Ginci Insights

Insights from Toronto Climate Week, including a shift of focus from mitigation to adaptation, climate strategy is moving to the core and the emergence of the term "Climate Teach"

Have you ever wondered: when you’re using the newest AI tools like ChatGPT Atlas or Perplexity’s Comet, what their water footprint might be? Data centres powering generative AI now consume billions of litres of freshwater each year to stay cool — often in regions already facing droughts and rising heat. The real question isn’t how powerful AI will become — it’s whether it can evolve without draining the planet.

A WHO analysis underscores that climate change is heightening the risks of waterborne disease outbreaks, making robust wastewater monitoring a critical pillar of health adaptation. If we want truly climate-resilient health systems, we can’t stop at hospitals and flood barriers. We need smart, scalable early-warning networks. While it comes with constraints, wastewater remains one of the most valuable tools we have.

Water systems - long treated as engineering assets - are now emerging as one of the most critical stress tests of climate readiness.