As artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes Europe’s economy, it will either boost our green ambitions or hinder them. Two new European Environment Agency (EEA) briefings examine how strategic policy guidance can secure a dual benefit and how to manage the trade-offs in deploying these technologies when environmental pressures must decrease.
Digitalisation and AI can produce measurable environmental advantages when aligned with sustainability goals, as shown in the EEA briefings “Navigating Europe’s twin transition — opportunities and challenges of digitalisation in the green transition” and “Artificial intelligence and sustainable consumption in Europe.”
Digital technologies can improve environmental data collection and analysis, support more efficient industrial processes, enable smarter energy and transport systems, and guide consumption and procurement decisions toward lower-carbon and more resource-efficient options.
In consumer markets, AI can influence choices by providing better product and service information and supporting more sustainable procurement. Across value chains, it can optimize supply chains and logistics for lower-resource outcomes.
However, the briefings emphasize the transformative nature of AI and digitalisation. As these rapidly expanding and system-shaping technologies alter how economies operate, how consumption decisions are made, and how value chains are organized, the lack of clear policy direction risks increasing energy and material demand, reinforcing resource-intensive business models. Efficiency gains alone are insufficient to reduce overall environmental pressures.
The rapid growth of data centers drives rising demand for energy, water, and critical raw materials, as data presented in the briefing “Artificial intelligence and sustainable consumption in Europe” shows. The briefing “Navigating Europe’s twin transition” finds that data centers, networks, and devices collectively generate an increasing environmental footprint that efficiency gains alone are unlikely to offset.
The analysis comes amid rising geopolitical competition, economic uncertainty, and strategic dependencies. In this context, digital technologies and AI are increasingly seen as central to Europe’s competitiveness, resilience, and strategic autonomy. The EEA stresses that navigating the twin transition — the combined green and digital transitions — is a strategic challenge, requiring deliberate decisions on steering and regulating innovation.
The findings are particularly relevant for implementing key EU legislative and policy frameworks linking digital transformation with sustainability and competitiveness. These include the EU Artificial Intelligence Act, which sets rules for AI systems across the EU, as well as broader EU strategies emphasizing digitalisation at the core of economic competitiveness while reinforcing green transition goals.
As highlighted by the EEA briefings, aligning digital policy, consumption-related measures, and environmental objectives will be crucial to ensure that Europe’s digital transformation supports climate neutrality, resource efficiency, and long-term resilience.
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