Microsoft, Google, and Amazon ramped up their carbon footprints in 2025. Their combined emissions hit 119 million metric tons of CO₂ equivalent by March 2026. That’s about a third of France’s total emissions.
Microsoft’s emissions jumped 25 percent last year. They rose from 16 million metric tons in 2024 to 20 million metric tons in 2025. This surge is tied mostly to the expansion of their data center infrastructure supporting AI workloads.
Microsoft stopped buying unbundled renewable energy certificates in early 2026. That move pushed their reported emissions higher in the short term, even though they matched 100 percent of their electricity use with renewable energy in 2025. They still aim to be carbon negative by 2030.
Google’s emissions grew 18 percent in the same period. Their AI systems helped offset 41 million tons of CO₂ elsewhere, but their data centers demand more energy. Amazon reported a 16 percent rise in overall emissions and a 20 percent jump in supply chain emissions.
Big tech’s appetite for AI is costly. This year, they plan to spend $765 billion building AI-optimized data centers. Meta is investing heavily too, with a 1-gigawatt AI data center underway in Alberta, Canada. It will support over 3,000 construction jobs at its peak and add substantial infrastructure spending locally.
Microsoft’s 2025 sustainability report admits AI infrastructure strains energy, water, land, and materials. They warn sustainability solutions aren’t scaling to meet this demand. Critics call big tech’s green claims marketing spin, noting the rapid rise in emissions.
Meta describes its new data center as optimized for AI workloads, powering technologies billions rely on daily. Their local team expresses excitement about working with neighbors to realize this vision.
Despite pledges and renewable matches, the steady climb in emissions shows the industry’s environmental impact is intensifying. The question remains: can sustainability keep pace with such relentless growth?
Based on
- Datacentres drive up big tech’s carbon emissions to a third of those of France — theguardian.com
- Microsoft’s emissions surged 25% in 2025 during data center boom | Fortune — fortune.com
- Microsoft’s AI Drive Saw Its Carbon Emissions Grow By 25 Percent In 2025 — engadget.com
- Microsoft’s carbon emissions went up 25 percent last year | The Verge — theverge.com
- Canada’s getting its first Meta data center, and it’s built for AI | Business Insider Africa — africa.businessinsider.com
