AI for a Planet Under Pressure
Abstract
Artificial intelligence (AI) is already driving scientific breakthroughs in a variety of research fields, ranging from the life sciences to mathematics. This raises a critical question: can AI be applied both responsibly and effectively to address complex and interconnected sustainability challenges? This report is the result of a collaboration between the Stockholm resilience Centre (Stockholm University), the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), and Google DeepMind. Our work explores the potential and limitations of using AI as a research method to help tackle eight broad sustainability challenges. The results build on iterated expert dialogues and assessments, a systematic AI-supported literature overview including over 8,500 academic publications, and expert deep-dives into eight specific issue areas. The report also includes recommendations to sustainability scientists, research funders, the private sector, and philanthropies.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.24373,
title = {AI for a Planet Under Pressure},
author = {Victor Galaz and Maria Schewenius and Jonathan F. Donges and Ingo Fetzer and Erik Zhivkoplias and Wolfram Barfuss and Louis Delannoy and Lan Wang-Erlandsson and Maximilian Gelbrecht and Jobst Heitzig and Jonas Hentati-Sundberg and Christopher Kennedy and Nielja Knecht and Romi Lotcheris and Miguel Mahecha and Andrew Merrie and David Montero and Timon McPhearson and Ahmed Mustafa and Magnus Nyström and Drew Purves and Juan C. Rocha and Masahiro Ryo and Claudia van der Salm and Samuel T. Segun and Anna B. Stephenson and Elizabeth Tellman and Felipe Tobar and Alice Vadrot},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.24373},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
88 pages, 8 figures, 1 table