UAE puts water at the centre of AI infrastructure debate

Artificial intelligence has a water footprint as well as an energy bill, and the UAE wants both considered as the industry develops. A new report examines the resources AI needs while pointing to a second possibility: using the technology itself to improve water management. According to Khaleej Times, the publication forms part of the UAE’s preparations for the 2026 UN Water Conference.

The report, Crosscurrents: Navigating the AI–Water–Energy Nexus, looks at the connections between AI, water and energy across the technology’s full value chain—the activities involved in developing and using it. Its central message is that water should be treated as a core infrastructure and planning issue for the AI economy, rather than considered separately from the decisions shaping its growth.

The challenge is the speed of that growth. AI is reshaping economies and societies, while its expanding energy and water requirements risk receiving insufficient attention, the Khaleej Times account says. The report brings those demands into the same discussion. For an industry changing rapidly, the issue is not simply what the technology can deliver, but how its resource needs are considered as plans take shape.

Water joins the AI planning agenda

The UAE released the report on the sidelines of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. It sets out five recommendations for the international community. Among them is a proposal for the UN Water Conference to advance a global declaration, built on consensus, on efficient and responsible water use in AI. The source does not detail the other four recommendations.

That proposal gives the report a specific diplomatic focus. Rather than presenting water only as a concern for the technology sector, it places the issue before an international gathering dedicated to water. The call is for a shared declaration; the Khaleej Times account does not report an agreement being adopted. It also gives no numerical targets for water efficiency or figures for AI’s water and energy consumption.

The report’s scope extends beyond the resources AI consumes. It also highlights the opportunity to apply AI to water management, putting the technology on both sides of the challenge. The same field whose demands need closer attention could offer ways to manage water better. The source does not describe individual applications or quantify the potential gains, leaving that opportunity expressed in broad terms.

Abu Dhabi conference is the next milestone

Crosscurrents follows the UAE’s 2023 report, Ripple Effect: Water Scarcity – The Hidden Threat to Global Security and Prosperity. The earlier publication addressed water scarcity through the lens of security and prosperity. The new report brings AI and its links with water and energy into that continuing discussion, with infrastructure decisions and international cooperation at its centre.

The next milestone is the UN Water Conference, which the UAE and Senegal will co-host in Abu Dhabi from December 8 to 10, 2026. The point to watch is whether the report’s call for a consensus-driven declaration on AI water use advances there—and whether water becomes a more explicit part of the international conversation about planning the AI economy.