- The period of stagnant electricity demand in developed countries (Global North) has ended due to rising demand from domestic manufacturing, electric vehicles, cryptocurrencies, and especially AI-powering data centers (DCs).
- In 2023, DCs consumed about 1.5% of total global energy; the US, Europe, and China accounted for 85% of DC electricity consumption.
- 56% of the electricity used by DCs comes from fossil fuels. While North American and European power grids have CO₂ emissions of about 0.3–0.5 kg/kWh , China and India’s grids reach 0.5–0.6 kg/kWh or more.
- The Global South (excluding China) has 50% of the world’s internet users but less than 10% of global DC capacity.
- The Global South is currently an exporter of raw data and an importer of knowledge from DCs in the Global North – causing a serious imbalance in economic and technological benefits.
- The economic benefits from DCs (growth, jobs, technology) are mainly concentrated in developed countries, while the social and environmental costs increasingly burden developing countries.
- The increased energy consumption for DCs in the Global North also occupies “atmospheric space,” reducing the necessary emissions allowance for development in the Global South.
- The impact of AI could support clean energy, grid management, and accelerate electrification in the Global South – but the conditions and scalability are currently unclear.
- The report calls for bringing the issue of equitable sharing of global emissions space to multilateral climate negotiation forums.
- To attract DCs, developing countries need to lower land and energy prices while applying strict but fair environmental standards.
📌 Data centers – the main drivers of AI – are boosting global energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, putting immense pressure on developing countries. While the Global South hosts 50% of the world’s internet users, it has less than 10% of the data center infrastructure and bears most of the environmental costs. If the current trend continues, the benefits will remain heavily skewed towards the Global North, while the development space for the Global South shrinks.
