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Why Medium Range Forecasts Could Save Millions: Lessons from Planette AI (AI & Climate Science): Kalai Ramea, founder of Planette AI, explores the overlooked “forecast gap,” the two week to two month range between short term weather and long term climate projections. By training AI models on physics based earth system simulations instead of historical data, Planette AI delivers faster, more accurate forecasts that help sectors like agriculture, aviation, and insurance make timely decisions—such as anticipating extreme rainfall that could prevent costly event cancellations.

Pope Leo’s Call for Climate Action: Amid AI Energy Shocks and Political Pushback (AI & Energy): As AI data centers drive US electricity prices to record highs and fuel a resurgence of gas turbines, political tensions rise over net zero commitments. The UK’s Conservative Party vows to repeal climate legislation, while Pope Leo calls for a moral shift from “collecting data to caring.” Amid these disruptions, Africa’s rapid solar expansion powered by affordable Chinese panels offers a glimpse of a more equitable energy future.

The AI Governance Void: Why Standards Are Filling the Regulatory Gap (AI & Policy/ESG): This episode examines how organizations like the British Standards Institution (BSI) are filling the global policy vacuum by developing shared frameworks for responsible AI. Bringing together experts, academics, and civil society, these standards aim to establish practical norms for safety, ethics, and accountability in the absence of comprehensive regulation.

A Sentinel 3 Foundation Model for Ocean Colour (AI & Ocean Conservation): Dawson et al. introduce a foundation model built on the Prithvi EO Vision Transformer, pre trained on Sentinel 3 ocean color data to advance marine Earth observation. By fine tuning on chlorophyll and ocean productivity tasks, the model surpasses existing baselines, demonstrating how self trained AI can extract fine spatial details from limited labeled data and enhance monitoring of ocean ecosystems and their climate roles.

Artificial Intelligence in Climate Change Mitigation: A Socio Technical Framework for Evaluating Implementation Effectiveness and Systemic Impact (AI & Social/Economic Impacts): Ibrahim Alhassan and Ayisha Maiga develop a socio technical framework for assessing how AI contributes to climate change mitigation, integrating technical performance with ethical, social, and environmental factors. Their approach emphasizes that evaluating AI’s impact requires understanding both its technological effectiveness and its broader systemic consequences.

Democratizing AI Scientists using ToolUniverse (AI & Workforce Development): Gao et al. present ToolUniverse, a shared ecosystem that enables the creation of AI scientists capable of collaborating in research and discovery. By linking more than 600 machine learning models, datasets, and APIs, the system standardizes how AI uses and builds tools, supporting automated workflow design and optimization, as shown in a case study where an AI scientist identified a promising drug analog for hypercholesterolemia.

The Paradox of Doom: Acknowledging Extinction Risk Reduces the Incentive to Prevent It (AI Policy & Governance): Published by the Vienna University of Economics and Business, this paper examines how recognizing existential risks—such as those posed by advanced AI—can paradoxically decrease collective motivation to act. By framing doom as inevitable, public and policy engagement may wane, highlighting the psychological and behavioral dynamics that complicate long term AI governance and risk prevention.

Big Tech Data Centers – A Threat to UK Decarbonization (AI & Infrastructure): Produced by Foxglove and Global Action Plan, this report warns that the rapid growth of Big Tech data centers threatens the UK’s path to net zero. It details how massive energy demand, opaque environmental reporting, and limited grid capacity could undermine national decarbonization goals unless stronger regulatory oversight and sustainable infrastructure planning are introduced.

From Innovation to Overshoot: How Data Center Expansion Risks Derailing Climate Goals (AI & Infrastructure): Jointly released by ECOS and Open Future, this report explores how unchecked global data center growth risks overwhelming renewable capacity and locking in fossil fuel dependence. It calls for aligning digital infrastructure expansion with climate targets through efficiency standards, lifecycle transparency, and governance mechanisms that balance innovation with sustainability.

AI + Environment Summit 2025 YouTube Playlist (AI & Environmental Impact): Hosted at Switzerland Innovation Park Zurich, the AI + Environment Summit 2025 gathered global researchers and innovators to explore how artificial intelligence can address environmental challenges. The recorded sessions showcase practical applications of AI for sustainability, from climate modeling to biodiversity monitoring, emphasizing collaboration between science, technology, and policy.

EUROGI Webinar: Geohealth in an Age of Digital and Climate Disruptions (AI & Multiple Applications): In this EUROGI webinar, Dr. Justine Blanford of the University of Twente discusses how digital and geospatial technologies can revolutionize global health systems. She connects environmental, animal, and human health data to demonstrate how GIS enables better disease risk mapping, inequality assessment, and evidence based public health decision making.

The Unhinged Spending Spree of AI (AI & Multiple Applications): This video investigates the explosive financial and energy costs fueling today’s AI boom, questioning whether the technology can fulfill its grand promises of innovation and progress. It critiques the unchecked pursuit of scale and power in the AI industry, asking if the absence of regulation and accountability could ultimately undermine its potential.

Encoord (AI & Energy): Based in North America, encoord develops software, data solutions, and advisory services to support energy system planning and the clean energy transition. Its flagship platform, the Scenario Analysis Interface for Energy Systems (SAInt), enables utilities, regulators, and grid operators to model and optimize interconnected energy networks and markets with AI driven insight.

Adaion (AI & Energy): Headquartered in Europe, Adaion operates an open cloud platform that applies artificial intelligence to grid management, helping operators extract maximum value from data. By enabling smarter, data informed decisions, Adaion aims to build more efficient, resilient, and intelligent energy systems for a renewable future.

GridUnity (AI & Energy): A North America based company, GridUnity® accelerates renewable integration by digitizing and automating the grid interconnection process. Its AI enhanced platform replaces manual workflows with streamlined tools that reduce delays, improve transparency, and support faster deployment of clean energy projects.

Technology Policy Assistance Facility (AI & Policy): Developed under South Africa’s G20 Presidency and hosted by UNESCO, the Technology Policy Assistance Facility is a free, web based platform that helps governments and stakeholders design ethical, inclusive, and future ready AI and technology policies. It offers practical guidance, policy tools, and resources to strengthen governance capacity across diverse national contexts.

IBM Granite Geospatial Ocean Model (AI & Ocean Conservation): Created through a collaboration between IBM, STFC, the University of Exeter, and the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, this freemium foundation model supports monitoring of ocean ecosystems. Trained on ocean colour data, it enables applications in fisheries management, pollution tracking, and ecosystem health assessment under the UK’s HNCDI program.

ToolUniverse (AI & Workforce Development): ToolUniverse is a free, open ecosystem of over 600 integrated scientific tools designed to transform large language models into AI scientists. It enables automated experimental design, data analysis, and workflow composition across disciplines, making advanced computational research more accessible and collaborative.

Internal Research Fellow (PostDoc) in AI for Climate Adaptation, Resilience, and Mitigation (Europe / Early-career researchers in Earth observation & AI) (Open to PhD candidates and recent PhD graduates): Hosted by ESA’s Φ-lab in Frascati and Harwell, this fellowship supports research integrating space and ground Earth observation data with AI and disruptive technologies to advance climate adaptation, resilience, and mitigation. Fellows will design AI pipelines fusing EO and climate projections, explore explainable AI, publish results, and engage with ESA’s innovation ecosystem. 📆 Deadline: October 21, 2025 at 23:59 CET/CEST time zone.

Conservative AI Policy Fellowship (U.S. / Early- to mid-career professionals in policy, tech & governance) (Open to conservative or center-right leaders and staff): Offered by the Foundation for American Innovation (FAI), this eight-week, part-time fellowship runs January to March 2026 in Washington, D.C., combining weekly sessions, a weekend retreat, and policy workshops. Fellows receive a USD 1,500 stipend, fully covered meals and retreat expenses, and training to develop AI policy grounded in conservative principles. 📆 Deadline: October 31, 2025.

Talos Fellowship (Europe / Graduates & early career in AI policy & governance) (Open to candidates across Europe, with preference to EU citizens): The Talos Fellowship accelerates careers in European AI policy through an 8-week online “AI Policy Fundamentals” training, a 1-week Brussels policymaking summit, and optional 4–6 month placement at leading policy institutions. Placement fellows receive at least €2,000/month; training fellows may apply for a needs-based stipend; travel, accommodation, and summit costs are covered. 📆 Deadline: October 25, 2025

If you have resources that you wish to submit to the AI & Environment Resource Hub, fill out the Google Form! Thank you for suggesting resources to add to the Resource Hub. 🙃 

That’s it for this week.

Thanks for reading the 21th issue of The Climate Code! It means a lot to me and we have more coming in the future, so definitely stick around! 💚 

Nate

P.S.

New here? Check out the AI & Environment Resource Hub if you have no idea what it is. 😆