Microsoft, Amazon and Google carbon emissions rise to a third of France's
The combined carbon emissions of Microsoft, Amazon and Google have increased by nearly a fifth in the past year, reaching 119 million metric tonnes of CO₂ equivalent – about a third of France's total emissions.
The collective carbon emissions of tech giants Microsoft, Amazon and Google have surged by nearly a fifth in the past financial year (ending March 2026), reaching 119 million metric tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (mTCO₂e). This is roughly a third of France's emissions. The previous year, the figure stood at 101 million mTCO₂e, approximately equal to Czechia's 2024 emissions.
The primary driver behind the increase is the construction of data centres, fuelled by soaring demand for cloud services, including training and operating artificial intelligence (AI) products. All three companies acknowledged the rise in their annual sustainability reports released over the past weeks. Microsoft reported a 25% increase in emissions to 20 million tonnes, Google an 18% rise, and Amazon a 16% overall increase with a 20% rise in supply chain emissions, which include data centre construction.
Despite these increases, the companies maintain they are progressing toward net-zero targets: Google and Microsoft by 2030, and Amazon by 2040. However, experts note a disconnect between these green pledges and actual performance. Cecilia Rikap, an economics professor at University College London, stated that claims about cloud computing being environmentally friendly are a marketing strategy, and governments should consider the expanding carbon footprints when the same companies offer AI solutions to address ecological crises.
The emissions surge correlates strongly with massive investments in AI infrastructure. The world's biggest tech companies are on track to spend $765 billion this year, mostly on building AI data centres. Real estate consultancy JLL expects about 1,200 data centres to be built globally by 2030, driven overwhelmingly by AI demand.
This data centre boom comes with enormous projected power demands. The Uptime Institute estimates that major data centre projects announced last year will consume 1.3% of global electricity usage – nearly double current data centre demand. Most of this new demand will come from US projects.
Shaolei Ren, professor of electrical engineering at the University of California, Riverside, noted that the increase in total carbon emissions is strongly correlated with AI investment. He also pointed out that Microsoft's sustainability report suggests a lack of carbon credits available on global markets to offset emissions, warning that there may be a shortage of 'virtual goods' – carbon credits – in addition to physical infrastructure.
