Healthcare companies may be neglecting environmental responsibilities in AI push, says GlobalData

Since US President Trump’s first day in office, he has been rolling back environmental responsibilities, marked by withdrawing the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, which set out guidelines for developed countries to support efforts of developing countries to build clean, climate-resilient futures through financial and technological support. The recent developments in the US may result in the lack of pressure in implementing environmental initiatives, and many healthcare companies may be neglecting them at a time when there is an increased focus on usage of artificial intelligence (AI) in the sector, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
According to GlobalData’s Strategic Intelligence: ESG Sentiment Polls Q4 2024, 45% of respondents indicated that the primary reason a company would set up an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance plan would be because of legislation and pressure from the government. In the absence of any pressure from the governments, positive environmental initiatives, especially ESG, will be lost.
Selena Yu, Senior Medical Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “With most ESG survey respondents in Q4 2024 indicating that not only is ESG performative in their companies but also that ESG initiatives are typically placed due to government pressures, it’s vital that healthcare companies mitigate negative environmental impacts. The basis of it is to provide healthcare companies exceptional, innovative care to patients. This overlaps greatly with the impacts of a warming global climate like limiting access to clean water, increased air pollution, and decline in agricultural diversity. Healthcare extends outside of the hospital, as preventative and follow-up care is essential for patients.”
The developments in the US also come during a time of increased AI initiatives and growth in healthcare with an estimated $1 trillion market worth by 2030, according to GlobalData’s thematic report “Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare (2024)”.
According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) 2024 report, global AI energy demand is expected to increase to at least 10 times the current level by 2026. Additionally, clean water is required to cool down the processors used for AI. Combined with the rising global temperature, scarcity of clean water, and decreased environmental sentiments in the US government, it’s vital that companies take initiatives to balance AI usage to future healthcare advancements with environmental impact.
AI has many advantages in healthcare, from choosing the best treatment for patients and optimizing patient triage in emergency care to improving manufacturing capabilities to limit waste and optimizing storage. But it’s vital to balance AI-led innovation with environmental impact, as current methods to mitigate carbon emissions, for example, have not been successful.
Yu continues: “Tech leaders like Google, Meta, and Microsoft have promised to replenish the clean water they used for their AI usage, but how feasible is that with clean water being a limited resource. This ties us back to how most global survey respondents in Q4 2024 believe company ESG plans are performative. The decision to prioritize environmental initiatives is a difficult battle to fight. I believe most stakeholders are putting increased company revenue over ESG because they don’t see the innate benefit to it. This is a dated way of strategizing, as overall company success should go hand in hand with environmental protection.”
Healthcare companies need to position themselves as the spearheads of balancing environmental responsibilities and AI-led innovation. With the health of the overall ecosystem directly correlated to patient health, it is in their best interest to be contributing to patient health outside of the clinic.
Yu concludes: “There are many options for patient-facing bodies and healthcare companies to balance the needs of patients using AI for personalized care and spearheading the importance of incorporating strong environmental policies into manufacturing practice. It’s really a cycle, the decline in healthy foods due to changes in climate impacting farming and decreased air and water quality will directly be seen in the overall population being less healthy, which goes back into our healthcare systems.”