The sustainability of AI is an issue on the rise for research and the political community investing in AI. However, existing research does not yet show a realistic picture if the different steps in an AI life cycle impact energy consumption and CO2 emissions, and if so how much. What is missing is proper documentation and a standard which provides a basis for comparison and long term research. One step towards a better standard of documentation in this and many other corporate sectors might be a new directive by the EU (CSRD). It requires around additional 2000 big or capital-oriented companies to report on their corporate sustainability. But what kind of reporting animal is the CSRD going to be: a toothless paper tiger or a sharp and hungry lion?
