Architect Of Paris Agreement: Taxing AI & Crypto Could Fund Nations Dealing With Damage From Climate Collapse
Governments should consider taxing artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies to generate funds to deal with the climate crisis, one of the architects of the Paris agreement has said. Laurence Tubiana, the chief executive of the European Climate Foundation and a former French diplomat, is co-lead of the Global Solidarity Levies Task Force, an international initiative to find new sources of funds for climate action by taxing highly polluting activities including aviation and fossil fuel extraction.
She said cryptocurrency should certainly be taxed, and levies on AI should be considered. “That could be a first step – again, it’s the same rationale [for AI as taxing cryptocurrency], because they use a lot of energy,” she said. “Crypto seems to be something which is not regulated at all, and of course it’s a concern, from the financial stability element.”
The equivalent of Poland’s annual energy consumption is expended each year just on generating bitcoin, one of the leading cryptocurrencies. AI also consumes vast resources, resulting in IT companies scrabbling to secure electricity supplies in locations around the world. Taxing AI could prove tricky, Tubiana conceded, as companies might try to shift the location of their datacentres. Although there was likely to be “pushback” against taxing cryptocurrencies, particularly from the US, where Donald Trump is an enthusiastic supporter of the technology, she said central bankers had expressed an interest.
“Because we need to regulate it – it’s organised crime sometimes, so you should look at where the money’s coming from, and who is the user,” Tubiana said. The taskforce has assigned a group of experts to examine how this could be achieved.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jul/17/tax-ai-crypto-climate-action-paris-accords-envoy-energy-technology