sustainability regulation

The AI Act refers to energy-related impacts, establishing measures that track the energy consumption of training and running AI systems, as well as developing energy efficient AI models. However, the Act does not directly address other relevant environmental impacts concerning AI systems, such as water consumption, resource extraction and electronic waste.

An ABN AMRO study found that the production of just three common consumer goods (smartphones, trainers and sofas) destroys every year the equivalent of a wildlife habitat just under two-thirds the size of the Netherlands. Of the three studied consumer goods, the report found that smartphones cause the greatest habitat loss, at 1.9m hectares per year.

The predicted increase in environmental impact would result primarily from the growing use of on-demand services, such as video on demand and audio streaming. The audiovisual industry and consumers could take actions to mitigate the impact but current trends indicate that this would require a significant change of behaviour and practices.

The EU’s Fit for 55 legislative package is likely to increase transport costs, with a particular impact on lower-income groups. However, over time, costs should decrease and new investments in a lower carbon infrastructure should have a positive impact on connectivity and mobility in the EU. These were some of the main conclusions from a study for the European Parliament TRAN committee.

On 1 January 2025, Poland took over for the next six months the presidency of the Council of the EU, previously held by Hungary.

Main developments on environmental policy and regulation in Europe in the three months from October to December 2024.