COP28 sets eyes on AI to fight climate change

UN panel launches challenge to deploy tech to support developing countries

Expect artificial intelligence to play an inseparable role in combating climate change after the United Nations Climate Change Technology Executive Committee, or TEC, and its collaborators launched a challenge to harness AI-powered solutions for climate action in developing countries.

The grand challenge was part of a high-level event organized by the UN Climate Change Technology Mechanism on Saturday in Dubai, in collaboration with the COP28 Presidency. The move will also focus on least developed countries and small island developing states. The TEC has partnered with Enterprise Neurosystem, a nonprofit open-source AI community.

Attendees, ranging from leaders to UN agencies and business communities, emphasized how AI can be used in transformational climate action in developing nations while at the same time ensuring it does not contribute to the widening digital divide because of unequal access to technology.