Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Maximizing Benefits for the United States: A Workshop

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As the world faces unprecedented sustainability challenges, including biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and ecosystem degradation, there is a critical need for innovative, scalable, and data-informed solutions. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a transformative technology with the potential to accelerate progress toward sustainability goals by enhancing efficiency, optimizing resource use, improving environmental monitoring, and enabling data-informed decision-making.

To examine AI opportunities, challenges, and pathways through a lens of sustainability, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine's Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, in collaboration with the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics and the Board on Human-Systems Integration convened a hybrid workshop on June 4, 2025. The workshop examined how AI can be leveraged to maximize benefits for the United States at the intersection of nature, people, and this critical technology. This Proceedings of a Workshop-in Brief provides a high-level summary of key discussions held during the workshop.

Publication information

12 pages · 8.5 x 11 ·
ISBN Ebook: 0-309-60027-8
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17226/29267

Suggested citation

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2025. Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Maximizing Benefits for the United States: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.

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Shefali Mehta

SHEFALI V. MEHTA is an economist, statistician and coach who supports individuals and communities in reaching their full potential. She founded and leads Open Rivers Consulting Associates, a science & technology and management consulting firm that builds upon her clients’ strengths to develop and implement robust strategy. Serving the community across diverse causes are core to Open Rivers’ mission. Dr. Mehta extensively advises and supports multiple non-profits. She most recently served as Deputy Under Secretary of Research, Education and Economics and Acting Chief Scientist of U.S. Department of Agriculture. Before that Dr. Mehta served across a variety of private, public and non-profit sectors including McKinsey, Syngenta, and the National Corn Grower’s Soil Health Partnership. Dr. Mehta earned her Ph.D. in Agricultural and Applied Economics and M.S. in Statistics from the University of Minnesota, M.Phil. in Economics from Cambridge University, and a B.A. in Economics from New York University.

José Lobo

JOSÉ LOBO is on the faculty of the School of Sustainability, College of Global Futures, Arizona State University. Trained in physics, applied mathematics and urban economics, Dr. Lobo’s research spans the role of cities and urbanization in driving socioeconomic development, and the determinants of technological change. In his research work he has collaborated with social scientists, physicists, biologists, engineers and applied mathematicians, and with colleagues from the Global North and the Global South (including China, India, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil). In collaboration with organizations representing informal settlements (“slums”) in Africa, India and Latin America, Dr. Lobo has studied the role of informal settlements in urban development and is currently examining how the experience of the urban poor building resilient urban communities can inform the design of climate change solutions. At the School of Sustainability Dr. Lobo teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on mathematics, sustainable urban development and energy systems transitions. As a member of the University’s General Studies Council, he has been involved in the design and implementation of the new undergraduate general studies curriculum. The curriculum specifies the requirements for undergraduate students in the nation’s largest public University. One of the curriculum’s knowledge areas is “Sustainability,” which aims to provide students with an interdisciplinary understanding of socio-ecological systems in relation to global challenges and opportunities. Dr. Lobo received his Ph.D. in Regional Science from Cornell University.

Nebojsa Nakicenovic

NEBOJSA NAKICENOVIC is Honorary and Distinguished Emeritus Scholar of the International Institute for Applies Systems Analyses where he was the Deputy and Acting Director General. He is Deputy Chair of the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission and was tenured Professor of Energy Economics at Vienna Technology University. Among other positions, Dr. Nakicenovic is the Executive Director of The World In 2050 (www.TWI2050.org); has been a member of the Earth League; Earth Commission of the Global Commons Alliance; Multi-stakeholder Technical Group of Advisor on Sustainable Development Goal 7; Scientific Advisory Boards of the Potsdam Institute from Climate Impact Research; Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei; Japanese Institute of Environmental Studies; German Aerospace Center; Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century; OMV Advisory Group on Sustainability; and Climate Change Centre Austria. He has also been a Technology and Innovation Advisor to the Government of Montenegro. He serves on many Editorial Boards of peer-reviewed journals, including Technological Forecasting and Social Change; Climate Policy, Energy Policy, Institution of Civil Engineers; Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability; Energy Sector Management; Ecosystem Health and Sustainability; Scientific World Journal; Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions; and the Energy Strategy Reviews. Dr. Nakicenovic’s research interests include the long-term patterns of technological change, economic development and response to climate change and, in particular, the evolution of energy, mobility, digital technologies. Dr. Nakicenovic holds bachelors and master’s degrees in economics and computer science from Princeton University and the University of Vienna, where he also completed his Ph.D. He also holds Honoris Causa Ph.D. degree in engineering from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Giulio Quaggiotto

GIULIO QUAGGIOTTO is an Advisor to the Prime Minister’s Office in the United Arab Emirates on strategy and innovation. He is also a Policy Research Fellow with University College London’s Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose. Prior to this, he headed the global innovation function at United Nations Development Programme and was Director of Community at Climate KIC. His diverse career spans leadership roles at Nesta, World Wildlife Fund, and the World Bank. He was also the manager of the Jakarta Lab of the United Nations Global Pulse, a flagship innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General on big data for public policy. He holds an M.A. in Communications from Westminster’s University and was a Research Associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology focusing on lead user innovation.

Workshop

Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Maximizing Benefits for the United States: A Workshop

June 4, 2025

9:00 AM - 4:30 PM (EDT)

Past

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About

On June 4, 2025, the National Academies Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability, in collaboration with the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics and Board on Human-System Integration, convened a hybrid workshop, Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Maximizing Benefits for the United States.
The workshop examined how AI can be leveraged to maximize benefits for the United States at the intersection of nature, people, and this critical technology. The workshop reviewed AI applications that support sustainability goals, including successful case studies that demonstrate AI-driven sustainability solutions. Discussions included opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, interdisciplinary research, and international cooperation to maximize AI’s potential in sustainability efforts. A Proceedings of a Workshop--in Brief was prepared by a designated rapporteur and distributed broadly.
Agenda, June 4, 2025, 9:00 am to 4:30 pm EDT
Welcome from Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability
Cherry Murray (NAS/NAE, University of Arizona, Roundtable Co-Chair)
Klaus Tilmes (Senior Policy Advisor and Development Consultant, Roundtable Co-Chair)
Franklin Carrero-Martínez (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine)
Welcome from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Emanuel Robinson (Board on Human-Systems Integration)
Brittany Segundo (Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics)
Goals for the Workshop
Shefali Mehta (Open Rivers Consulting Associates, Workshop Chair)
Framing Remarks: The Interrelated Benefits of AI and Sustainability
Daron Acemoglu (NAS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Panel I: Supply Chain for AI – The Inputs to AI
Moderator: Anne Roby (NAE, Formerly Linde, PLC)
Panelists: Erica Fuchs (Carnegie Mellon University), Andrés Naranjo (OrangeSpark Industrial AI and Brydon Group), and Lawrence Megan (Baldwin Richardson Foods)
Panel II: The Impact of AI on Supply Chains – The Outcomes from AI
Moderator: Meghna Tare (The University of Texas at Arlington)
Panelists: Feng Qiu (Argonne National Laboratory), Elena Naumova (Tufts University), and William Babis (Stockholm Environment Institute)
Panel III: Societal Impact of AI on Employment and Workforce
Moderator: José Lobo (Arizona State University)
Panelists: Christine Machovec (Bureau of Labor Statistics), Keolu Fox (University of California, San Diego), and Shamika Sirimanne (United Nations Conference on Trade and Development)
Panel IV: The Role of Science in Advancing AI Research relating to Sustainability
Moderator: Miguel Román (National Aeronautics and Space Administration)
Panelists: Michael Jacobs (International Business Machines Corporation), Eric Horvitz (NAE, Microsoft Corporation on behalf of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence), Owen Gaffney (Nobel Prize Outreach), and Amy Luers (Microsoft Corporation)
Synthesis: Future Needs and Opportunities
All Participants

Contact

Emi Kameyama

sustainability@nas.edu

Location

Keck Center

500 5th St NW

Washington DC 20001, USA

Disclaimer

It is essential to the National Academies mission of providing evidence-based advice that participants in any of our meetings or events avoid political or partisan statements or commentary and maintain a culture of mutual respect. The statements and presentations during our meetings or events are solely those of the individual participants and do not necessarily represent the views of other participants or the National Academy of Sciences, which is a non-partisan, tax exempt organization that includes under its Charter the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Medicine, and that operates the National Research Council.

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Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Maximizing Benefits for the United States: A Workshop

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Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Maximizing Benefits for the United States: A Workshop

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Featured publication

Artificial Intelligence for Sustainability: Maximizing Benefits for the United States: Proceedings of a Workshop—in Brief

Description

Contributors

Committee

Sponsors

Staff

Parent projects

Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability

Science and Technology for Sustainability Program

Major units and sub-units

Contact

Contact us

Provide feedback

More like this

Roundtable on Science and Technology for Sustainability

Earth Systems and Resources Program Area

Social and Economic Systems Program Area

Aeronautics, Space, and Astronomy Program Area

Office of International Networks, Cooperation, and Security (INCS)

Strengthening Southeast Asian Academia and Industry Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Safety and Security - A Workshop

Modernizing Mathematics Education for Grades 9-14