Artificial Intelligence and Sustainability

Our work centers on a set of core insights: that AI’s value depends on sound underlying data and clearly defined use cases, not one-size-fits-all deployment; that human expertise remains essential to guiding AI toward meaningful outcomes; that disaggregated, downscaled data can make sustainability accountability traceable from country to sector to company to product; and that trust and explainability are non-negotiable if AI-enabled metrics are to drive real institutional change. We also push beyond conventional performance metrics like “average accuracy” to ask what success actually means when the stakes are environmental and social impact.

By bridging technical innovation with policy and legal expertise, the Initiative aims to ensure that AI’s growing role in sustainability measurement is rigorous, transparent, and genuinely accountable — co-created with the communities and decision-makers it is meant to serve.

Past Events

“Reimagining Sustainability Policy Metrics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” - May 2026

New Haven, CT

On May 13 and 14, we brought together more than 50 policymakers, researchers, business leaders, and academics from the worlds of AI, sustainability, and metrics for a critical workshop: “Reimagining Sustainability Policy Metrics in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.”

Over two days, in partnership with the Yale Center for Geospatial Solutions, the GRAIL Network, the Office of the Provost, and the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, participants explored how AI can advance the next generation of sustainability measurement.

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Frontier Issues in AI and Climate Change: Seizing the Opportunity, Meeting the Challenge - September 2025

New York, NY

This panel at Yale @ Climate Week NYC 2025 launched from two broad premises: AI is rapidly changing our lives. Climate change represents an existential threat to life on Planet Earth. It then tackled a series of questions: How do we mobilize the extraordinary capabilities of AI to respond to climate change and deliver a sustainable future more generally? At the same time, how do we address the threats AI poses to a successful response to climate change? What are the leading-edge applications of AI in the climate challenge?

Watch the session