28 April 2025: Only a quarter of businesses globally are considering their AI footprint in their sustainability strategy and reporting in relation to AI (27%), new research[1] from BSI has found. It comes following a paper by BSI and CBRE highlighting the environmental impacts of data centres, which are surging in demand as a result of the generative AI boom.
Although the impact of AI is not yet being routinely considered as part of sustainability strategies, the data shows that nearly half of business leaders do believe their organization is currently working on putting a process in place to do so (47%). This comes as 62% of businesses say they are expecting to increase investment in AI this year, rising to 67% in the UK and 77% in China.
The survey, which covered business leaders in eight countries, highlights geographical differences, with two fifths in India (39%) and 35% in China indicating their organization has these processes in place with regard to AI and sustainability, falling to just 13% in Japan. Some governments have also highlighted this issue, for example with the UK Government setting out its aspiration to mitigate the sustainability risks of AI in the recently launched AI Opportunities Action Plan.
BSI and CBRE’s research called for the design of data centers to respond to sustainability needs and withstand external security threats and climate risks. Whilst steps are being taken to make AI algorithms less resource intensive (such as DeepSeek, developed in China), with generative AI set to become a $1.3 trillion market by 2032, there are no signs of the rapid growth in demand for data centers being curbed. As more data centers are built, they will generate more heat and emissions and require more water for cooling hardware.
In March BSI published Environmentally Sustainable Artificial Intelligence (PD CEN/CLC TR 18145:2025) guidance setting out how to measure an organization’s AI carbon footprint and the main environmental sustainability factors that should be considered.
Mark Thirlwell, Global Digital Director, BSI said: “AI is playing an increasingly central role in the global economy and will be fundamental to most organizations’ forward planning. As leaders build AI into commercial strategies, the amount of energy used in processing the data that sits behind AI, including that within supply chains, will need to be accounted for within sustainability practices and reporting. These market insights, and the recently published guidance, present both the ‘call to action’ and a practical tool for organizations to lead the charge with progressing sustainable AI."
[1] Data comes from BSI’s 2025 Trust in AI research. FOCAL Data surveyed 8,911 working professionals between 13th - 24th February 2025, in the UK, US, France, Germany, China, Japan, India and Australia.
