Microsoft, Amazon, and Google reported a combined 119 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions for the financial year ending March 2026, roughly a third of France's total. That is up 18% from the prior year, driven almost entirely by datacentre construction for AI and cloud services. Microsoft alone saw a 25% increase to 20 million tonnes, while Amazon reported a 16% rise and Google 18%. The numbers come from each company's latest sustainability report. The datacentre buildout is massive. The three firms are on track to spend $765 billion this year, mostly on AI infrastructure. JLL expects about 1,200 new datacentres globally by 2030. The Uptime Institute estimates projects announced last year will consume 1.3% of the world's electricity, nearly doubling current datacentre demand. Most of that new load will hit US grids. Critics point out that the companies' net zero pledges look increasingly shaky. Microsoft's emissions had flatlined around 16 million tonnes before jumping to 20 million. Google and Amazon also saw big supply chain increases from construction. The article also notes that carbon credit supply may be tightening just as demand from tech buyers surges. For anyone tracking grid decarbonization or carbon markets, this is a concrete signal that AI infrastructure is now a major emissions driver with no near term fix.
