Technology and Innovation
• Books
What is Planetary Health?
Artificial Intelligence and Innovation
AI is rapidly reshaping economies, decision-making, and daily life, offering enormous potential while posing significant social and environmental risks.
We are entering a Hybrid Tipping Zone, where the rapid mainstreaming of artificial intelligence (AI) and the global race for technological supremacy collide with human agency and planetary limits.
— Cornelia Walthers, PhD, Chair of the AI & Innovation Working Group
Despite the potential to boost global GDP by up to 14% by 2030, the unchecked expansion of AI poses significant risks to Planetary Health. Our growing digital dependency, the erosion of decision-making autonomy, and widening ecological imbalance are pushing humanity toward the edges of planetary boundaries. This shift threatens all of Earth’s life support systems.
20% of global electricity could be consumed by digital technologies by 2030
The environmental cost of AI is mounting: digital technologies may consume up to 20% of global electricity by 2030, and fewer than 1 in 3 AI initiatives include social or environmental impact assessments.
ProSocial AI acts as a counter-catalyst: a design and governance approach that seeks to ensures technology serves both people and the planet. The 4T Framework—Tailored, Trained, Tested, Targeted—guides AI systems to be context-relevant, inclusively trained, transparently validated, and purpose-driven. This approach is anchored in Hybrid Intelligence, leveraging the complementarity of Natural and Artificial intelligences, and grounded in Double Literacy, which integrates human literacy (self, society, sustainability) with algorithmic literacy (data, design, decision-making). ProSocial AI has the potential to harness technology to benefit both people and planet, ensuring these systems are working to mitigate rather than exacerbate environmental decline.
Want to help shape the future of technology for planetary wellbeing? Join the Planetary Health Roadmap’s AI Working Group by contacting corneliacwalther@gmail.com.
Key Resources
Technology and Innovation
• Books
Human Leadership for Humane Technology
Technology and Innovation Resources
Displacement and Conflict Climate Change
3 Ways Nature-Based Solutions are Tackling Climate Displacement in the Global South. World Economic Forum.
Climate change is expected to displace over 140 million people across the Global South by 2050. Nature-based solutions offer a cost-effective way to mitigate this and help communities to adapt.
• News
Climate Change Technology and Innovation
FinTech driven green energy transition foreign direct investment and ecological footprint in BRICST countries. Scientific Reports.
This study investigates the how financial technology (FinTech) contributes in the relationship between ecological footprint and green energy transition. Findings show that FinTech hinders ecological footprint growth by facilitating green energy transition in BRICS-T countries, suggesting that policymakers should implement strategies that encourage FinTech platforms to invest in green energy projects in order to lessen their country’s ecological footprint.
• Research & Reports
Governance and Policy Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)
Scaling Nature-Based Solutions (NbS): Lessons from global progress and Indonesia’s path to sustainability. Earth Systems and Environment.
Experts examine how nature-based solutions (NbS) are being adopted worldwide to advance climate and sustainability goals, drawing globally informed lessons from Indonesia. The study finds that effective NbS must be rooted in local socio-ecological contexts while aligning with global frameworks.
• Research & Reports
Mental Health Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)
Mental Health and Nature
Explore stunning species and landscapes from around the world through immersive meditation videos, and tune into a podcast on how connecting with nature can enhance your well-being.
• Tools, Videos
Infectious Diseases Technology and Innovation
Ivermectin Shows Promise in Cutting Malaria Transmission in Africa. Nature Africa.
• News
News Related to Artificial Intelligence and Innovation
Forest Therapy Nurtures Minds at Deakin University
