AI is reshaping the world. But while much of the conversation has focused, rightfully, on its dangers, there is another part to the story that’s being overlooked.
In 2015, world leaders spoke about “leaving no one behind” and moving from “billions to trillions” in investment towards a more sustainable world. So where are we now?
In some ways there is encouraging progress and investment being made including trillions from private sector financial institutions committed to sustainable finance by 2030. Across industries exciting innovations are emerging, though rarely captured in headlines. And countries like China and the U.A.E. are now at the forefront of the sustainable transition, while cooperation among Global South countries is flourishing. Elsewhere, though, we have seen government leadership, ambition, and market certainty fade.
The rapid rise and growing capabilities of AI offers a solution to closing this ambition gap and accelerating the path toward a clean economy. And we should look to the private sector to help push this forward. After all, the private sector is by its very nature faster, more nimble and ready to seize opportunities while focusing on economic growth and job creation. It is also the private sector that is leading the way on AI, space exploration, and the tools that will shape our world.
It is critical that we start actively applying AI across every industry and every country in order to shape a better future. To do this, all of us need to become fluent. AI is simply a tool. Those of us seeking solutions need to learn how to apply it to get the answers and rapid delivery necessary if we want to see real world results.
Like no time in our history, we now have the power to apply incredible compute power to achieve our collective goals and ambitions, including the 2030 targets laid out under the Paris Climate Agreement, the Sustainable Development Goals, and the Convention on Biological Diversity. But to do so, we must think big and at a global systems-level so that solutions can scale and everyone can benefit. This lies at the heart of everything the Sustainable Markets Initiative does. Founded in 2020 by His Majesty King Charles III when he was the Prince of Wales, we think big, find like-minded players ready to accelerate and get to work.
The possibilities are endless but let us imagine what we could achieve by applying AI over the next five years towards this vision of a more sustainable and equitable future.
We can leverage real-time satellite imagery to protect and restore our oceans and nature by establishing, monitoring, and enforcing Marine Protected Areas, sustainable fisheries management, and sustainable land management to achieve the global target of protecting 30% of land, water, and oceans by 2030.
We can accelerate the commercialization of fusion to unlock limitless energy for all, leading to unimaginable levels of human progress and opportunity. We can design all new aircraft, ships, road vehicles, and routes that are sustainable and efficient by default, reducing emissions and pollution.
We can create transparent end-to-end supply chains allowing consumers to understand exactly what they are buying, where it came from and make informed choices based on sustainability credentials. We can optimize our regional strengths and resources as part of a common real-time global marketplace to enhance efficient global trade.
We can unlock cures for disease through rapid innovations and analysis in medicine and share these with the entire world increasing quality of life. We can reimagine education from preschool to university so that humanity can be ready to seize the future starting today. We can redesign systems of governance and accountability, globally and locally, to ensure fundamental principles are upheld and all voices of all peoples are heard.
This is all possible today. Now is not the time to retreat and accept the shackles of the post-World War II global norms and infrastructure—they are no longer fit for purpose and are far beyond repair. Now is the time to take a blank sheet of paper, grab some Sharpies, and start drawing the world you want. Because with AI, combined with imagination and the highest levels of human ambition, anything is genuinely possible. But we must be the architects of our future—not passengers on the bus. Afterall, from space, there are no borders that separate our citizens, our air or our water. We are one people, living on one planet, sharing one future.
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