Wim🧮Global GHG emissions are 57.1 GtCO2e/y (2023 figure; probably 1-2% more now).
So there's two ways to look at this:
(1) The apologist: So even if AI results in extra emissions of 4 GtCO2e/y (*) by 2035, that is less than 7%, surely that is not an issue.
(2) The climate reality: to stay below 1.5ºC the global CO2 budget for 2035 is 25 GtCO2e/y. Sacrificing 16% of that for AI growth is madness.
https://www.unep.org/resources/emissions-gap-report-2024
(*) my estimate based on 10x AI growth in 10y
Emissions Gap Report 2024
As climate impacts intensify globally, the Emissions Gap Report 2024: No more hot air … please! finds that nations must deliver dramatically stronger ambition and action in the next round of Nationally Determined Contributions or the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal will be gone within a few years. The report is the 15th edition in a series that brings together many of the world’s top climate scientists to look at future trends in greenhouse gas emissions and provide potential solutions to the challenge of global warming.