Across the globe, sustainability is increasingly a concern. According to a recent report by Nature, AI can play an important role in addressing this, helping to support ESG initiatives for organizations small and large.
The recent report by the magazine analyzed the specific effects of AI technology in corporate governance, environmental protection, and social responsibility, and evaluated its contribution to the overall sustainable development of enterprises, showing that AI can play a key role.
As one example, through natural language processing GenAI analyzes large volumes of compliance documents and provides a list of recommendations, ensuring that companies adhere to ESG regulations. Said the authors, “ESG serves as a mediating factor between AI adoption and improvements in sustainable development performance.”
The report also showed that “AI not only directly enhances corporate sustainable development performance but also indirectly promotes performance improvement by enhancing ESG performance”.
These findings will in particular be relevant to Europe, which is the fastest-warming continent, with temperature rising by approximately 0.53°C per decade since the mid-1990s.
The need to prioritize projects that reduce emissions has become more urgent. In response one nation, Switzerland, has initiated plans to accelerate its progress towards achieving its climate goals.
The country, for one, is now shifting its energy initiatives to expedite renewable energy plans, in the form of large alpine projects that leverage its vast terrain.
Last year, roughly 70% of Swiss nationals voted for a law that requires new buildings with an area of more than 300 sq meters to install solar devices on their infrastructure.
The new rules set to take effect in 2026 include regulations to further accelerate rooftop solar adoption and ease pressure on the grid. Businesses across the country that arguably produce high emissions must prioritize lowering energy costs, making rooftop solar a practical and feasible opportunity.
A report released this month from Planno confirmed as well that the country has more than 60,000 commercial rooftops with nearly 12 GW of untapped solar potential. It suggested that while one in five rooftops currently hosts solar, there remains nearly 7.7 GW of underused solar potential, particularly outside urban areas.
According to Daniel Domingues, Founder and CEO of Planno, “Solar adoption tends to concentrate in areas near major urban centers, often where solar developers are already active or based.”
“The numbers point to a strong regional imbalance. Once a few projects are built in a given area, nearby buildings often follow. There’s a kind of local momentum; when solar becomes visible in a neighbourhood or industrial zone, it triggers more interest from surrounding properties,” added the executive.
The data provided by the AI-powered software company gives clear insight for government leaders, communities, and developers on where solar projects could have the highest impact in powering homes and businesses.
“The new rules are definitely a strong push in the right direction. But meeting the mandate is just the baseline. The real challenge is to do it in a way that makes sense locally. That means identifying rooftops where solar can be installed faster, where it helps meet local demand, or where it supports the grid. That’s where tools like Planno come in,” said the entrepreneur.
Switzerland’s solar ambitions aren’t limited to rooftops. The country is also finding creative ways to generate energy in unexpected places, including railways. For instance, Swiss enterprise Sun-Ways earlier introduced the world’s first removable solar plant built on a railway line that remains open to regular traffic.
“In the long term, our ambition is to produce energy between the rails and re-inject it into the traction current of the trains so that it is practically 100% self-propelled,” says the company’s Joseph Scuderi.
In April of 2025, Switzerland became the first country to inaugurate a detachable solar track design that addressed concerns related to maintenance. While the project is still in its infancy, the enterprise believes that solar panels could be installed on half of the rail lines in the world, and is exploring similar projects in South Korea and abroad.
In a notable decision, Switzerland is also turning its mountainous terrain into one of Europe’s clean energy powerhouses. Through the federal ¨Solar Express¨program, the country is leveraging the Alps to generate solar power even during the winter, when demand is at its peak.
The Sedrun solar park installation is already underway, expected to feature 5,700 panels that will provide energy to about 6,500 homes.
