Today, the Climate Action Against Disinformation coalition (CAAD) is publishing a new report detailing what policymakers can do about Big Tech’s betrayal of its climate goals in pursuit of AI as the total reported electricity consumption of Amazon, Microsoft, and Google has risen 240%, resulting in 2.4 times more pollution than their targets, an estimated collective 311 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 2022 and 2025.
As policymakers gather for the 31st Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Antalya, Turkey, they must take action on Big Tech greenwashing and climate disinformation.
The evidence of harms and policy solutions are detailed in Stop Big Tech’s Climate Destruction: Actionable Intelligence on AI Harms and Disinformation. Key findings include:
Google’s unadjusted emissions were more than 4 times bigger than their target, going over by 304%. Google overshot its emissions target for 2022-2025 by 71 MTCO2-e, which is 23,610 more, or 24 times greater than it claims to have avoided through its AI-assisted ‘contrail avoidance’ for aircraft.
Microsoft’s emissions were 2.5 times bigger than their target, exceeding their pollution goal by 150%. Microsoft missed its target by 63 MTCO2-e, which is 630 times greater than the expected emissions reductions from a sustainable aviation fuel transaction touted in its latest sustainability report.
Amazon’s emissions were double their target, 110% over their commitment and the largest of Big Tech’s compared emissions by volume. The report finds that “once operational, a single Amazon data centre will in one year wipe out the efforts of signatories to the ‘climate pledge’ 22 times over.”
If they stay on this course, by 2030 Google, Meta and Amazon will emit 381 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, 12.5 times larger than their 2030 targets and nearly the total annual emissions of Iraq.
According to the Carbon Impacts Tracer, the report finds that emissions associated with “Big Tech’s climate target failure at 310 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent is projected to push more than 122,000 people outside the range of a livable climate, and correlated with 3,300 potential job losses (14.6 million hours of heavy labour lost annually).”
Ketan Joshi, report co-author and expert on climate and energy: “Big Tech is choosing to fail, and the climate consequences are catastrophic. Their greenwashing lit the fuse on an AI carbon bomb, and the benefit of the doubt ends here. No more trust until they’re chained down by regulations and restrictions”.
Kate Cell, CAAD Policy Co-Chair: “Big Tech cannot claim to be part of the climate solution while expanding the infrastructure and business relationships that lock us into fossil fuels. Their climate pledges mean little if emissions keep rising and the environmental costs of AI are pushed onto communities and the public. Governments need to look beyond corporate promises and require transparency, credible emissions reductions, and accountability for the real world impacts of these companies’ operations.”
Philip Newell, co-author and CAAD Communications and Research co-chair: “Big Tech tells us their targets should be taken seriously, but by the looks of it they aren’t even aiming. Companies shouldn’t get credit for future goals when they’re powering their past and present operations on fossil fuels. Policymakers need to hold the powerful accountable for lies and greenwashing and stop pretending companies can be trusted to tell the truth and self-regulate when public health and the planet are on the line.”
Michael Khoo, CAAD policy co-chair and program director at Friends of the Earth US: “Governments must respond to the widespread public concern over AI before these companies destroy our information ecosystem and the plane. Misinformation and energy prices are consistently people’s top concerns and can both be solved, if only politicians would do their job. Countries must regulate these companies like any other commercial business, requiring basic measures of product safety and transparency, along with accountability for the AI CEOs who create destructive products.”
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