The Environmental Challenges of AI in EU Law: Lessons Learned from the Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA) with its Drawbacks

Abstract

Purpose – The paper examines the environmental challenges of AI in EU law that regard both illicit
uses of the technology, i.e., overuse or misuse of AI, and its possible underuses. The aim of the paper
is to show how such regulatory efforts of legislators should be understood as a critical component of
the Green Deal of the EU institutions, that is, to save our planet from impoverishment, plunder, and
destruction.
Design/methodology/approach – In order to illustrate the different ways in which AI can represent
a game-changer for our environmental challenges, attention is drawn to (i) the initiatives on the
European Green Deal; (ii) the proposals for a new legal framework on data governance and AI; (iii)
principles of environmental and constitutional law; (iv) the interaction of such principles and
provisions of environmental and constitutional law with AI regulations; (v) other sources of EU law
and of its Member States.
Findings – Most recent initiatives on AI, including the AI Act of the European Commission, have
insisted on a human-centric approach, whereas it seems obvious that the challenges of environmental
law, including those triggered by AI, should be addressed in accordance with an onto-centric, rather
than anthropocentric stance. The paper provides four recommendations for the legal consequences of
this shortsighted view, including the lack of environmental concerns in the AI Act.
Research limitations/implications – The environmental challenges of AI suggest complementing
current regulatory efforts of EU lawmakers with (i) a new generation of eco-impact assessments; (ii)
duties of care and disclosure of non-financial information; (iii) clearer parameters for the
implementation of the integration principle in EU constitutional law; (iv) special policies for the risk
of misusing AI for environmental purposes. Further research should examine these policies in
connection with the principle of sustainability and the EU plan for a circular economy, as another
crucial ingredient of the Green Deal.
Practical implications – The paper provides a set of concrete measures to properly tackle both illicit
uses of AI and the risk of its possible underuse for environmental purposes. Such measures do not
only concern the ‘top down’ efforts of legislators, but also, litigation and the role of Courts. Current
trends of climate change litigation and the transplant of class actions into several civil law
jurisdictions shed new light on the ways in which we should address the environmental challenges of
AI, even before a court.
Social implications – A more robust protection of people’s right to a high level of environmental
protection and the improvement of the quality of the environment follows as a result of the analysis
on the legal threats and opportunities brought forth by AI.
Originality/value – The paper explores a set of issues, often overlooked by scholars and institutions,
that is nonetheless crucial for any Green Deal, such as the distinction between the human-centric
approach of current proposals in the field of technological regulation and the traditional onto-centric
stance of environmental law. The analysis considers for the first time the legal issues that follow this
distinction in the field of AI regulation, and how we should address them.

Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), Environmental Law, European Climate Act, Green Deal, Integration Principle, Sustainability