As artificial intelligence continues to reshape industries and daily life, the United Nations is raising a red flag over its environmental cost, urging tech companies to power their AI systems with 100% clean energy by 2030.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, speaking this week, warned that AI data centers are consuming massive amounts of electricity, with the biggest ones using as much energy as 100,000 homes. And that’s just the beginning.

“With the current pace of AI development, power demand could skyrocket,” he said. “By 2030, global data centers could consume as much electricity as all of Japan does today.”

Guterres stressed that while AI can be a force for good, improving energy efficiency, boosting innovation, and solving complex problems — it’s also becoming a serious contributor to global energy use.

According to a recent UN report, data centers already account for 1.5% of global electricity consumption, and that figure is expected to more than double in the next few years.

“This is not sustainable, unless we make it so,” he added, calling on the world’s major tech players to take the lead by running all AI infrastructure on renewable energy sources like solar, wind, or hydro.

He also noted that AI itself could help accelerate the shift to green energy, by improving the way electricity is distributed and used across the grid.

The message is clear: if tech is the future, it must also be part of the climate solution.