Ethical AI and the climate crisis - who sets the rules?

The race to tackle climate change is no longer just about policy, finance, or technology—it’s about intelligence. Not just human intelligence, but artificial intelligence. The way we harness AI will define how effectively we can cut emissions, adapt to extreme weather, and build resilient, net-zero economies.

The Prime Misters new AI Opportunities Action Plan is a substantial departure from the UKs approach up to now. From a climate perspective this plan is important as AI will increasingly define how we tackle the climate crisis, from optimizing renewable energy systems to predicting and mitigating risks. The UK, with its trusted global reputation and leadership in climate innovation, has an opportunity to lead. For the UK, this is not just a transformative opportunity—it’s a chance to fulfil its ambition to become a global AI superpower. However, achieving this requires addressing a critical tension: can the UK balance ethical leadership with the speed and investment needed to compete globally without exacerbating the climate crises?

The Role of AI in Climate Leadership

Despite age old data solution challenges like 'rubbish in, rubbish out' and hallucinating AI, the technology has immense potential to transform how we tackle the climate crisis. AI can optimize renewable energy systems, predict climate risks, and decarbonize supply chains by improving efficiency and precision.

“Despite age old data solution challenges like ‘rubbish in, rubbish out’ and hallucinating AI, the technology has immense potential to transform how we tackle the climate crisis.”

It is also becoming essential for ESG reporting, as directives like the EU’s CSRD require detailed sustainability metrics that will become unmanageable without AI. By pairing AI with ESG expertise, companies can build trust, comply with regulations, and gain a competitive edge.

For the UK to fully realize this potential, it must prioritize massive investment, substantial infrastructure build out, and coordinated strategies to scale AI rapidly. The Prime Minister's recent AI plan, which includes establishing AI Growth Zones and building a new supercomputer, is a step in the right direction.

The Tension Between Ethics and Scale

Up until the release of the Prime Minister’s AI Plan, the UK’s approach to AI had emphasized ethics and governance, exemplified by initiatives such as the Ada Lovelace Institute, the AI Safety Summit in 2023, and the Alan Turing Institute’s AI Ethics and Governance in Practice Programme. These efforts aim to ensure AI technologies are safe, fair, and aligned with public values—critical for building trust, particularly in sensitive domains like climate solutions. In these arenas, scaling solutions without trust and transparency will be nearly impossible. However, this focus on governance highlights a broader challenge: balancing ethical leadership with the need for rapid scaling.

“In the global AI race, ethics are often shaped by those who scale first. Countries like the US and China favor blitzscaling—deploying rapidly and embedding AI into critical systems before regulatory guardrails are fully in place.”

In the global AI race, ethics are often shaped by those who scale first. Countries like the US and China favor blitzscaling—deploying rapidly and embedding AI into critical systems before regulatory guardrails are fully in place. By scaling first, they set de facto standards, shaping markets and ethical norms through adoption rather than deliberation.

While the UK is the third-largest global investor in AI, with $15 billion invested in 2024, this pales in comparison to the US’s $130 billion AI investment. Meanwhile, India’s AI sector has surged by over 250% since 2019, demonstrating how rapidly other nations are closing the gap. The UK’s AI Plan, which includes a new supercomputer and a twentyfold increase in data centre capacity, is a step forward, but the reality is stark—without further acceleration, the UK risks being left behind.

Yet, AI’s development isn’t solely dictated by who throws the most money at it. DeepSeek’s recent launch provides a potentially different pathway: developing high-performing AI models with dramatically lower investment, lowering the barriers to entry for scalable innovation. This not only levels the playing field for nations with less capital to pour into AI but also signals a potential shift in AI’s cost dynamics, which could allow the UK to maintain leadership in AI ethics while still competing globally. If AI innovation can be democratized, the UK may not need to match the US and China dollar-for-dollar—it just needs to outmanoeuvre them in designing scalable and responsible AI models.

AI’s Double-Edged Role in Sustainability

AI is both a key enabler of climate action and an energy-intensive challenge in its own right. Managing renewable grids, optimizing energy storage, and forecasting extreme weather all rely on machine learning, making AI indispensable to decarbonization strategies. Yet the vast computational power required for AI models also raises serious concerns about energy demand and emissions.

“Becoming an AI superpower requires a radical rethink of energy infrastructure, particularly in the UK, where planning constraints have slowed the expansion of the grid and the development of critical infrastructure.”

Becoming an AI superpower requires a radical rethink of energy infrastructure, particularly in the UK, where planning constraints have slowed the expansion of the grid and the development of critical infrastructure. While the government’s proposed reforms for faster grid connections are welcome, they may not be enough to keep pace with AI’s exponential growth. Without parallel innovation in off-grid clean energy solutions, there is a real risk that AI’s demand pressures could push some systems back towards more familiar—but less sustainable—fossil-based solutions like Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGTs). This could be further exacerbated by a potential influx of cheap gas from the US as the Trump administration prioritise O&G production, creating a perverse short-term incentive to delay full-scale decarbonization.

However, DeepSeek’s emergence offers a glimpse of a different future—one where AI models require far less computational power to achieve state-of-the-art performance. If this trend continues, it could dramatically reduce AI’s energy footprint, making off-grid renewables and other distributed energy solutions far more viable. This would shift AI from being a net burden on the energy system to an enabler of its rapid decarbonization.

For this to happen, datacentres must push aggressively to cut their own energy and water usage while integrating with scalable renewable and nuclear energy systems. The Prime Minister’s AI Plan rightly prioritizes this alignment, but execution will be everything. If done well, the UK’s AI revolution could become an accelerator of the energy transition, proving that scaling AI and sustainability don’t have to be opposing forces—they can, and must, reinforce each other.

Why It Matters for Climate Solutions

The stakes for climate leadership couldn’t be higher. If the UK fails to scale AI solutions quickly, it risks losing its influence in shaping AI and in turn how AI tackles the climate crisis. Instead, we may end up becoming a consumer of AI solutions rather than a creator. This could result in ethical gaps, economic dependence and a dilution of UK values.

“Ethics matter in AI—particularly for climate solutions and ESG compliance, where trust and transparency are crucial for scaling and adoption. ”

Ethics matter in AI—particularly for climate solutions and ESG compliance, where trust and transparency are crucial for scaling and adoption. However, to shape global AI rules and values, the UK must secure a seat at the table—and that seat is reserved for those who scale fast enough to lead.

Balancing Ethics and Speed: What the UK Must Do

Ethics and scale are not mutually exclusive—they must go hand in hand. The UK can lead on ethical AI and, in turn, ethical climate AI solutions, but only if it acts boldly and decisively. Here’s how:

Educate and Empower UK Businesses:
Equip UK businesses to lead in AI adoption by showcasing what successful companies do differently. This will accelerate adoption, attract private investment, and create a compounding effect that bridges the gap between ethical leadership and global competitiveness. The Prime Minister's plan to support industry at large, the public sector, and SMEs with AI tools for efficiency is a key part of this effort. However, emerging breakthroughs like DeepSeek show that AI-driven innovation does not have to be an exclusive, capital-intensive endeavor. By demonstrating how scalable AI can thrive on lower investment, the UK can enable a broader base of companies to participate, reducing barriers to entry for innovators.

Shape Global Standards Through Leadership:
To drive global impact, the UK must build AI-powered products and systems that the world adopts, embedding UK values into climate solutions. True influence comes not from regulation alone, but from market leadership—ensuring AI is shaped by strong executive level ethical leadership and governance as industries adopt and scale it. By establishing AI Growth Zones, investing in a new supercomputer, expanding data centre capacity, and fostering a pro-innovation regulatory environment, the UK can leverage its world-class talent and research institutions to lead in AI-driven climate solutions. DeepSeek’s approach—achieving high-performance AI with dramatically lower compute requirements—demonstrates that AI leadership isn’t just about who spends the most, but who innovates the smartest.

“True influence comes not from regulation alone, but from market leadership—ensuring AI is shaped by strong executive level ethical leadership and governance as industries adopt and scale it. ”

Lead by Rapid Scaling of Ethical AI:
Launch AI moonshots for climate solutions that align with ethical principles while scaling fast enough to dominate global markets. Leverage lower-energy AI models to enable rapid deployment in industries like renewables, carbon capture, and climate adaptation, proving that scaling does not have to come at the cost of sustainability.

Align National Strategies:
Ensure better integration of strategies like the AI Strategy and Net Zero Strategy, creating a unified vision that clearly prioritizes opportunities, addresses risks, and turns strategic intent into bold action.

Invest in Speed and Infrastructure:
Significantly boost public and private investment in AI compute, talent, and commercialization. Consider how to enable industry to adopt bold approaches, such as blitzscaling, with the necessary foundations to execute effectively. The Prime Minister's plan to build a new supercomputer and increase server capacity twentyfold by 2030 is a big step in the right direction, but more will be needed to compete with the US and China. However, if lower-energy AI models continue to advance, the UK could find itself at an inflection point—able to scale AI leadership without requiring US- or China-level capital intensity. Investing in high-efficiency AI could be the UK’s strategic advantage.

“Lower-energy AI models present an unexpected but crucial opportunity for the UK—by reducing AI’s strain on power grids, they make off-grid renewables and decentralized energy solutions far more viable. ”

Develop Energy Solutions for AI:
Focus on the massive clean energy build-out required to support AI growth, recognizing the opportunity to accelerate the energy transition. Acknowledge the short-term challenges and the long-term benefits, depending on the speed of AI development needed to compete globally. Lower-energy AI models present an unexpected but crucial opportunity for the UK—by reducing AI’s strain on power grids, they make off-grid renewables and decentralized energy solutions far more viable. If the UK integrates this shift into its AI and energy strategies, it can avoid being locked into high-carbon interim solutions like Combined Cycle Gas Turbines (CCGTs) and instead leapfrog toward a cleaner AI-powered economy. The Prime Minister's plan to enhance energy efficiency and management is crucial for achieving this goal.

Retain Talent for the Future:
Prevent the "brain drain" to the US and China by fostering a competitive and innovative ecosystem that rewards bold, scalable ideas over cautious conservatism or low investment environments. With AI becoming more accessible and less compute-reliant, the UK can create a dynamic AI ecosystem that attracts top talent by offering opportunities to build and scale innovations without requiring Silicon Valley-sized budgets.

Conclusion: The Need to Act boldly

AI ethics are crucial but ineffective without influence. While the UK may never match the US and China’s scale of investment or force-multiplier effects such as Silicon Valley's established networks, it can learn from their strategies that drive rapid scaling while forging a distinct leadership path. By educating, enabling, and empowering UK businesses to scale AI effectively, we can unlock the compounding benefits of embedding AI into the public and private sectors—accelerating adoption, driving investment, and bridging the gap between ethical leadership, investment, and global competitiveness.

“DeepSeek’s launch offers a powerful signal that high-performing AI models can be developed without astronomical investment, which should fundamentally reshape how we think about AI growth.”

DeepSeek’s launch offers a powerful signal that high-performing AI models can be developed without astronomical investment, which should fundamentally reshape how we think about AI growth. If this trajectory continues, the UK has a rare chance to lead—not just in ethical governance, but in enabling AI accessibility, making AI-powered climate solutions a reality for the many, not just the few.

Leading with this approach may allow the UK to set the rules, embedding values and ethics to ensure AI remains safe and aligned with our priorities, rather than adopting frameworks shaped elsewhere. For climate solutions, ESG compliance, and beyond, the stakes are too high to delay. AI will likely become the analytical engine for solving the climate crisis, but only if it’s scaled boldly, powered sustainably, and aligned with our values.

The energy transition, driven by clean energy investments and innovations, is key to making this work. By embracing AI’s emerging efficiencies, the UK can ensure AI becomes an accelerant of sustainable progress, rather than a drain on it.