AI boom drives 27pc surge in Microsoft emissions
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WASHINGTON: Microsoft’s greenhouse gas emissions jumped 27 percent in its latest fiscal year, the tech giant disclosed on Thursday, adding to a wave of worsening environmental reports from an industry racing to build AI infrastructure.
Total emissions reached 21.1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (mtCO2e) in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025, up from 16.7 million the prior year, according to the company’s 2026 Environmental Data Fact Sheet.
The disclosure follows similar reports from Google and Amazon last week showing emissions surging 18 percent and 16pc respectively, as all three companies acknowledged that AI infrastructure expansion is outpacing their decarbonisation efforts. Like its rivals, Microsoft now pollutes more for every dollar it generates in revenue.
Its emissions intensity rose to 75.0 mtCO2e per million dollars of revenue from 68.1 the prior year — the first increase in at least six years — even as revenue grew 15pc to $281.7 billion.
The spike was driven in large part by a tenfold surge in Scope 2 market-based emissions — those tied to purchased electricity — which ballooned from 259,090 mtCO2e to 2.7 million mtCO2e.
Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2026
