Navigating AI and climate change in an unequal world

Initiatives and discussions at the COP28 summit in Dubai (2023) underscored the promise of AI as a pivotal tool for climate action, prompting global investments to harness AI's potential to address ecological crises. Initiatives like the AI Innovation Grand Challenge and AI4 Climate exemplify efforts to develop AI-powered applications for climate resilience, particularly in vulnerable regions. AI applications, from precision agriculture in India to disaster prediction in Kenya, showcase diverse and promising use-cases. However, optimism regarding AI transformative potential is tempered by concerns about its socio-ecological impacts, including data representativeness, labour exploitation, and environmental costs, and potential exacerbation of social inequities. This article contributes to ongoing debates by critically assessing these impacts through a Global South lens, highlighting the importance context-sensitive AI governance, use, and diffusion that addresses regional disparities and promotes climate justice. The articles argues for a balanced approach, that incorporates local realities, and promotes just, equitable, sustainable development pathways as essential for leveraging AI in the fight against climate change.AI's role in climate action should be critically assessed, particularly in the context of the Global South.The ecological costs of AI, including resource extraction and environmental degradation, must be factored into sustainability assessments.Ethical frameworks guiding AI development must be inclusive of diverse cultural perspectives, particularly from non-Western contexts.Local capacities, both in the context of AI development and governance need to be strengthened, and care should be taken to integrate local and indigenous knowledge systems through non-appropriative mechanisms.Policymakers must balance the push for AI-driven interventions with consideration of low-tech, community-centred, and nature-based alternatives, where contextually appropriate to achieve climate justice and sustainability.