Microsoft’s whole emissions elevated 25% in 2025, in line with its newest sustainability report, including to the pattern of tech firms polluting extra closely as they ramp up AI information facilities.
And the corporate’s emissions are set to maintain surging, outdoors analysts say, because it depends on fossil fuels to energy that infrastructure.
The rise final yr was “pushed primarily,” Microsoft says, by each its development of AI information facilities and its resolution to pause its use of sure renewable vitality certificates.
Microsoft remains to be aiming to be carbon damaging by 2030, it reiterated in its sustainability report, that means that it must take away extra carbon emissions than it emits.
However Microsoft’s emissions are prone to preserve rising. Its report didn’t point out three upcoming gas power plant initiatives, which can greater than double Microsoft’s emissions, in line with an evaluation commissioned by Stand.earth.
The three initiatives will whole 4.75 gigawatts of capability, and are anticipated to emit greater than 15 million metric tons of carbon dioxide yearly.
In fact, these emissions wouldn’t be counted in a report 2025, however by not mentioning these deliberate initiatives, Microsoft’s sustainability report is “brushing the reality below the rug,” Rachel Kitchin, senior company local weather campaigner at Stand.earth, says in a press release.
“Microsoft talks proudly about reaching 100% matched renewable vitality, however fails to say that it simply signed a 20-year fossil gas cope with Chevron that blows its targets out of the water,” she provides.
“Sustainability options usually are not scaling quick sufficient”
These future polluting initiatives are additionally a part of a pattern wherein Microsoft has continued to extend each its emissions and its electrical energy consumption previously 5 years.
Microsoft’s scope 2 emissions, which embody air pollution from energy, now symbolize 13% of the corporate’s whole carbon footprint, up from “almost 2%” final yr, per its sustainability report.
Since 2020, the corporate’s electrical energy consumption has surged almost 250%, in line with Stand.earth, placing Microsoft’s whole energy use on par with all the nation of Denmark.
Microsoft is upfront about how its pursuit of AI is difficult its local weather commitments.
“Whereas AI infrastructure is driving demand for vitality, water, land, and supplies, sustainability options usually are not scaling quick sufficient to satisfy demand,” the report notes.
Nevertheless, when requested about Stand.earth’s forward-looking evaluation, Microsoft didn’t handle particular questions concerning the report however as a substitute maintained that AI may also be used to additional sustainability efforts.
“Microsoft’s technique consists of exploring a wide range of choices for mitigating the emissions from its electrical energy consumption, according to our sustainability ambitions,” a spokesperson advised Quick Firm.
Although Microsoft paused its carbon removal purchases not too long ago, it has not ended its carbon elimination program, the spokesperson famous, including that Microsoft “[remains] centered on bringing extra carbon-free electrical energy onto the grids the place we function and persevering with to help the enlargement of unpolluted vitality options.”
Microsoft isn’t the one tech company seeing local weather impacts the age of AI.
Although Google says it decreased its operational emissions by 2% year-over-year in its 2026 sustainability report, it additionally noticed a 37% annual enhance in electrical energy demand and a 25% enhance in its provide chain emissions, reflecting, partially, “the size of recent AI infrastructure.”
Amazon’s absolute emissions additionally increased 16% in 2025, in comparison with the yr prior. Its provide chain emissions particularly, which account for three-fourths of its whole carbon footprint, grew 20% in comparison with 2024.
