Lead

The combined carbon emissions of Microsoft, Amazon and Google have surged by nearly a fifth in the past year, driven largely by the construction and operation of AI datacentres, according to the companies' latest sustainability reports. The collective output now stands at roughly half of France's annual emissions, a comparison that underscores the growing environmental footprint of the tech sector's AI boom.

Coverage Comparison

Deutsche Welle reported that Google's carbon emissions rose by 16% annually, while Amazon's increased by 18% compared to 2024. The outlet noted that Google's AI infrastructure buildout is "accelerating faster than the grid is decarbonizing," as Google's chief sustainability officer, Kate Brandt, put it. The Guardian, covering the same reports, highlighted a more dramatic aggregate figure: Microsoft, Amazon and Google together emitted 119 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent in the financial year ending March 2026, up from roughly 101 million the previous year—an increase of nearly a fifth. This total is about a third of France's annual emissions, according to the newspaper's calculations.

While Deutsche Welle focused on Google and Amazon, noting that both companies have invested heavily in AI data centre construction, The Guardian included Microsoft's figures, reporting that its emissions increased by 25% over the past year to 20 million metric tonnes. The Guardian quoted Microsoft's sustainability report, which attributed the rise "primarily to the expansion of our datacentre infrastructure." Google, for its part, told The Guardian that its 18% increase was "driven by increases in supply chain activities that supported the rapid expansion of our business."

The two outlets also placed the emissions in broader context. Deutsche Welle noted that Amazon's emissions in 2024 were higher than the entire countries of Austria or Greece, but less than the Netherlands. The Guardian highlighted the scale of the datacentre buildout: the world's biggest tech companies are on track to spend $765bn on AI datacentres this year, and the Uptime Institute estimates that large datacentre projects announced last year would consume 1.3% of the world's electricity.

Key Claims

  • Microsoft's carbon emissions increased by 25% over the past year, as reported by The Guardian, reaching 20 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent.
  • Google's emissions increased by 16% annually, according to Deutsche Welle, though The Guardian reported an 18% increase for the same period. Both reports attribute the rise to AI infrastructure expansion.
  • Amazon's emissions rose 18% compared to 2024, with emissions from buying electricity up by 34% in the last year, attributed to the data centre boom and delivery network electrification.
  • The collective emissions of the three companies now stand at 119 million metric tonnes CO2 equivalent, about a third of France's emissions, as reported by The Guardian.

Perspectives

Tech companies' official positions: Google and Amazon have acknowledged the challenges. Google's chief sustainability officer, Kate Brandt, stated that the AI buildout is outpacing grid decarbonisation. Amazon's chief sustainability officer, Kara Hurst, acknowledged new hurdles to meeting the company's climate benchmarks, though the company maintains its pledge to reach net-zero by 2040.

Academic critique: Cecilia Rikap, an economics professor at University College London, told The Guardian that the companies' claims about sustainable clouds are "a marketing strategy." She argued that governments should consider these expanding carbon footprints when the same companies offer AI solutions to address the ecological crisis, and that migration to the cloud effectively outsources other corporations' carbon footprints to the tech giants.