How Can AI Address Climate Justice When Women's Voices Are Silenced?

"Women stand on the frontlines of climate stress. According to the United Nations, if current trends continue, an estimated 341 million women will still lack electricity in 2030-85 percent of them in sub-Saharan Africa-and forced to depend on costly, labor-intensive fuels. Women around the world also collectively spend 200 million hours, the equivalent of nearly 23,000 years, hauling water every day instead of studying, earning or participating in public life."

"A large AI data center can consume up to 5 million gallons of water a day to keep their servers cool. As women ration every bucket and queue at communal taps, these facilities secure access to water through long-term contracts and public incentives. Data centers also draw uninterrupted power from national grids, with their electricity demand expected to soar to around 1,050 terawatt-hours annually."

"Despite their central role in society, women face persistent barriers to digital access and representation, resulting in their underrepresentation within AI training data, system design and governance processes. Men are 21 percent more likely to be online globally, with the gap widening to 52 percent in least developed countries. This means women are systematically underrepresented in the data infrastructures that increasingly inform climate and energy policy."

Women face disproportionate climate impacts while remaining systematically excluded from AI development. Women lack electricity access, spend millions of hours on water collection, and face persistent digital divides that limit their participation in online spaces and data infrastructure. Men are 21 percent more likely to be online globally, with gaps widening to 52 percent in least developed countries. Meanwhile, AI data centers consume massive amounts of water and electricity through long-term contracts and public incentives, while women ration resources. This underrepresentation in AI training data, system design, and governance processes means women's perspectives are absent from climate and energy policy decisions that directly affect them.

Read at State of the Planet