Microsoft’s latest environmental sustainability reporting shows its greenhouse gas emissions increased 25% in 2025, reaching an estimated level of 34 million metric tons (or million tons) of CO2-equivalent “without select interventions,” according to accounts of its 2026 Environmental Sustainability Report. Multiple outlets link the rise primarily to expansion of Microsoft’s data center operations, including electricity use and the construction of new facilities during an AI-driven infrastructure buildout.
Reports also say Microsoft had previously matched its electricity consumption with renewable energy in 2025, indicating that clean power purchasing alone did not prevent emissions from rising. One outlet attributes part of the increase to datacenter construction and a change in renewable procurement, including stopping purchases of some renewable energy certificates. Another outlet describes Microsoft’s longer-term climate goal to be carbon-negative by 2030 and notes that the reported emissions trajectory has moved upward in recent years.
Other sustainability metrics mentioned in the reporting include Microsoft’s claim that it replenished more water than it withdrew in 2025, and that its Circular Centers program reused a large share of decommissioned servers and components.
