New Technologies in International Law / Tymofeyeva, Crhák et al.

3.1 T he R ight to C lean , H ealthy and

S ustainable E nvironment in A rtificial I ntelligence era *

By Lucia Bakošová (Pavol Jozef Šafárik University)

Introduction The industrial revolution 4.0 plays a significant role in the development and use of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence (hereinafter “AI”), machine learning, the Internet of Things, or digital twins across industries. These technologies disrupt and change how we produce, do business and live our lives. 171 Especially in the context of sustainable development and climate crisis, the international community turns to new technologies to achieve international commitments stated in the UN Sustainable Development Goals 172 or the Paris Agreement on Climate Change . 173 In numerous areas, AI enhances the sustainable development and protection of the environment, such as predicting natural disasters, monitoring of deforestation, water degradation, air pollution or farming, 174 as well as improving energy consumption and storage. On the other side, there are also many negative aspects connected to the development and use of AI. Particularly, energy consumption, the need for non-renewable materials (such as lithium, nickel or cobalt) and efficient e-waste management. 175 According to Vinuesa, Azizpour, Leite et al. AI can enable the accomplishment of 134 targets across all the UN Sustainable Development Goals , but it may also inhibit 59 targets. 176 What still seems to be unclear is the effective regulation of the AI. Due to the special features of the AI, such as inexplicability of its results, potential threat to human rights, accountability etc., special legal regulation that reflects the abovementioned is necessary. Failure to do so could result in gaps in safety, transparency, and ethical standards. 177 As Volker Türk , UN High Commissioner for Human Rights highlighted, “regulation of AI and emerging * The paper presents a partial output within the research project APVV-20-0576 entitled “Green Ambitions for Sustainable Development (European Green Deal in the Context of International and National Law)”. 171 See for instance Uygun Y, Industry 4.0: Principles, Effects and Challenges (Nova Sci Publ, 2020); Cf. Hamilton Ortiz, J (ed.), Industry 4.0: Current Status and Future Trends (IntechOpen, 2020); Kumar K, Zindani D and Davim JP, Industry 4.0: Developments towards the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Springer, 2019). 172 UNGA, ‘Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’, A/RES/70/1, (2015). 173 Paris Agreement to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 12 December 2015, U.N.T.S. Vol. No. 3156. 174 Chui M et al, ‘Notes From the AI Frontier: Applying AI for Social Good’ ( McKinsey Global Institute , December 2018) . 175 Leal Filho W et al, ‘Deploying Artificial Intelligence for Climate Change Adaptation’ (2022) 180 Technological Forecasting & Social Change add 121662, p. 2. 176 Vinuesa R, Azizpour H, Leite I et al, ‘The role of artificial intelligence in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals’ (2020) 11 Nat Commun 233. 177 Ibid.

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