AI & Human Rights: Powering the Future Through a Just Energy Transition
The rapid growth of AI depends on a huge increase in electricity to power data centres. How that energy is sourced and deployed is a human rights question. New infrastructure can put pressure on community land and water, and rising demand can push up electricity prices for those least able to afford them.
On Thursday 8 October 2026 from 3pm-4pm CET, the UN Global Compact is organising a discussion on AI and human rights.
IHRB's Andreia Fidalgo, Programme Manager for the Built Environment, will join the panel to discuss how businesses and investors can finance and build the energy infrastructure behind AI in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
The session covers protecting community land and resource rights, managing energy cost burdens, and earning a social licence to operate through meaningful stakeholder engagement.
Join the session to:
- Understand why innovative companies are prioritising human rights, AI safety and responsible adoption
- Identify and address potential human rights risks related to AI
- Learn about meaningful stakeholder engagement and the basics of international human rights frameworks, such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs) and explore their relevance to AI
- Identify how companies can maintain a competitive "frontier" pace while integrating the rigorous human rights impact assessments and due diligence required by the UNGPs
Featured speakers include:
- Esther Black, Head of Social and Economic Sustainability SSE
- Eugenio S. Longo, Corporate Risk, Compliance, Sustainability, Director Europe, Tata Consulting Services
- Rashad Abelson, Technology Sector Lead / Due Diligence Expert, OECD
- Lesley Matthews, Lead Regulatory and Stakeholder Engagement, Climeworks
- Shilpa Mariam Joseph, Research Assistant, Fairwork Team, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford
- Chris Kip, Head, Social Sustainability, UN Global Compact
Background
The AI and energy transitions are inextricably linked. AI's massive energy demands are reshaping power markets, often putting corporate infrastructure projects in conflict with local community needs, land rights and water access. This session is critical to help companies move beyond operational efficiency to ensure that financing models and infrastructure deployment for AI are just and equitable.
Companies at the frontier of technology frequently face complex trade-offs between accelerating innovation, maintaining a viable business model and safeguarding end-users. Navigating this intersection requires leaders to make difficult, nuanced business decisions. This Academy series addresses this critical challenge: the intersection of Human Rights and Artificial Intelligence.
Crucially, the series explores the question: what do human rights actually mean in the age of AI?
The series aims to highlight how businesses can anchor these challenging decisions in international frameworks, such as the UNGPs, ensuring that AI use and adoption respects human dignity. Integrating a human rights approach is fundamentally about protecting human autonomy and dignity while simultaneously leveraging technology to create a flourishing, equitable world for all.
