AI, Clean Energy Innovation and 2026 Sustainability Trends

This month, I’ve been listening to, watching and reading some fascinating content from across the sustainability spectrum. Here are a few highlights that stood out to me:

Sustainability tools to use in 2026

The lovely people at Trellis Group provide a regular round-up of new products and services for sustainability professionals, so I always enjoy seeing what’s been added to their latest list of sustainability tools for 2026. My favourite addition this time is ChatNetZero, an AI chatbot trained to answer questions about greenhouse gas emissions targets, which also tells users how much energy was used to generate each response.

How much water does AI consume?

There is growing discussion about the sustainability impact of AI, but most of the focus tends to be on the huge amount of electricity required by data centres. Much less attention is paid to AI’s impact on water demand, so it was interesting to listen to this short BBC More or Less podcast exploring exactly how much water AI consumes.

The Hunt for a New Kind of Magnet to Power the Future

I’m always intrigued by the technological innovations needed to drive a more sustainable economy, so I was fascinated by this Bloomberg News film exploring the development of ever-more powerful magnets that could help enable clean energy technologies and support the transition to a low-carbon future.

The Columbian Exchange

My next choice may seem a little left field, as it’s an episode of the BBC In Our Time radio programme and podcast exploring the exchange of cultures, crops, diseases and biology across the Atlantic and Pacific following Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492. Alongside some fascinating discussion on food and disease, the programme also features the excellent climate scientist Mark Maslin from University College London discussing what may have been the first recorded evidence of human-induced climate change.

It’s time for comms and sustainability to shift from colleagues to allies

At Cambridge Marketing College, we work closely with our students to explore the overlapping skills and interdependencies between sustainability, marketing, communications and engagement. That’s why I very much enjoyed, and agreed with, this opinion piece from Stephanie Hart featured in a recent Trellis Group newsletter discussing why communications and sustainability professionals should move from being colleagues to true allies.

About Sustainability InSight

Sustainability InSight is my regular roundup of insightful sustainability content from recent weeks. My aim is to improve understanding and knowledge across the full sustainability spectrum, not just environmental issues and climate change, to help us all lead more sustainable lives.

If you come across any sustainability content you’d recommend, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn.

I am a tutor at Cambridge Marketing College, where we are committed to developing a wide range of resources, courses and apprenticeships focused on sustainability and corporate responsibility. To find out more, visit our Sustainability page or explore our upcoming events.

Until the next edition of Sustainability InSight.