Gone are the days when only fossil fuel companies were scrutinised for their environmental impact. While emissions from burning fossil fuels remain a concern, recent attention has shifted to major tech companies like Google and Microsoft.
In early July, Google released its 2024 sustainability report, revealing a nearly 50% increase in greenhouse gas (GHC) emissions since 2019, primarily due to data centre energy consumption and supply chain emissions. “As we further integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into our products, reducing emissions may be challenging,” the report reads.
About a month earlier, Microsoft released its sustainability report in May, revealing a similar trend. The report showed that emissions have increased by nearly 30% since 2020, driven by the construction of more data centres “designed and optimised to support AI workloads”.
