The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Water, Retno Marsudi, issued a stark warning regarding the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) expansion on global water availability. At the Indonesia Net Zero Summit 2026 in Jakarta, she revealed that approximately 40 percent of the world's data centers currently operate in regions experiencing severe water stress, where the demand for clean water far exceeds the available supply.
Massive growth in the digital economy, primarily driven by the adoption of AI, has increased water consumption in the tech supply chain by up to 129 percent. Ironically, this surge in industrial demand occurs alongside the reality that 2.2 billion of the Earth's population still lack access to safely managed drinking water, and another 4 billion face seasonal water scarcity. This situation triggers tensions in water allocation between basic human needs and the sustainability of digital infrastructure.
For Indonesia, which is actively positioning itself as a regional data hub, this situation serves as an important warning signal. Data centers require massive volumes of water to cool servers. Water scarcity not only raises operational costs and the risk of service disruptions but also influences the decisions of global investors. Currently, environmental aspects such as Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE) are becoming mandatory requirements in compliance with environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.
On the other hand, shifting water allocation to the tech industry sector risks threatening domestic food security. Given that 72 percent of the global freshwater supply is used for agriculture, reduced irrigation supply due to competition with data centers has the potential to depress food productivity. For an agrarian country like Indonesia, this condition could trigger a surge in food commodity prices and spur inflation, which would suppress public purchasing power.
A major challenge now awaits policymakers in the country to formulate water allocation regulations that balance food security and digital investment. Anticipatory measures to watch in the coming weeks include the government's readiness to regulate water zoning for industrial areas, as well as pushing local data center operators to immediately transition to water-efficient cooling technologies.
