Making Sense of AI in 2026: The Environmental Impacts of AI

BSR Members Only

Webinar

February 12, 2026

11 am - 12 pm EST

With the increasing use of AI technologies, business leaders are questioning the environmental implications: will AI increase our company’s carbon footprint, or will it lead to efficiencies that offset the increase in computing power?

AI offers powerful opportunities to advance sustainability, enabling more efficient resource management, accelerating climate modeling, and optimizing energy systems. Yet the rapid expansion of AI also poses significant environmental risks. The training, deployment, and use of large-scale AI models demands significant energy, water, and material inputs, while expanding data center infrastructure increases pressure on land, ecosystems, and natural resources.

These environmental impacts extend across the AI value chain—from companies developing models and building infrastructure to those procuring, deploying, and integrating it into their own operations.

As a result, companies across the AI value chain struggle to measure and manage the climate impacts of their growing AI use, and to understand the impacts of AI on their climate targets. Overall, the field lacks a coherent, sector-wide approach to environmental accountability in AI.

BSR experts from our Responsible Technology and Climate and Nature teams will help you understand the key challenges and priorities for companies increasingly developing and deploying AI, and the steps you can take—either alone or in collaboration—to address these environmental risks.

This is the second webinar of a three-part series on making sense of artificial intelligence and its implications for business. We encourage members to also register for the third webinar in this series, Making Sense of AI in 2026: The Social Impacts of AI. Missed the first webinar? Members can access prior webinar recordings in the events archive: Making Sense of AI in 2026: Implications for Business and Sustainability

Scheduled Speakers

Ameer Azim, Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Director, Climate and Nature, BSR

Washington, D.C.

Ameer leads BSR’s climate work in the US and works closely with BSR’s Technology sector companies.

Ameer helps BSR members develop strategies to implement the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) and enhance business resilience through climate risk assessment using climate scenario analysis and planning. He also works with BSR member companies on developing resilient and sustainable value chains.

Ameer was previously working with BSR’s Financial Services sector companies and led the Business Alliance to Scale Climate Solutions, a BSR carbon markets collaborative initiative now known as the Beyond Alliance.

Prior to joining BSR, Ameer was the chief financial economist at Climate Advisers Trust and Orbitas, where he conducted research on climate scenario analysis and financial research for the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector and engaged institutional investors on deforestation risks in investment portfolios. Ameer also brings over a decade of capital markets experience at financial institutions like ABN Amro, Citi, and Barclays Bank.

Ameer holds a MS in Sustainability Management from Columbia University and a BA in Economics and Government from College of William and Mary

Recent Insights From Ameer Azim

Full Bio

Kelly Gallo, Director, Technology Sectors, BSR

Director, Technology Sectors, BSR

San Francisco

Kelly helps technology companies achieve their sustainability goals, with a focus on supporting high-growth companies in embedding resilient and inclusive practices that both support business strategy while addressing societal and environmental impacts. Through BSR’s Business Transformation advisory service offerings, Kelly works with members to prioritize material sustainability issues, develop issue-specific strategies, set ambitious yet realistic goals, and communicate sustainability initiatives to key stakeholders.

Prior to BSR, Kelly spent more than six years consulting on energy efficiency, sustainability, and renewable energy for California’s utilities and public-sector clients. She has also served as a Board Member for the US National Committee for UN Women, San Francisco Bay Area Chapter and Spark, a non-profit that seeks to advance gender equality by engaging the next generation in accessible forms of philanthropy.

Kelly holds a MA in International Relations from San Francisco State University and a BA in Global Studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara.