Session
Organizer 1: Technical Community, African Group
Organizer 2: Civil Society, African Group
Organizer 3: Civil Society, African Group
Organizer 2: Civil Society, African Group
Organizer 3: Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 1: Chioma Agwuegbo, Civil Society, African Group
Speaker 2: Eshita Mukherjee, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Samuel NDICHO BAMBO, Government, African Group
Speaker 4: Adnan Aishath, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Speaker 2: Eshita Mukherjee, Technical Community, Western European and Others Group (WEOG)
Speaker 3: Samuel NDICHO BAMBO, Government, African Group
Speaker 4: Adnan Aishath, Civil Society, Asia-Pacific Group
Format
Roundtable
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: The roundtable format and 60-minute duration are best suited for this session as they encourage dynamic, participatory discussions that align with the session’s goal of integrating diverse perspectives into AI governance. The roundtable setup fosters an inclusive and interactive environment, allowing policymakers, AI experts, and gender and climate justice advocates to engage in direct dialogue, exchange ideas, and collaboratively explore solutions. This format ensures that all voices—especially those from underrepresented groups—are heard and valued, rather than limiting engagement to a traditional panel discussion.
Duration (minutes): 60
Format description: The roundtable format and 60-minute duration are best suited for this session as they encourage dynamic, participatory discussions that align with the session’s goal of integrating diverse perspectives into AI governance. The roundtable setup fosters an inclusive and interactive environment, allowing policymakers, AI experts, and gender and climate justice advocates to engage in direct dialogue, exchange ideas, and collaboratively explore solutions. This format ensures that all voices—especially those from underrepresented groups—are heard and valued, rather than limiting engagement to a traditional panel discussion.
Policy Question(s)
How can AI governance frameworks integrate principles of sustainability and gender justice to prevent long-term social and environmental harms?
What regulatory and policy gaps exist in addressing AI’s environmental footprint and its potential to reinforce historical gender biases, and how can they be closed?
How can policymakers, technologists, and advocates collaborate to ensure AI governance is intersectional, balancing innovation with ethical, gender-responsive, and sustainable approaches?
What will participants gain from attending this session? Participants will gain a critical understanding of how AI governance can integrate principles of sustainability and gender justice, ensuring policies proactively address environmental and social risks. They will leave with:
Insight into AI’s environmental and gendered impacts, including how existing governance frameworks may reinforce biases and inequalities.
Diverse perspectives from policymakers, AI ethicists, and activists on regulatory gaps and best practices for intersectional AI governance.
Actionable strategies to advocate for policies that embed sustainability and gender equity in AI decision-making.
A deeper awareness of the long-term consequences of AI governance, helping them critically assess emerging policies to prevent future harms.
This session will equip attendees with the knowledge and tools to push for AI policies that do not just mitigate risks, but actively build a more just and sustainable future.
SDGs
Description:
As AI rapidly evolves, its governance must proactively integrate principles of sustainability and gender equality to prevent the reinforcement of existing social and environmental injustices. This workshop explores how AI governance can adopt intersectional approaches that consider both gender and climate justice, ensuring that policies are responsive, inclusive, and forward-thinking. Under the theme of "Building Sustainable & Responsible Innovation," this session will critically examine how AI’s development, deployment, and regulation impact environmental sustainability and gender equity. While AI systems have the potential to shape the future, they also pose risks—from their environmental footprint to the perpetuation of long-standing gender biases embedded in datasets and decision-making processes. This interactive discussion brings together policymakers, AI governance experts, gender and climate justice advocates, and researchers to explore: Where current AI policies fall short in addressing sustainability and gender equity. How regulatory frameworks can be improved to prevent AI from deepening existing inequalities. What an intersectional approach to AI governance looks like in practice, considering both social and environmental impacts. The workshop will facilitate an engaging exchange of ideas, combining expert insights with audience participation to generate actionable strategies for embedding sustainability and gender justice into AI governance. Instead of focusing on how AI is used for climate solutions or gender equality, this session will ask the critical question: How can we shape AI governance so that it does not create bigger problems for gender and climate justice in the future?
As AI rapidly evolves, its governance must proactively integrate principles of sustainability and gender equality to prevent the reinforcement of existing social and environmental injustices. This workshop explores how AI governance can adopt intersectional approaches that consider both gender and climate justice, ensuring that policies are responsive, inclusive, and forward-thinking. Under the theme of "Building Sustainable & Responsible Innovation," this session will critically examine how AI’s development, deployment, and regulation impact environmental sustainability and gender equity. While AI systems have the potential to shape the future, they also pose risks—from their environmental footprint to the perpetuation of long-standing gender biases embedded in datasets and decision-making processes. This interactive discussion brings together policymakers, AI governance experts, gender and climate justice advocates, and researchers to explore: Where current AI policies fall short in addressing sustainability and gender equity. How regulatory frameworks can be improved to prevent AI from deepening existing inequalities. What an intersectional approach to AI governance looks like in practice, considering both social and environmental impacts. The workshop will facilitate an engaging exchange of ideas, combining expert insights with audience participation to generate actionable strategies for embedding sustainability and gender justice into AI governance. Instead of focusing on how AI is used for climate solutions or gender equality, this session will ask the critical question: How can we shape AI governance so that it does not create bigger problems for gender and climate justice in the future?
Expected Outcomes
This session will contribute to shaping intersectional AI governance by fostering dialogue on integrating sustainability and gender justice into AI policy frameworks. The discussions will inform concrete outputs that extend beyond the session, ensuring long-term impact.
Specific Outputs:
A publication summarizing key insights, policy recommendations, and best practices for embedding sustainability and gender equity in AI governance. This will serve as a resource for policymakers, researchers, and advocates working at the intersection of AI, gender, and climate justice.
A digital campaign to disseminate key takeaways, raise awareness, and engage a broader audience on the importance of responsible and inclusive AI governance. The campaign will feature infographics, short-form videos, and expert insights to spark conversations and drive advocacy efforts.
Through these outputs, the session will extend its impact beyond IGF 2025, creating ongoing engagement and visibility around AI’s role in shaping a more just and sustainable future.
Hybrid Format: To ensure a seamless hybrid experience, we will integrate real-time engagement tools and structured facilitation to bridge the gap between onsite and online participants. A dedicated online moderator will actively engage virtual attendees, ensuring their questions and insights are relayed into the discussion. Online participants will also be able to contribute via live chat and Q&A integration through the IGF’s virtual platform. The roundtable format fosters dialogue-driven interaction, encouraging both onsite and virtual attendees to participate equally—whether through voice, chat, or live polls. To further enhance engagement, we will incorporate interactive tools such as Slido or Mentimeter for real-time polling, Miro or Padlet for brainstorming, and Google Docs for collaborative resource-sharing. These elements will create a dynamic and inclusive discussion space, ensuring a rich experience for all participants, regardless of their mode of attendance.