CWZ Ecosystem Partner Meet Up | Zurich, 2026

How can AI move beyond innovation to deliver measurable climate impact?

At Climate Week Zurich Nik Gowing moderated and steered this discussion for Google’s Ecosystem Partner Meet Up. The high-level session brought together leaders from business, policy and sustainability. They explored how AI can support both emissions reduction and climate resilience.

The session combined keynote inputs and a multi-stakeholder panel. It was designed to connect practical applications of AI with wider system-level challenges. The format moved deliberately from insight to interaction. There were targeted audience interventions throughout.

What we achieved

The discussion revealed a clear tension at the heart of AI’s role in climate action. Tomas Panek at Google, highlighted that there are already real, deployable solutions. For aircraft contrails high in the sky, they demonstrate already that the technology can deliver immediate emissions reductions. But these gains sit alongside a set of less visible but increasingly material risks.

A central insight was reinforced by Jessica Smith of the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. This is the need to assess AI across its full lifecycle, from resource extraction to energy use and e-waste. This introduced the idea of a growing “carbon debt,”. It raised broader questions about whether current models are fully accounting for environmental and social costs.

A big challenge is system-level alignment, some of it through much speedier regulation. This was underlined by contributions from parliamentarian  Marionna Schlatter plus Magalie Heraud, Adrian Siegrist and Stephan Lienin They highlighted that scaling AI for climate impact will depend on stronger coordination between policy, finance, technology and implementation. Without this, innovation will rapidly outpace governance, and ambition will fall short of delivery.

Impact

The session created a connected, cross-sector dialogue on the role of AI in climate action. Feedback highlighted both the quality of insight and the effectiveness of the moderation in drawing out engagement and linking perspectives. By convening a diverse ecosystem and structuring a more integrated discussion, Thinking the Unthinkable helped shift the conversation from isolated innovation to a greater understanding of how AI can deliver climate impact at scale.