In an aerial view, a data center is shown situated near single-family homes in Stone Ridge, Virginia. —Nathan Howard—Getty ImagesThe water used by artificial intelligence is expected to equal the needs of 1.3 billion people by 2030—threatening natural resources for billions around the world. That’s according to a new report from the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) which quantifies the carbon, water, and land footprints of AI's electricity use around the globe. The report finds that AI’s environmental cost is often mismeasured—focusing solely on carbon emissions. However, cooling and generating power for data centers comes with a “water footprint,” while the energy infrastructure and supply chains to build the data centers have a “land footprint.” These are important factors to consider, the report says, when analyzing the stressors a region might be facing due to data centers. By 2030, the report finds, global data centers powering artificial intelligence are projected to consume 945 terawatt-hours of electricity. This is nearly triple the combined annual electricity use of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nigeria—countries that together are home to more than 650 million people. The water footprint of data centers is projected to equal the basic domestic water needs of all 1.3 billion people in Sub-Saharan Africa for a year, while their land footprint could exceed 5,590 square miles, roughly twice the Jakarta metropolitan area that’s currently home to more than 32 million people. But switching to cleaner sources of energy isn’t as simple as it sounds. Minimizing one footprint could come at the expense of magnifying another, researchers say. For example, switching from coal to bioenergy cuts electricity’s carbon footprint by 70%—but increases its water footprint more than 30-fold and its land footprint 100-fold. "What surprised us most is how often the choices that look greenest from a carbon perspective end up worse for water or for land," Miriam Aczel, UNU-INWEH researcher and the lead author of the report, said in a press release. "If we keep judging AI sustainability by carbon alone, we might think that renewables make AI infrastructure clean but that is solving one problem while creating other problems, often in places that didn't ask for it." For a number of communities around the globe, AI is already using up significant energy resources. In 2025 alone, data centers consumed an estimated 448 terawatt-hours of electricity, the report found—more than the country of Saudi Arabia. In many cases, this excessive energy use comes at a cost to those who reside near them. In Ireland, data centers accounted for 21% of total metered electricity in 2023, exceeding electricity use by urban households. (The country’s national grid operator has since paused new approvals around Dublin until 2028.)Large data centers can consume up to 5 million gallons per day to keep servers cool. In communities already facing water scarcity, this risks putting a strain on already sparse resources. In Querétaro, Mexico, plans for fast-tracked data centers stand to jeopardize water supplies amid prolonged droughts. Uruguay saw a similar battle after plans to build a water-intensive data center were announced during a 2023 drought that depleted freshwater reserves in the country’s largest city, making tap water unsafe to drink—sparking protests over the prioritization of industrial demands over human needs. In addition to the strain on resources and impact to local environments, there is a separate inequality at play, the report notes. As data centers continue to explode around the world, the researchers warn of a widening “digital divide,” in which wealthier countries are able to invest in AI infrastructure while lower-income nations struggle to access and participate in the AI economy. In some ways, this divide is already apparent. As of 2025, only 32 countries—16% of nations—host AI-specialized data centers, and 90% of that capacity is concentrated in two countries: the U.S. and China. Moreover, AI infrastructure could generate up to 2.5 million metric tons of electronic waste each year by 2030, which could expose frontline communities—predominantly in low-income countries where many countries export their waste—to toxic substances. "The concentrated development of AI infrastructure in the privileged areas of the world is creating a large digital divide that poses profound challenges in the equitable development of AI,” Tshilidzi Marwala, rector of the United Nations University and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations, said in a press release. “AI can certainly advance prosperity and human well-being. Whether it does so equitably is now a governance question, not a technical one." To ensure that data center development doesn’t come at a cost to communities, the report calls for a "responsible AI ecosystem," and notes that permitting, environmental impact assessment, and community consultation should reflect the reality of water and land use along with carbon. Governments, investors, and financial institutions must implement the guardrails that will minimize environmental consequences, said Kaveh Madani, director of UNU-INWEH. “We have a narrow window to ensure that the backbone of the technological revolution of our era develops within planetary limits, and that the communities who provide the critical minerals for advancing AI and the ones that host its infrastructure and e-waste are also among those who benefit from it."