AI and the Future of Sustainability Reporting

AI systems are rapidly transforming sustainability reporting, carbon accounting, ESG analysis, supply chain management, and climate risk management. In spaces where accuracy and trust are paramount, how do we ensure the responsible use of AI? What are the opportunities and challenges and what might the future hold?

Join us for a thought-provoking exploration of the future of AI in sustainability reporting and disclosure. The event will bring together experts, innovators, and practitioners to discuss:

• The biggest challenges and gaps in today’s AI-for-sustainability reporting landscape
• How AI is transforming supplier engagement and sustainability tracking across global value chains
• Does AI have a role in linking reporting practices to meaningful internal change (or might it risk decoupling them)?
• If AI can deliver time savings for sustainability practitioners in their day-to-day, how might this transform the nature of what sustainability teams do to drive change internally and in the supply chain?
• The role of AI in improving (or undermining) transparency, trust, and accountability
• Validation best practice: How do we know what we’re doing is working? And how do we validate the validation?
• Where do sustainability practitioners meet barriers internally, and how can we equip them with the evidence and tools to make progress?
• Challenges in quantifying and reporting on the sustainability of AI systems themselves
• Culture wars and political pushback as the background for ESG and corporate sustainability
• Emerging practices of selective adoption, where choosing not to automate or optimise becomes a strategic, ethical, or risk management option
• What lessons are there to be learned from the (effectively) missed limit of 1.5 degrees?
• The future of carbon and sustainability data and social license to operate

• Sustainability leads from larger companies across any sector
• Carbon accounting platforms / consultancies providing carbon measurement or reporting services
• AI / tech leads in companies with sustainability goals

Level of AI expertise

• No deep AI expertise required, some familiarity may be useful.

Attendees will:

• Hear from experts at the forefront of responsible and sustainable AI
• Network and share best practice with peers across sectors
• Explore opportunities for collaboration, innovation, and collective impact

Together, we’ll look beyond compliance to ask a deeper question: how well does the sustainability information ecosystem align with the real needs of people and planet and what role should AI truly play in its future?

09:45–10:15 | Arrival and coffee

10:15–10:30 | Welcome and introduction

Who are Digital Catapult? Context setting for the day: why AI and sustainability reporting are converging, current regulatory and organisational pressures, and aims for the event.

Speaker:

• Chanell Daniels, Senior Responsible Technology Manager, Digital Catapult
• Jo Lindsay Walton, Principal Research Fellow in Arts, Climate & Technology, University of Sussex

10:30–11:00 | Keynote: The sustainability of AI

A grounding talk on the environmental, social, and governance implications of AI systems, including energy use, supply chains, data, and emerging standards.

• Speaker: Jo Lindsay Walton, Principal Research Fellow in Arts, Climate & Technology, University of Sussex

11:00–11:45 | Panel 1: Is AI sustainable? Risks, trade-offs, and futures

A critical discussion of the sustainability of AI itself: material impacts, challenges of measurement, rebound effects, “net impact”, and what “responsible” or “sustainable” AI can realistically mean for organisations and policy.

11:45–12:00 | Coffee break

12:00–12:45 | Facilitated session 1: Mapping AI and sustainability risks in your organisation

An interactive session helping participants identify where AI is already shaping sustainability reporting, decision-making, and risk exposure in their own contexts.

12:45–13:45 | Lunch

13:45–14:30 | Panel 2: AI tools in ESG and sustainability reporting

A practical panel on how AI is being used in ESG data collection, reporting, assurance, and analysis—and how this is reshaping workflows, skills, and professional roles.

14:30–15:15 | Facilitated session 2: Skills, governance, and organisational change

Small-group discussion on capability gaps, governance needs, and how sustainability, data, and digital teams are evolving in response to AI adoption – building towards tools / guidance that would be beneficial

15:15–15:30 | Coffee break

15:30–16:00 | Reflections and next steps

Key takeaways from the day, emerging priorities for organisations, and areas for further collaboration or action.

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