AI boom strains climate pledges as emissions from top tech firms surge

Rapid growth in artificial intelligence is putting pressure on major technology companies’ climate commitments, with emissions from four leading AI and cloud providers rising by as much as 239% between 2020 and 2024, according to a new industry assessment.

Findings from the global assessment

The increase in emissions among the four major providers is highlighted in the Greening Digital Companies 2026 report, produced by the United Nations’ International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA). The study assessed 200 major digital companies on greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, renewable electricity use, climate targets and transition plans.

Across the 200 companies, reported operational greenhouse gas emissions totalled 301 million tonnes in 2024, equivalent to 0.8% of global energy-related emissions. Those emissions rose by 1.2% from the previous year.

Electricity use and the AI load

Electricity demand among the companies that reported data was substantial: 163 companies disclosed combined consumption of 494 terawatt-hours in 2024, or about 1.7% of global electricity use. The 10 biggest electricity consumers together used 269 TWh.

Reported individual consumers included China Mobile at 63 TWh, and Alphabet and Samsung at 32 TWh each, while Microsoft used 30 TWh. The report notes that Amazon did not report electricity data for 2024.

Industry progress and gaps

The report finds mixed progress on renewables and climate planning. Only 25 of the 200 companies said they sourced 100% renewable electricity. Meanwhile, 151 companies had set near-term emissions reduction targets, but just 85 were assessed as being on track and only 81 had comprehensive plans explaining how they would meet their goals.

Gaps in reporting were also significant: while most companies disclosed direct emissions and emissions linked to purchased energy, fewer than half reported emissions across their full value chains. The report highlights that much of the industry’s footprint lies beyond its own offices and data centres, with the electronics sector alone accounting for 53% of reported emissions across the three subsectors assessed by the WBA.

“Environmental sustainability must be built into how we design, power and scale the technologies shaping our shared digital future,”

Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU Secretary-General

“Digital companies need to engage suppliers and address emissions across the products and services they rely on,”

Gerbrand Haverkamp, executive director of the World Benchmarking Alliance

Who scored well and who did not

Swisscom was the top-ranked company in the assessment and the only one to receive a perfect score. Other strong performers included Accenture, Deutsche Telekom, Vodafone, Capgemini and Telefonica.

Eighteen companies received no score because they did not provide sufficient information, including X and SpaceX. Among the lower-ranked companies that were scored were Huawei, Spotify, Nintendo, Weibo, Xiaomi, Zoom and Toshiba TEC.

Implications for South Africa’s data-centre expansion

The report’s findings are noted as increasingly relevant for South Africa, which is preparing for a major expansion in data-centre capacity. The Development Bank of Southern Africa’s Digital Infrastructure Investment Study forecasts installed data-centre IT load in South Africa rising from 435 MW in 2024 to 829 MW by 2029, a compound annual growth rate of 17.5%.

The DBSA study says AI workloads require more power and higher rack densities than traditional IT workloads, and that local data-centre operators are increasingly turning to renewable energy projects and power-wheeling arrangements to supplement grid supply and meet sustainability targets.

Balancing AI benefits and emissions risk

The report underlines a core tension: while AI and digital services can help other sectors reduce emissions through applications like energy optimisation and renewable-energy forecasting, the computing infrastructure that enables AI is consuming growing amounts of electricity and producing more emissions. The ITU warns demand for power is expected to continue rising as AI, cloud computing and other digital infrastructure expand.