Over the last two decades, climate change has contributed to instability around the world—bolstering the ranks of terror groups, sparking territorial disputes, and triggering mass migration. It’s no wonder that militaries and international security organizations increasingly see climate change as a formidable national security threat, and that they have in turn taken on greater roles in fighting it.

In recent years, new technology has transformed the tools available to mitigate the effects of climate change. Specifically, artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become a widespread instrument in the climate fight—even as it consumes exceptional amounts of energy and water itself. Today, militaries and nonstate actors, including the United Nations, are leveraging AI to foretell climate-related disasters, optimize energy use, and monitor ecological degradation.

Over the last two decades, climate change has contributed to instability around the world—bolstering the ranks of terror groups, sparking territorial disputes, and triggering mass migration. It’s no wonder that militaries and international security organizations increasingly see climate change as a formidable national security threat, and that they have in turn taken on greater roles in fighting it.

In recent years, new technology has transformed the tools available to mitigate the effects of climate change. Specifically, artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become a widespread instrument in the climate fight—even as it consumes exceptional amounts of energy and water itself. Today, militaries and nonstate actors, including the United Nations, are leveraging AI to foretell climate-related disasters, optimize energy use, and monitor ecological degradation.

As dual-use technology, however, the AI tools that militaries use for climate purposes have an inherent overlap with those used for morally dubious purposes, such as combat targeting and surveillance. Militaristic applications for AI have generally enjoyed a steady flow of funding, and now that the technology has progressed, it is being adapted for purposes beyond war zones.

Experts say there isn’t a way to disentangle this knot. Instead, there must be political will to regulate the malevolent uses of AI and boost the benevolent ones. “I think that both aspects of applying AI technology to military problems and climate problems are not straightforwardly good or bad, and much depends upon the specific problem and the way the technology is deployed,” Peter Asaro, a professor at the New School, said.

“AI, like any new technology, is a tool, and as a tool it can be used for good or bad, to........

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