1. The Moment of Global Dissonance
Jean-Marc Jancovici’s interview on France Inter, broadcast on 19 May 2025, has been widely shared. Sharp and clear-sighted, Jancovici managed to put into words a tension many citizens feel deep down: is it possible to stay in the race for AI while continuing to fight climate change?
When I sort my waste and fly less, but use ChatGPT and develop AI agents at work—am I not a walking paradox? For many, this contradiction is uncomfortable, judging by the comments generated by the video.
A few figures help clarify the issue. In 2025, global investment in AI surpassed $500 billion, growing more than 30% annually. In France, during the 2025 Choose France summit, President Emmanuel Macron announced €109 billion in private investment in the AI sector.
In parallel, the estimated annual cost of the global ecological transition is around $3.5 trillion to meet climate goals—yet currently only about $1 trillion is being spent each year.
This contrast raises difficult questions about global priorities: with equivalent investment, these resources could instead be channelled into reducing poverty and financing the ecological transition to ensure a livable future.
Gradually, denial will no longer be an option. We will all have to take a stand on this issue.
2. The Technological Paradox: Between Promise and Escapism
AI development is often presented as the answer to humanity’s major challenges, promising breakthroughs in healthcare, education, and resource management. Yet this technological race demands a vast energy infrastructure.
For instance, the massive data centre project announced by Mistral AI and the Emirati fund MGX in France will have the same power output as an EPR nuclear reactor.
This expansion raises serious environmental concerns, particularly regarding energy consumption and the carbon footprint of the data centres required to power AI systems.
According to a recent study, a single ChatGPT query generates around 4.32 grams of CO₂—about four to five times more than a standard Google search.
To put that into perspective:
- 15 exchanges with ChatGPT emit as much CO₂ as one hour of video streaming.
- 139 queries equal the emissions of a laundry cycle.
- 92,000 queries equal the emissions of a 1,600 km round-trip flight.
Concrete numbers to bring to your next family or dinner-table debate!
But the real responsibility will fall on companies. Let’s explore the different postures they can adopt.
3. The Company as Mediator of Reality: A Brand Strategy for Paradoxical Times
For business leaders, the moment calls not only for operational choices but for philosophical positions. Brands can no longer be mere platforms for growth; they must become platforms for awareness.
The strategic key lies in this shift—from marketing to civilisational storytelling.
a. Rethinking Performance: Towards an Expanded Grammar of Value
In a world of tensions, traditional metrics (profit, growth, market share) are no longer sufficient. A visionary brand broadens its definition of performance by integrating dimensions such as:
- Alignment coefficient: coherence between external promises (advertising, innovation) and internal practices (governance, HR, supply chains).
- Perceived resilience index: a brand’s ability to embody reassuring stability in a volatile world.
- Narrative impact: measurement of the brand’s cultural influence (media references, social movements, inclusion in fiction, etc.).
Inspiring example: Patagonia
Patagonia does not oppose business and ecology—it has made the climate crisis the very foundation of its mission. In 2022, the company transferred its shares to a trust dedicated to reinvesting profits in environmental protection. The result: an unmatched emotional bond with its customers and a loyalty that transcends mere usage.
b. Reconnecting Innovation with Collective Desire
Innovation only matters if it builds trust. Too many companies treat AI as an artefact of power. Yet the innovations that truly benefit society are those that:
- Reduce experienced complexity (e.g. AI for administrative simplification or bias reduction).
- Make the invisible visible (e.g. AI visualising energy flows, digital waste, or social risks).
- Reinforce connection with the living world (e.g. Microsoft’s AI for Earth programme).
Inspiring example: IKEA
Through its Climate and Circular Lab projects, IKEA uses digital tools to rethink large-scale circularity—upcycling, material traceability, and new ownership models. Its ambition is not to “scale AI” but to “de-scale impact.”
c. Positioning the Brand as a Space for Cultural Mediation
Brands must see themselves not as ivory towers but as arenas for dialogue. They have a new role to play: reconciling opposites. How?
- By bringing AI engineers together with artists, activists, and sociologists.
- By opening their physical or digital spaces to experiences blending technology, ecology, and emotion.
- By creating narrative—not advertising claims, but stories that make complexity legible.
Inspiring example: LVMH x VivaTech
At VivaTech 2024, LVMH framed its presence around “Technology in the service of sustainability.” Far from a show of power, the goal was to demonstrate how the group’s maisons can use AI and blockchain to ensure traceability, reduce waste, and narrate their value chains.
Conclusion for Leaders: A Matrix for Action
A relevant brand strategy in 2025 is no longer built solely on what a company sells,
but on what it holds together—tensions, stories, and stakeholders.
As a CEO, your mission is threefold:
- Arbitrate with lucidity between the temptation of technological acceleration and the planet’s physical limits.
- Reinvent corporate storytelling as a lever for cohesion, projection, and shared desire.
- Position your brand as an active conscience—technological, ecological, and profoundly human.
