Open Letter to Governments and Multilateral Institutions on the Regulation of AI Infrastructure and Water Security

To:
United Nations Member States
UN Environment Programme (UNEP)
UNESCO
European Commission
Intergovernmental climate and water authorities

The rapid expansion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) infrastructure has introduced measurable environmental externalities. AI operates through data centers that require continuous electricity and, in many cases, large volumes of freshwater for cooling.

Peer-reviewed research has demonstrated the water footprint associated with large AI models (Li et al., 2023). Simultaneously, global electricity demand from data centers is projected to increase substantially in the coming decade (IEA, 2024).

Freshwater is a finite resource. The human right to water and sanitation has been formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly (United Nations, 2010). Any industrial activity with large-scale water consumption must be evaluated under sustainability and non-deterioration principles, as reflected in instruments such as the EU Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC).

We respectfully call upon national governments and multilateral bodies to:

1. Establish mandatory transparency frameworks for real-time disclosure of water and energy consumption in large-scale AI infrastructure.
   
   

2. Integrate AI data centers into water governance planning frameworks.
   
   

3. Prohibit the use of strategic aquifers for industrial technological cooling in water-stressed regions.
   
   

4. Develop environmental accountability mechanisms proportionate to resource intensity.
   
   

Technological innovation must coexist with planetary boundaries. The legitimacy of AI infrastructure depends not only on its computational capacity but on its compatibility with ecological sustainability and intergenerational justice.

Respectfully,

Yolanda Victoria Rojas Espinoza
Founder and Director of QNM – Que Nos Mantengan®
Researcher and Social Communicator

📚 REFERENCIAS 

Directiva 2000/60/CE del Parlamento Europeo y del Consejo, de 23 de octubre de 2000.

International Energy Agency. (2024). Energy and AI.

Li, P., et al. (2023). Making AI less “thirsty”: Uncovering and addressing the secret water footprint of AI models. arXiv:2304.03271.

Naciones Unidas. (2010). Resolución 64/292: El derecho humano al agua y el saneamiento.

Patterson, D., et al. (2021). Carbon emissions and large neural network training. arXiv:2104.10350.

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