Salesforce has released the results of a recent survey of nearly 500 sustainability professionals. The survey found while almost 4 in 10 worry about AI’s potential negative impacts on sustainability efforts at their organisation. Furthermore, even more (57%) are optimistic that they can balance the negative impact with AI’s benefits. The research found:
Over 6 in 10 sustainability professionals say their company must balance AI’s benefits with its environmental costs. However, they remain hopeful about solutions.
- Nearly 4 in 10 sustainability professionals worry AI will have a negative impact on sustainability efforts at their organisation.
- 58% of sustainability professionals believe the benefits of AI will outweigh its risks when solving the climate crisis.
- 57% of sustainability professionals feel optimistic about balancing AI’s benefits with its impact on sustainability.
- 55% of sustainability professionals believe AI’s impact on global sustainability progress will be net positive.
Transforming sustainability programmes
AI is beginning to transform sustainability programmes.
- Nearly half of sustainability professionals have begun using or experimenting with AI in their sustainability programmes.
- 20% of sustainability professionals have fully implemented AI into their sustainability initiatives.
- 29% are still experimenting with AI in their sustainability initiatives.
The top ways sustainability teams are using AI for sustainability include:
- Improving energy efficiency (50%) (i.e., monitoring energy consumption, predicting when energy use is high, and optimizing energy distribution).
- Carbon emissions modeling (48%) (i.e., identifying the areas of a product’s life cycle that have the greatest negative environmental impacts).
- Ensuring compliance with environmental standards and regulations (47%) (i.e, ISO standards, emissions reduction regulations, and so on).
The AI and sustainability knowledge gap
The AI and sustainability knowledge gap is the #1 limitation and #1 priority for sustainability teams.
- The #1 limitation to leveraging AI for sustainability efforts, according to respondents, is a lack of knowledge about how AI can be used for sustainability.
- 79% of sustainability professionals say educating others on sustainable practices is a priority in their role. 42% say it’s a high priority – higher than any other effort.
By implementing education and training programs, businesses can reach their sustainability goals.
- The #1 factor helping teams better reach sustainability goals is improved knowledge/skills (52%) and #2 is training (45%).
“Sustainability and AI education and training not only narrows the gap between businesses and their climate goals. It also helps create a culture of learning and innovation,” says Suzanne DiBianca, EVP and Chief Impact Officer.
Investing in innovation and social impact
Businesses can invest in innovation and social impact to reduce the environmental impact of AI.
- 81% of sustainability leaders say reducing the emissions footprint of AI is a priority.
- Nearly one-third of sustainability leaders say reducing the emissions footprint of AI is a high priority.
- 77% of sustainability leaders say that improving energy efficiency of technology is a priority.
What businesses can do
According to DiBianca, companies can ensure the benefits of AI are universal to all stakeholders, including the planet, by:
- Driving innovation and transparency: Companies can leverage AI to develop solutions reducing environmental impact, such as optimising energy consumption and improving supply chain efficiency. Additionally, they can foster transparency by publicly sharing their sustainability metrics and progress.
- Supporting policy advocacy and philanthropic initiatives. Businesses can support non-profits who are driving climate solutions with AI. They can advocate for policies that can help minimise the environmental impact of AI and foster innovation.
- Making sustainability core to the business. Companies can operationalise sustainability across their business and allocate resources as they would any other segment of the business.
Go deeper
“Investing in innovation and the social impact of AI is crucial for reducing the carbon footprint of AI tools. It can also ensure the technology benefits everyone equitably,” said Boris Gamazaychikov, Senior Manager of Emissions Reduction, Salesforce. “At Salesforce, we employ a comprehensive approach, leveraging our corporate philanthropy, strategic investments, cutting-edge technology to drive sustainability in AI.”
Earlier in the year, Nutanix a provider in hybrid multi-cloud computing, announced the findings of its sixth global Enterprise Cloud Index (ECI) survey. The ECI report revealed the use of hybrid multi-cloud models will double over the next one to three years. IT decision makers are facing new pressures to modernise IT infrastructures because of drivers including sustainability.
IT teams aren’t just planning their sustainability programmes, they are actively implementing them starting with IT modernisation. 88% of ECI respondents agree that sustainability is a priority for their organisation. Many organisations indicate taking active steps to implement sustainability initiatives. The most common is modernising IT infrastructure. The report similarly showed the direct impact of IT infrastructure on sustainability.
Enterprise Times: What this means for businesses
The International Energy Agency has estimated that AI-driven data centre power usage could double by 2026. This massive increase in energy consumption puts efforts to reduce corporate carbon emissions at risk. As a result, sustainability teams around the world are grappling with the challenge of how to help their companies implement this groundbreaking technology without hurting the environment.
Fortunately, there’s evidence that AI can aid supply chain management, ESG reporting, and do more to help businesses combat the climate crisis. Last November 2023, Forbes published an interesting article which suggested 14 Ways AI can help business and industry boost sustainability. Salesforce’s new research suggests that companies are already managing this balancing act.
