Are AI Datacenters a Threat to our Clean Energy Future?

September 24, 2026 2:30 PM – 4:00 PM

Manhattan Campus 144 West 14th Street New York, NY 10011

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Aerial view of several white wind turbines situated in a green landscape. The foreground shows a close-up of one turbine's blades and hub, while in the background, more turbines are lined across a horizon featuring open fields and scattered trees. The sky is clear with a few clouds, indicating sunny weather.

Join Pratt Institute’s Sustainable Environmental Systems program for our third annual just energy transition event during NYC Climate Week. Global and local experts will join in conversation across just energy challenges, solutions, and perspectives with a particular focus on the rapid expansion of energy-hungry datacenters powering artificial intelligence (AI).

Experts working on local and global energy issues will come together to discuss new policy dynamics, systemic and historic barriers in realizing a true Just Transition, and how these new datacenters could get us off track. This timely discussion will happen during the UN General Assembly and NYC Climate Week 2026, where key climate and energy transition issues will be at the center of next steps for the sustainable development goals and the broader theme of this year’s Climate Week.

Key themes of the conversation will include: decarbonization, climate finance, climate diplomacy, infrastructure, the path to net zero, water, tech and AI, incentives for transition, green economy, and the SDGs.