U.N. Secretary General António Guterres on Tuesday urged tech companies to commit to using only renewable energy for powering data centers by 2030.
His remarks come as data centers increasingly rely on gas and coal to meet rising energy demands.
Guterres made the appeal in a speech at the United Nations headquarters in New York, calling on the technology industry to choose renewable energy sources like wind and solar as they expand digital infrastructure. He said the shift to clean energy is unavoidable, even though many governments and companies continue to use fossil fuels.
His comments came a day before U.S. President Donald Trump is set to announce an AI Action Plan, which is expected to promote fossil fuel use by easing land and energy rules. Trump has declared a national energy emergency to support the power needs of AI development and reduce environmental restrictions for building gas, coal, and nuclear plants.
The U.S. and China are competing to lead in artificial intelligence, a race that has increased demand for electricity. At the same time, Trump has approved the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which cuts incentives for solar and wind projects waiting to connect to the power grid.
Guterres also asked governments to prepare updated national climate strategies by September to help meet the goals of the Paris climate agreement. He said this is a chance for countries to meet new electricity demand with renewable energy and improve the use of water in cooling systems.
