At COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, a new set of priorities asks AI companies to show their work: how their systems handle climate information, and what they use from the planet to run. Launched on 13 November, the guidance aims to help people find reliable climate facts while making the technology’s environmental costs easier to assess.
The need is growing as more people turn to artificial intelligence for answers about climate change. But fluent-sounding text is not always accurate. The Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, established by the UN General Assembly last year, has warned that “producing fluent text is easier than producing factual text.” During climate disasters, the stakes can rise quickly: AI-made images and videos may spread faster than official warnings, leaving people unsure what is real and what to do.
The Priorities for Action on AI and Climate Information Integrity were launched at the COP31 climate conference by the Global Initiative for Information Integrity on Climate Change. The initiative is co-chaired by the United Nations, its scientific agency UNESCO and Brazil. Its recommendations call on AI companies to assess how their systems affect the reliability of climate information, publish their findings, and disclose their energy use and carbon, water and land footprints.
That information matters because the public is being asked to weigh claims about AI’s own climate impact without enough data to judge them. The guidance also urges governments to include information integrity in national AI strategies and climate plans. Its action points are grounded in human rights and build on the Belém Declaration on Information Integrity on Climate Change, launched at COP30 in Brazil last year, as well as the UN Global Principles for Information Integrity.
“The question isn't simply whether AI is good or bad for the climate. It’s whether people can rely on what they’re told by AI and about it,” said Charlotte Scaddan, Information Integrity Senior Advisor with the UN Department of Global Communications. The initiative’s partners also want more investment in the information people need to understand climate change and act on it. Germany has committed more than $2.2 million for research, communication strategies and public awareness campaigns.
A related effort launched on Friday takes aim at the role advertising can play in spreading climate claims. The Charter for Climate Information Integrity in Advertising seeks to address the “monetization of disinformation and denial,” said Jake Dubbins, co-founder of the Conscious Advertising Network. It calls for transparency across the advertising supply chain, so advertisers can see where their ads appear while user privacy is respected.
COP31 is organized around 10 priority themes, including clean energy transition and electrification, zero waste and climate-resilient cities. The conference is due to conclude on 20 November. The new guidance sets out practical steps rather than a simple verdict on AI: clearer evidence about its climate effects, and stronger safeguards for the information people rely on.