 

Bringing together C-Suite executives and sustainability leaders, the session examines practical AI applications across sustainability reporting, emissions tracking, predictive climate modelling, energy optimisation and supply chain transparency. 

Discussing the future of AI

The speakers of the panel included: 

• Sophie Graham, Chief Sustainability Officer, IFS
• Mark McKenna, Global Director - Impact Office, Arcadis
• Lyndsay Harris Kyei, Vice President of Global Impact and Sustainability, ServiceNow
• Adam Elman, Head of Sustainability, Google.

The panel discussed decarbonisation, deforestation and addressing the green skills gap.

“As we think about the future of AI, it comes down to how data is aggregated,” said Lyndsay.

Data aggregation and analysis are on the rise in order to monitor outcomes and setbacks, which also links with the rise of data centres.

“Our data centres have six times more power per unit of electricity compared to the last five years,” added Adam.

A rapidly emerging tool

AI is rapidly emerging as a transformative tool for sustainability, helping organisations convert vast environmental datasets into actionable insights that improve decision-making, reporting and operational efficiency. 

“AI can analyse hundreds and thousands of climate investment cases; it's a game changer,” said Sophie.

Across industries, businesses are using AI to optimise processes, reduce emissions and improve resource management. 

Google is helping to decarbonise the aviation sector. “We’ve used AI and geospatial technology to reduce 62% of contrail emissions, compared to the control group,” said Adam.

IFS, meanwhile, applies Industrial AI through IFS Cloud to help organisations enhance asset performance, minimise waste and drive more efficient operations. 

Sophie also highlighted that IFS uses “data in real time, as well as predictive capabilities”. 

Research from IBM indicates that many executives now see AI as critical to advancing sustainability reporting and performance, while companies such as WWF Germany, Microsoft and Accenture are using AI through initiatives like ghostnetzero.ai to tackle environmental challenges such as abandoned fishing gear. 

From climate forecasting tools, including NVIDIA Earth-2 and Google WeatherNext, to industrial optimisation solutions from Siemens, AI is enabling faster forecasting, smarter infrastructure management and measurable emissions reductions. 

“We care about how we best support our value chain; we see AI and tech as a way to make our operations more efficient,” said Mark.

As organisations continue to adopt responsible AI frameworks and sustainable technologies, AI is becoming a key enabler of the transition towards net zero across energy, technology, conservation and global supply chains.

“We’ve been helping companies monitor their supply chains and deforestation. We have a model at Google that can track where deforestation may occur during the supply chain, coming in especially handy if the company is under EU regulations,” said Adam.

During the discussion, the panel agreed that using AI is a learning curve and users need to lean on each other for support and collaboration.

“All of our supply chains are linked, we all need to lean on each other,” Lyndsay added.