Our funding initiative "AI lighthouse projects for the environment, climate, nature and resources"

Artificial intelligence (AI) offers major opportunities to protect the environment, mitigate climate change, conserve resources and preserve biodiversity. AI innovations can promote sustainable consumption, accelerate the expansion of renewable energies, detect plastic marine litter and facilitate the switch to sustainable transport.

To this end, since 2019 the Federal Environment Ministry’s initiative “AI lighthouse projects for the environment, climate, nature and resources” has supported projects that use AI to tackle environmental challenges and serve as models for environmentally sound, climate-friendly and nature-compatible digitalisation.

In the first two funding periods the Federal Environment Ministry has already supported 53 AI lighthouse projects with total funding of around 70 million euros. 300 ideas were submitted in the first funding period alone.

The funded projects highlight the broad spectrum and many opportunities of AI applications for environmental protection, climate action and nature conservation. They range from smart grid management for the energy transition to improving climate change adaptation in towns and cities and maximising rail transport efficiency with AI. Other focal areas include reducing nitrate in groundwater and improving waste sorting systems.

The Federal Environment Ministry supports lighthouse projects under two priority areas. The projects harness the potential of AI to support environmental protection and climate action while minimising the associated risks.

Artificial intelligence holds huge potential for improving climate action, greenhouse gas reduction and climate change adaptation. How this can be done is demonstrated by AI projects on closing material cycles, enhancing the nature-compatibility of renewable energies, warning of extreme weather events or improving early detection of forest fires. Recognising and tapping this potential is the objective of the funding initiative “AI lighthouse projects for the environment, climate, nature and resources”. We are building on this with the funding priority “AI innovations for the climate” to support projects developing AI applications which can reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions.

Artificial intelligence can pose a risk to environmental protection, climate change mitigation and resource conservation. Behind every AI application there is a physical infrastructure of hardware, data centres and data transmission networks that give AI an ecological footprint. We cannot ignore the adverse impacts of high energy consumption and resource demand generated by AI. These negative effects must be minimised through targeted funding. That is why resource efficiency is another priority of the funding initiative “AI lighthouse projects for the environment, climate, nature and resources”. Examples include projects to make AI processes less data intensive, projects that collect data on the sustainability of AI digital infrastructure and projects that use specialised hardware to reduce the energy requirement of AI applications. They show that energy- and resource-efficient digitalisation is possible.

The third call for applications for funding was launched in 2024. In this round, the Federal Environment Ministry is supporting lighthouse projects that advance AI applications in nature-based solutions for climate and biodiversity. The call includes projects to prevent or reduce greenhouse gas emissions through ecosystem conservation, or that survey, protect and support biodiversity and advance climate change adaptation. The third call is funded with around 13 million euros from the Action Plan on Nature-based Solutions for Climate and Biodiversity of the Federal Environment Ministry. The first lighthouse projects of this funding period have already begun.

The funding initiative “AI lighthouse projects for the environment, climate, nature and resources” supports the implementation of the German government’s AI strategy. The main objective of the strategy is for Germany and Europe to become a leading hub for AI technologies while promoting responsible development and use of AI for the common good. The AI lighthouse projects are one of four AI initiatives of the Federal Environment Ministry. These initiatives enable the ministry to promote the sustainable development of AI and the use of its potential for the environment and climate.

The executing agency is Zukunft –Umwelt – Gesellschaft (ZUG), a federally-owned service provider for the promotion of environmental protection, nature conservation and climate action. Detailed information on the funding initiative can be found in German on the ZUG website.