Overview
- Microsoft’s 2026 Environmental Sustainability Report, published Thursday, shows gross greenhouse‑gas emissions rose about 25% in 2025 to roughly 34 million metric tons of CO2e and about 20 million metric tons after the carbon removals the company purchased.
- The company attributes the increase mainly to rapid expansion of AI‑optimized data centers and higher purchased electricity emissions, known as Scope 2, as its electricity use grew to power AI workloads.
- Microsoft said it stopped buying non‑additional, unbundled renewable energy certificates last year, which are tradable claims that do not guarantee new local clean power and that change near‑term reported emissions when dropped.
- Recent moves to secure reliable power, including a 2.67‑gigawatt natural gas agreement with Chevron for a Texas facility and other gas‑reliant sites, have drawn scrutiny because they trade short‑term reliability for higher local emissions.
- The company points to progress such as 40 GW of clean power deals, water replenishment and high server reuse, but similar emission jumps at Google and Amazon have prompted U.N. and researcher demands for standardized, location‑specific disclosures and raise risks for local grids, water resources and corporate reputations.