Abstract

The biennium 2024-2025 marks the occasion of major negotiations in global digital governance – from the Summit of the Future and a Global Digital Compact in September 2024, to the 20-year review of the World Summit of the Information Society in 2025. Within the consultations leading to the upcoming negotiations, increasing consideration is being given to how new digital technologies, particularly artificial intelligence, affect the planet, both positively and negatively. The seminar will explore the nexus between digital ecosystems and environmental concerns, tracing these concerns within the global roadmap for digital cooperation. It will examine how social media affects climate change discourse and action in the age of disinformation; the degree to which environmental concerns manifest within ethical or regulatory frameworks for AI development and use; and, more recently, the growing body of research regarding sustainability of AI models in terms of natural resources consumption. It will also look at concerted efforts to steer “technology for good”, and what is next for this thematic area in digital cooperation.