The Artificial Intelligence Act, which came into force on 1 August, is the first comprehensive AI law in the world and aims to ensure that AI systems are “safe, transparent, traceable, non-discriminatory, and environmentally friendly”.

The Act, integral to the European Union's digital strategy, notably overlooks the promotion of the green transition and, more critically, the intersection of the green and digital transitions.

In an interesting conversation with Kai Zenner, Head of Office and Digital Policy Adviser for MEP Axel Voss (EPP Group) he argues that this intersection is “under the radar”. Although there is work on the green and digital transition, both sides have not created enough synergies in European Parliamentary discussions. Indeed, Kai believes that “without digitalisation, we will never meet our sustainability goals”.

Kai continues: “This intersection was not discussed, as the Parliament recently released the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation, and it was argued that, as we already had a regulation on it, it didn’t belong to the AI Act.”

There is just one exception, which Kai outlines – the foundational models created by big tech companies. Since they consume a lot of energy, especially when data training, they will be forced to share environmental documentation to standardise sustainability. “In the future, we could see more benchmarks or standards on how to improve the green side of AI,” adds Kai.

“However, the lack of legislation on environmental topics is a shame, as the EU has lost momentum to have a competitive advantage in green AI legislation. Right now, other countries like New Zealand and Australia are already working on this type of standardisation and aligning with standard bodies like ISO.”

In fact, since 2020, the EU Council has given political guidance to the EU Commission, identifying that ‘digitalisation and the environment have gained momentum in recent years’. It created in its 2020 remarks the concept of the ‘Twin Transition’, which followed the creation of the European Green Digital Coalition. The concept highlighted that promoting the intersection of digital and green transition at the same time is crucial.

The AI Act appears to focus solely on important environmental standards such as the energy consumption of data centres, but it lacks a thorough promotion of how AI could contribute to environmental solutions or potentially hinder the green transition in Europe. This may be a missed opportunity.

As Kai highlighted, the secondary legislation—such as guidelines and implementation acts that support the AI Act—is the next crucial step towards AI legislation. In this context, more attention must be given to the green transition with AI if the EU wants to continue the path to sustainability. A possible collaboration with the European Green Digital Coalition may be a route to explore.