Microsoft, Amazon and Google collective carbon emissions have surged to 119 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent (mTCO2e) in the past financial year — roughly a third of France total annual emissions. The figure marks a nearly 18 percent increase from the previous year 101 million tonnes.
The dramatic rise, documented in the companies annual sustainability reports released over recent weeks, is driven overwhelmingly by one factor: the global data centre construction boom powering artificial intelligence.
Microsoft emissions alone jumped 25 percent to 20 million mTCO2e, which the company attributed primarily to the expansion of datacentre infrastructure. Google reported an 18 percent increase, citing supply chain activities supporting the rapid expansion of its business. Amazon saw a 16 percent overall emissions rise and a 20 percent increase in supply chain emissions, including data centre construction.
All three companies still maintain their net-zero targets: Google and Microsoft by 2030, Amazon by 2040. But the numbers paint a stark picture of the tension between climate ambition and the AI arms race. The world biggest tech companies are on track to spend $765 billion this year, mostly on AI data centre construction spanning locations from Norway to North Tyneside.
The Uptime Institute estimates that data centre projects announced last year alone would consume 1.3 percent of the world total electricity usage — nearly doubling current data centre demand. The majority of that new power demand comes from US projects.
Cecilia Rikap, an economics professor at University College London, said claims by Microsoft, Amazon and Google about their clouds being ecologically friendly and sustainable are a marketing strategy. Governments should remember these expanding carbon footprints when the very same companies offer addressing the ecological crisis with AI solutions.
Shaolei Ren, a professor of electrical engineering at UC Riverside, noted another looming problem: Microsoft sustainability report suggested fewer carbon credits are available on global markets to offset emissions. Everyone is talking about the lack of physical goods and infrastructure like power, but there may also be a lack of virtual goods — carbon credits, Ren said.
About 1,200 data centres are expected to be built globally between now and 2030, overwhelmingly driven by AI demand, according to real estate consultancy JLL.
