Organiser
Artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as the defining technology of this decade, with consequences reaching far beyond the technology sector. The data centres and computing infrastructure powering its rapid expansion are placing growing pressure on energy grids and water systems, even as AI tools help utilities integrate renewable energy, model climate risk and monitor biodiversity.
AI is also transforming labour markets and livelihoods at unprecedented speed, from factory floors to the gig economy, often faster than institutions can respond. Its expanding economic footprint is directing vast flows of capital across the region, shaping where infrastructure is built, which jobs are created and how the benefits of growth are distributed. If deployed responsibly, AI can drive productivity, accelerate climate solutions and create new economic opportunities across Asia. By improving trade, energy systems and business efficiency, UNDP estimates that AI could add up to US$15 trillion to global GDP by 2030, including an estimated US$1 trillion for ASEAN economies.
But these gains are far from guaranteed. Without safeguards, AI could compound the environmental and social costs of growth, entrench existing disparities and widen the divide between those able to develop and deploy the technology and those left behind. With a nearly 200-fold income gap between economies in the region, Asia represents a critical test of whether AI can broaden opportunity – or further deepen inequality.
This makes international cooperation on AI governance increasingly urgent. Singapore’s recent call at the United Nations for a global body to govern AI underscores the need for credible, inclusive and interoperable frameworks capable of keeping pace with a technology whose impacts extend across borders. It also reflects Singapore’s leadership in advancing a pragmatic, forward-looking approach to ensuring that AI innovation is safe, accountable and aligned with the public interest.
Organised by Eco-Business in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the inaugural Unlocking AI for sustainability summit brings together government leaders, investors, technology companies and civil society to confront these choices directly.
The future is not predetermined by the technology alone, but by the decisions and governments make today – in infrastructure investment, energy and climate strategy, supply chains, finance and governance.
The summit will explore five interconnected themes: the sustainable infrastructure underpinning AI's growth from data centres to compute and energy demand; AI's dual role as both a climate risk and a climate solution; its power to strengthen supply chain resilience and operational efficiency; the financing models needed to fund an inclusive AI economy; and the safety and governance frameworks required to keep innovation accountable and human-centred.
