AI and Environmental Law in a Changing World

Collab: LL.M Candela Dominguez Castro. Lawyer, Specialist in Administrative Law. Legal Advisor at the National Service for Agrifood Health and Quality (SENASA), Argentina. Secondary and Tertiary Education Lecturer. Master’s candidate in Judicial Defense of the State.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is advancing at a vertiginous pace. While commonly associated with social media algorithms or virtual assistants, its impact is now reaching unexpected fields such as environmental protection. In the face of a global ecological crisis, technology emerges as a powerful tool but also as a new challenge for Environmental Law, which continues to adapt to this ever-evolving scenario.

AI enables real-time processing of vast amounts of data, identification of patterns invisible to the human eye, and anticipation of complex scenarios. These capabilities are being leveraged to monitor deforestation via satellite imagery, predict forest fires, optimize water usage, and control pollutant emissions from large industries. There are even projects that combine AI with sensors to track endangered species or detect ecosystem changes before they become irreversible.

In this context, Environmental Law (traditionally rooted in principles such as prevention, precaution, and intergenerational equity) faces a new actor: a technology that not only provides tools for law enforcement but also generates situations not yet contemplated by current legislation.

Who is liable if an automated system fails to predict an environmental disaster?How is data privacy ensured when information is collected from territories inhabited by vulnerable communities? What safeguards exist regarding decisions made by opaque algorithms, often without human oversight?

Argentina’s environmental legal framework, though robust in several respects, was designed in a vastly different technological context. The Argentine General Environmental Law No. 25.675 (enacted in 2002) could not have foreseen the possibility of machines analyzing in seconds what would take technical teams weeks—or even months or years. Nor did it anticipate the ethical dilemmas posed by the use of AI in decisions affecting territories, populations, and natural resources.

This intersection between AI and environmental regulation compels a rethinking of the role of law. Regulation does not mean halting innovation, but rather setting clear limits, guiding principles, and control mechanisms to ensure that technological tools serve the common good. It also requires legal professionals (from practitioners and educators to researchers) to adopt a critical perspective on the use of these technologies. Understanding how they work, their impacts, and which legal frameworks may or should apply is part of the challenge #forabetterworld.

AI can be a powerful ally in addressing the environmental crisis but only if guided by legal frameworks that prioritize environmental justice, human rights, and the protection of common goods. The sustainability of the future will depend not only on technical progress, but also on ethical, legal, and political decisions that can steer innovation toward a truly fair and ecologically respectful model.