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BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260902T104155Z
UID:234-33819@bcsynod.org
DTSTART:20260917T140000Z
DTEND:20260917T160000Z
CLASS:PUBLIC
CREATED:20260901T104437
DESCRIPTION:The World Council of Churches (WCC) and Canadian Council of Chu
 rches will host a webinar panel discussion\, entitled “Counting the Eco
 logical Cost of AI – Data Centres\, Water\, Energy\, and Critical Minera
 l Extraction\,” on 17 September at 10 am (GMT-4:00) Eastern Time (US 
 and Canada).\nTraining AI models can use as much electricity as hundreds o
 f households\, and a single AI conversation can require half a litre of fr
 esh water for cooling. Behind every chatbot query sits a data centre: cons
 uming energy\, water\, and critical minerals\, often imposed on rural and 
 poor communities without their consent.\nParticipants will discuss a poten
 tial “red line” to test and refine: Additional energy consumption requ
 ired by AI must be carbon neutral and must not contribute further to the r
 ate of greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel use.\nThose gathered will
  also explore focused church campaigning to support communities and advoca
 te for regulations to halt unchecked data center construction.\nThe webina
 r will bring together theologians\, ethicists\, and scientists to explore 
 what climate justice demands of the AI age\, and how churches can respond.
 \nFor more information and to register\, click here.
LAST-MODIFIED:20260901T104437
LOCATION:Online
SUMMARY:Counting the Ecological Cost of AI
URL;VALUE=URI:https://bcsynod.org/events/counting-the-ecological-cost-of-ai
 /2026-09-17
ATTACH;FILENAME=climate-webinar-1536x1024.jpeg;FMTTYPE=image/jpeg:https://d
 q5pwpg1q8ru0.cloudfront.net/2026/09/01/17/43/07/0b44c4b3-906b-4f38-989e-37
 89950f5fb2/climate-webinar-1536x1024.jpeg
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