AI boom strains tech firms' climate pledges

Technology companies are increasing their climate commitments, but not fast enough to offset rising energy demand linked to artificial intelligence, a report said Wednesday.

The Greening Digital Companies 2026 report, published by the UN's International Telecommunication Union and the World Benchmarking Alliance, assessed emissions and climate commitments at 200 major technology companies worldwide.

The report, based on 2024 data, found progress in climate reporting and renewable electricity use. But it said tech firms were not cutting emissions at the pace needed to meet global climate targets.

The International Telecommunication Union said artificial intelligence was “both a driver of efficiency and a growing challenge”. It said leading AI and cloud providers saw their individual emissions rise from 2020 to 2024 because of growing energy needs and infrastructure expansion.

The report found that emissions from four major AI and cloud computing providers rose by up to 239 percent between 2020 and 2024. Over the same period, 14 major telecoms firms cut their emissions by 11 percent.

In 2024, the 200 companies assessed reported 301 million tonnes of operational emissions in carbon dioxide equivalent, equal to 0.8 percent of global energy-related emissions, the report said. They consumed close to 500 terawatt-hours of electricity, about 1.7 percent of global electricity use.

The 10 biggest electricity consumers used a combined 269 terawatt-hours, more than Australia, the report found. With Amazon not reporting electricity data for 2024, China Mobile reported the biggest consumption at 63 terawatt-hours, followed by Alphabet and Samsung at 32 terawatt-hours each and Microsoft at 30 terawatt-hours.

Only 25 of the 200 companies said they sourced 100 percent renewable electricity. The report found that 151 had near-term emissions reduction targets, 85 were assessed as on track based on progress to date and 81 had comprehensive plans to meet climate goals.

The report ranked Swisscom first and said it was the only company with a perfect climate assessment score. Eighteen companies had no score, including X and SpaceX.