Executive Summary
Artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping how we model, forecast, and manage climate risk, but the gap between cutting-edge climate science and real-world decision-making remains wide. The National Academies’ workshop “Accelerating Climate Progress with AI: From Science to Action” will bring together scientists, technologists, policymakers, utilities, financiers, and community leaders to explore how AI can turn climate data into actionable information for resilience and mitigation. The goal is to identify high-impact applications where AI can inform climate action at speed and scale, while ensuring these tools are trustworthy, equitable, and aligned with societal needs.
Workshop Context: Why AI and Climate Need Each Other
Artificial intelligence for climate change is moving from concept to reality. Around the world, communities, businesses, and governments are facing more frequent and severe climate impacts, while AI is rapidly improving how we observe the planet, forecast extremes, and turn data into actionable climate information. The critical question now is how to use AI for climate action in ways that accelerate resilience and mitigation, not just generate more models and reports.
Organizing Vision: From Climate Science to Actionable Information
The National Academies is organizing this event to focus specifically on how AI can transform climate science into actionable information for decision-makers. An ad hoc planning committee will design the workshop as an interdisciplinary and cross-sector forum, bringing together climate and weather scientists, AI and data experts, public agencies, utilities and infrastructure owners, financial institutions, community organizations, and private-sector technology and climate-solution companies. The goal is to identify critical applications where AI can inform climate action at speed and scale and to consider how AI’s broader societal impacts should shape approaches to addressing climate change.
AI for Climate Modeling and Prediction: New Tools and Capabilities
A central theme of the workshop is the use of AI in climate modeling and prediction. Participants will discuss emerging AI tools that can improve climate and weather forecasts, enhance early warning systems, and support climate adaptation, mitigation, and resilience efforts. Possible topics include AI for downscaling climate projections to local scales, identifying emerging extremes and compound events, and integrating diverse data sources such as satellites, in situ sensors, climate reanalyses, and socio-economic datasets. These discussions will highlight where AI can complement and accelerate traditional climate modeling rather than replace it.
Applications for Resilience and Mitigation: Turning Science into Decisions
The workshop will also explore where AI can drive near-term advances in transforming climate science into usable, decision-ready information. Examples may include applications in agriculture, urban systems, water systems and water management, power grid operations, carbon management, climate finance, climate policy and law, and public health. In each case, the emphasis will be on how AI can support practical climate decisions, such as designing resilient infrastructure, prioritizing investments, targeting adaptation measures, assessing climate-related financial risk, and improving emergency response.
Stakeholder Needs: Climate Information Across Scales
Understanding stakeholders’ needs for climate information at different spatial and temporal scales is another key focus. The workshop will consider what local governments, national agencies, businesses, and communities require from climate–AI tools, such as neighborhood-level flood or heat risk information, city-scale asset risk assessments, regional power system stress indicators, or long-term national climate scenarios for infrastructure and policy planning. By clarifying these needs, the workshop aims to guide the development of AI applications that are directly aligned with real-world decision processes and regulatory requirements.
Responsible and Trustworthy AI: Data, Governance, and Equity
Responsible and trustworthy AI for climate will be a major topic of dialogue. Participants will discuss opportunities for interdisciplinary and cross-sector partnerships to co-develop climate–AI tools that are transparent, equitable, and robust. This includes consideration of how to incorporate findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data principles, as well as best practices for data access, governance, and management. The workshop will address ethical and societal questions such as bias, accountability, and how AI-supported climate decisions can advance climate justice instead of reinforcing existing inequities, particularly for vulnerable and historically marginalized communities.
Outcomes and Impact: Scaling AI for Climate Solutions
Overall, “Accelerating Climate Progress with AI: From Science to Action” is designed as more than a technical meeting. It is intended as a practical forum to connect AI innovation with the information needs of decision-makers responsible for climate resilience and decarbonization. By the end of the two days, the aim is to clarify priority applications, highlight promising AI and climate tools, and outline pathways for scaling AI for climate solutions that are scientifically sound, socially responsible, and ready for implementation in policy, operations, and investment decisions.
© 2025 National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
(Source: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2025). Accelerating climate progress with AI: From science to action – A workshop (Project DEPS-BEES-25-03). www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DEPS-BEES-25-03.)