Amazon's Carbon Emissions Rise 6% as AI Push Challenges Sustainability Goals

Amazon's AI push is undermining its sustainability goals

Amazon's decarbonization goals are being undermined by its push to be a leader in generative AI. Its most recent concedes its overall carbon emissions grew for the first time since 2022. It reported a six percent increase in its carbon footprint across 2024, laying much of the blame at the feet of its data center rollout. The reported increase is significant given Amazon's method of reporting its own environmental impact. Critics have suggested the mega-retailer "" its impact by excluding common metrics. In 2022, Amazon revised its climate reporting methodology which also led to the company's figures falling dramatically. In addition, the company reported an increase in emissions tied to the purchase of power from outside sources. "The increased energy demand is from AI chips," says the report, which "require more electricity and cooling than traditional chips." As well as the power to run and cool those chips, Amazon is building big to increase its server capacity. Data center construction, as well as fuel use by logistics contractors, led indirect emissions to increase by six percent. That said, the company's own fossil fuel emissions increased by seven percent in 2024, which is hardly a ringing endorsement. Amazon is a co-founder of , an initiative to reach net zero emissions by 2040. The initiative now has , including MasterCard, Sony and Snap.inc. In February, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy pledged to invest $100 billion across 2025, with reporting the bulk of that cash would be spent on Amazon Web Services (the company's data center and web hosting arm). Given the increase in construction, it's likely Amazon's report for 2025 will follow this same upward trend.

Amazon's carbon emissions rise 6% amid AI boom

After two years of modest declines, Amazon reported today that its carbon footprint grew by 6% last year. The global cloud and online retail giant hit 68.25 million metric tons of carbon emissions -- for comparison, that's about two-thirds of the annual amount emitted by entire state of Washington. The increase mirrors the challenges being faced by fellow cloud giants Microsoft and Google, which are all deploying more electricity-hungry data centers to try and keep up with the expanding use of artificial intelligence. But also like its tech rivals, Amazon has set climate targets whose deadlines keep creeping closer. The Seattle-area company aims to hit net-zero carbon emissions by 2040. "As we harness generative AI's potential and our AI business continues to grow rapidly, we are investing in the infrastructure that we'll need to make AI innovation possible. We're also tackling one of its greatest challenges head on, rising energy demand," said Kara Hurst, Amazon's chief sustainability officer, in the forward to the company's annual sustainability report. In addition to AI's climate impacts, the company is addressing emissions related to its massive online sales and deliveries through Amazon.com; its film and TV production units Amazon Studios and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM); Whole Foods; the manufacturing and use of Amazon electronics; and other businesses. While Amazon's carbon emissions increased in 2024, the company emphasizes a more hopeful trend by looking at its "carbon intensity." This measurement tallies greenhouse gas emissions relative to business operations. By that metric, Amazon's carbon intensity declined 4% as the business grew significantly. Over the years, critics of Amazon's sustainability efforts have dinged the company for not including emissions from merchants on its retail platform. They also note that while its energy use is matched on paper by the purchase of clean power, its actual operations tap into dirty supplies. Other highlights from the report:

Amazon's carbon emissions jump as AI push tests company's climate pledge

Amazon's greenhouse gas emissions rose by 6% last year, due mostly to pollution generated by the company's delivery fleet and increased data center construction. The jump in total carbon emissions from 64.38 million metric tons in 2023 to 68.25 million metric tons in 2024 is the company's first year-over-year increase since 2021, according to a sustainability report released by Amazon on Wednesday. Amazon has reported its sustainability efforts annually since 2019, when it pledged to effectively zero out its carbon emissions by 2040. The company's carbon emissions peaked in 2021, when it reported 71.54 million metric tons. Over the two years that followed, Amazon was able to decrease indirect emissions -- those created by electricity the company purchases for its buildings and electric vehicles, and the emissions created by data center construction and third-party shipping. Critics have called out the company for not including emissions produced by the sellers creating products for Amazon's marketplace. Amazon's direct emissions, those produced primarily by its own transportation and logistics operations, have steadily increased since 2019. One of the company's biggest efforts toward decreasing emissions has been to outfit its delivery fleet with electric vehicles. Amazon has an investment deal with Rivian, in which the EV maker is creating tens of thousands of custom delivery vans for the e-commerce giant. Amazon reported Wednesday that it had more than 31,400 electric vans deployed globally. But as Amazon increases the amount of electric vehicles it operates, it's also expanding its logistics network. The company announced earlier this year it was pushing into rural areas to increase delivery speeds for those living away from urban centers. Last year, emissions increased across the board. Emissions from electricity rose 1% as the company had higher energy usage due to advanced technologies. The artificial intelligence boom comes with a growing energy cost. Increased electricity and computing demand due to the technology has Amazon and other tech giants like Google and Microsoft thirsty for power sources as they build out AI infrastructure. Amazon itself plans to spend $100 billion on its data center and delivery operations this year. Microsoft said it was on track over the past year to spend $80 billion, mostly on its AI infrastructure. Like other companies, Amazon acknowledges that its AI push is creating challenges to its sustainability goals. Kara Hurst, the company's chief sustainability officer, said in the report that the company is working to mitigate the enormous energy cost of AI. Among those efforts are Amazon's first investments in nuclear energy. Six years into its net zero carbon goal, Amazon's emissions are up more than 33%, with its deadline slowly approaching in 2040. Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, the group that spurred the company's climate pledge in 2019, ripped this year's sustainability report and accused Amazon of hiding coal and gas energy sources. In a news release Wednesday, the group said Amazon's claim that it matches 100% of "electricity consumed in all data center regions with renewable energy sources" was misleading. "A breakdown of local energy generation in regions that are home to over 70% of Amazon's US data centers shows that much of Amazon's data center electricity comes from gas, and utilities are developing new fossil fuel infrastructure to support the demand from Amazon's data centers," the climate group said. The group also supported a shareholder proposal earlier this year that urged Amazon to create an additional report on the increased energy demand from AI. Shareholders struck it down. "Looking ahead, we recognize that the path to being a more sustainable company will never be linear, because we're charting new territory at an unprecedented scale," Hurst said. "While we are firm on our goals, our approach will continuously evolve with emerging challenges and opportunities, as we're seeing with the rapid adoption of AI. A highlight for Amazon in the report, which it emphasized along with rising emissions, is its steadily decreasing carbon intensity. As Amazon's revenue grows, the amount of emissions per dollar is falling. The company reported a 4% reduction last year. 2025 The Seattle Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Amazon's emissions increased 6% as the company builds more data centers to power AI

Amazon's total carbon emissions in 2024 reached 68.25 million metric tons, according to the company's latest sustainability report. That's a 6% increase from the year prior -- and a 33% increase from 2019, when the company launched its Climate Pledge commitment to reach net-zero emissions across its operations by 2040. Amazon breaks down its carbon footprint into direct emissions, indirect emissions from purchased electricity, and indirect emissions from other sources. All three of these categories saw an increase in 2024. Direct emissions, primarily from its delivery services, grew 6% compared to 2023; the company cites supply constraints for EVs and low-carbon fuels. Direct emissions in total account for 15.13 million metric tons of carbon. Indirect emissions from purchased energy grew 1%, "in part due to the higher electricity usage required to support advanced technologies" like AI, according to the report. These emissions account for the smallest slice of Amazon's overall footprint at 2.8 million metric tons.

Amazon's carbon emissions jump as AI push tests company's climate pledge

Amazon's greenhouse gas emissions rose by 6% last year, due mostly to pollution generated by the company's delivery fleet and increased data center construction. The jump in total carbon emissions from 64.38 million metric tons in 2023 to 68.25 million metric tons in 2024 is the company's first year-over-year increase since 2021, according to a sustainability report released by Amazon on Wednesday. Amazon has reported its sustainability efforts annually since 2019, when it pledged to effectively zero out its carbon emissions by 2040. The company's carbon emissions peaked in 2021, when it reported 71.54 million metric tons. Over the two years that followed, Amazon was able to decrease indirect emissions -- those created by electricity the company purchases for its buildings and electric vehicles, and the emissions created by data-center construction and third-party shipping. Critics have picked at the company for not including emissions produced by the sellers creating products for Amazon's marketplace. Amazon's direct emissions, those produced primarily by its own transportation and logistics operations, have steadily increased since 2019. One of the company's biggest efforts toward decreasing emissions has been to outfit its delivery fleet with electric vehicles. Amazon has an investment deal with Rivian, in which the EV maker is creating tens of thousands of custom delivery vans for the e-commerce giant. Amazon reported Wednesday that it had more than 31,400 electric vans deployed globally. But as Amazon increases the amount of electric vehicles it operates, it's also expanding its logistics network. The company announced earlier this year it was pushing into rural areas to increase delivery speeds for those living away from urban centers. Last year emissions increased across the board. Emissions from electricity rose 1% as the company had higher energy usage due to "advanced technologies." The artificial intelligence boom comes with a growing energy cost. Increased electricity and computing demand due to the technology has Amazon and other tech giants like Google and Microsoft thirsty for power sources as they build out AI infrastructure. Amazon itself plans to spend $100 billion on its data center and delivery operations this year. Microsoft said it was on track over the past year to spend $80 billion, mostly on its AI infrastructure. Like other companies, Amazon acknowledges that its AI push is creating challenges for its sustainability goals. Kara Hurst, the company's chief sustainability officer, said in the report that the company is working to mitigate the enormous energy cost of AI. Among those efforts are Amazon's first investments in nuclear energy. Six years into its net zero carbon goal, Amazon's emissions are up more than 33%, with its deadline slowly approaching in 2040. Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, the group that spurred the Climate Pledge in 2019, ripped this year's sustainability report and accused Amazon of hiding coal and gas energy sources. In a news release Wednesday, the group said Amazon's claim that it matches 100% of "electricity consumed in all data center regions with renewable energy sources" was misleading. "A breakdown of local energy generation in regions that are home to over 70% of Amazon's US data centers shows that much of Amazon's data center electricity comes from gas, and utilities are developing new fossil fuel infrastructure to support the demand from Amazon's data centers," the climate group said. The group also supported a shareholder proposal earlier this year that urged Amazon to create an additional report on the increased energy demand from AI. Shareholders struck it down. "Looking ahead, we recognize that the path to being a more sustainable company will never be linear, because we're charting new territory at an unprecedented scale," Hurst said. "While we are firm on our goals, our approach will continuously evolve with emerging challenges and opportunities, as we're seeing with the rapid adoption of AI." A highlight for Amazon in the report, which it emphasized along with rising emissions, is its steadily decreasing carbon intensity. As Amazon's revenue grows, the amount of emissions per dollar is falling. The company reported a 4% reduction last year.

Amazon emissions ticked up in 2024 amid data center push

Amazon's emissions increased 6 percent last year, as the e-commerce and cloud computing giant continued to expand its artificial intelligence (AI) efforts and build out its data center footprint. The company's total emissions ticked up from 64.38 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2023 to 68.25 metric tons in 2024, according to its annual sustainability report. "Today, in virtually every corner of Amazon, we're using generative AI to make customers' lives better and easier -- and while we've made a lot of progress, we're still at the relative beginning," Amazon wrote. "One of the biggest challenges with scaling AI is increased energy demands for data centers." AI requires vast amounts of energy. As major tech firms race to develop the technology, this has weighed on their efforts to cut emissions. Amazon launched The Climate Pledge in 2019, setting the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2040. The e-commerce firm's total emissions ticked down in both 2022 and 2023 before rising this past year. Nearly three-fourths of the company's carbon footprint came from indirect emissions from other sources, primarily data center construction and fuel consumed by third-party delivery service providers, it noted. Last month, Amazon announced it was investing $10 billion in North Carolina and $20 billion in Pennsylvania to build out its data center infrastructure in the two states. It has increasingly turned to nuclear energy as a way to power its AI push without raising emissions. Last year, the company announced a series of deals to build several small modular nuclear reactors and purchased a data center co-located with a traditional nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.