The Maeil Business Newspaper (매일경제) (매일경제신문), commonly known as Maekyung, known for its quality reporting and extensive reach, especially among South Korea's business professionals, reported on the "Sustainable Transformation and AI" workshop of #IJCAI2024. …👉https://www.mk.co.kr/news/world/11085481

**Summary based on translation from Korean by a commercial LLM**

On the 5th, at the 'Sustainable Transition and AI' workshop held at the Jeju International Convention Center in Seogwipo, Jeju, experts from fields such as finance, computer science, and information technology (IT) shared examples of combining AI with sustainability.

When 김상협(Kim Sang-Hyup), co-chair of the 2050 Carbon Neutral Green Growth Commission and moderator of the event, asked how AI's rapid growth has enhanced sustainability, various scholars shared specific examples from their research and industry collaborations.

Markus Leipold, a professor at the University of Zurich who studies financial engineering and sustainability, mentioned that AI could reduce inefficiencies in renewable energy infrastructure, such as solar and offshore wind, by decreasing costs in the extensive legal and due diligence processes involved. He explained that AI could also improve impact investment outcomes by enhancing transparency. Impact investing refers to investing that considers both financial and social value.

Professor Leipold shared a project he worked on with his Ph.D. student, where they used IoT technology to measure greenhouse gas emissions from investment targets in real time and replaced traditional bank funding with direct financing to reduce fees. He noted, "Our research attracted much interest from asset managers and family offices, and the Ph.D. student even paused his studies to launch a startup based on this project."

Peter Morgan, a senior economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB), discussed AI's potential to improve awareness of green financing in developing countries. Green financing involves funding for projects aimed at improving environmental, social, and governance (ESG) outcomes. Morgan suggested that AI could provide customized educational solutions, raising public awareness of finance and digital literacy, which would ultimately enhance access to green financing for small businesses and households, contributing to social equality.

Policy recommendations were also made to facilitate more diverse and extensive research through AI. Soh Young In, an adjunct professor at KAIST’s Graduate School of Green Growth and Sustainability, pointed out the need for government intervention to encourage companies to share sustainability-related data. She noted, "While interviewing small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for my research, many were unwilling to share data on sustainability due to concerns about potential risks," highlighting the need to improve researchers' access to information.

#COP29

This is a wrap for #IJCAI2024. See you in Montréal, Canada at the #IJCAI2025!
➡️Conference Chair, Shlomo Zilberstein, University of Massachusetts Amherst
➡️Program Chair: James Kwok, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology