Ronald Musizngoza

United Nations University Institute in Macau

Ubuntu and AI: An Interconnected Approach to Climate Justice

Climate change is a human rights issue and achieving climate justice means putting equity and humanrights into climate action and decision-making. In a planet in crisis, Ubuntu emerges as a guiding lighttowards fostering climate justice, sustainability, and global governance. Ubuntu's philosophychallenges the notion of individualism and promotes the idea that "I am because we are." Thisfundamental principle emphasises the interconnected nature of human existence, highlighting ourinherent dependence on one another, including the environment for our well-being and survival. In aworld facing socio-ecological crises like biodiversity loss, pandemics, and climate change, technologies,particularly AI, can significantly influence these crises due to their growing global impact. Moreover,the link between AI and climate change is becoming increasingly significant, as AI's potential to bothmitigate and exacerbate these crises is being recognised globally. Embracing Ubuntu philosophy offersa transformative approach to addressing these issues collectively. AI 'for climate' governance anddesign, pose ethical issues due to its lack of communal accountability, regulatory oversight, disregardfor Indigenous knowledge and historical injustices, and its drive by commercial and techno-nationalistmotives for global AI dominance. This paper explores the application of Ubuntu, in the context of AI,for climate change. Ubuntu's principles of mutual responsibility and interdependence provide a uniqueperspective on designing and implementing AI systems. In contrast to traditional, problem-solvingapproaches, Ubuntu encourages us to view AI as part of a larger ecosystem that includes humans, theenvironment, and future generations. This perspective promotes the development of AI systems thatrespect and uphold ethical principles of sustainability, equity, and good governance. The paper arguesfor a holistic, inclusive, and respectful approach to combating climate change, leveraging AItechnologies guided by Ubuntu philosophy. We highlight Ubuntu as an alternative to ground ethicalprinciples in AI 'for climate.' Ubuntu can play a critical role in guiding the design, deployment, and useof trustworthy AI systems in a climate that works for everyone.

Bio

Ronald Musizvingoza is a researcher at the United Nations University Institute in Macau. With a Ph.D.in Sociology and a strong background in gender equality and digital technology., Dr Musizvingoza'swork focuses on generating and synthesising evidence for research and policy on the impacts of digitaltechnology on sustainable development goals, particularly the ethics of Artificial Intelligence (AI) anddigital technology equity. Originally from Zimbabwe, Dr Musizvingoza's work adopts a feministdecolonial approach, emphasising the importance of power, privilege, equity, and sustainability indigital technology.