Microsoft is struggling to control its spiralling emissions despite making enormous strides in tackling its Scope 1 and 2 emissions. That is according to the company’s FY2024 Environmental Sustainability Report—published last month—revealing that the giant’s total emissions rose more than 23.4% from its 2020 baseline, despite making huge investments in mass timber and green cement construction. The spike, tied to Scope 3 emissions across its value chain, highlights how difficult it is for big data companies to control emissions in the new age of artificial intelligence.
It comes despite operational emissions (Scope 1 and 2) being down 30%—reflecting gains from clean energy sourcing and data centre design. However, managing Scope 3 emissions—those tied to suppliers, product usage, and other indirect sources—is proving to be a sticking point, with Microsoft struggling to move the needle due to the limited control that it can exert on upstream and downstream activities. Microsoft’s strategy to date has focused on enforcing carbon-free energy requirements for large suppliers and investing in greener infrastructure across its value chain.
“One such infrastructure move includes the rollout of data centres using mass timber, slashing embodied carbon by 65%. Meanwhile, transitions to liquid chip cooling and zero-water data centre cooling systems are being scaled globally, with each facility saving around 125,000 cubic meters of water annually,” said Kaleigh Harrison of Environment Energy Leader. “In carbon removal, Microsoft signed nearly 22 million metric tons in long-term agreements in FY2024 alone—more than all prior years. (And) includes high-quality nature-based credits through industry collaborations like the Symbiosis Coalition, aimed at scaling carbon removal capacity toward a 2030 goal of 20 million tons.”
The broader takeaway is that achieving net-negative emissions is proving more difficult in practice than on paper, especially for firms expanding their digital infrastructure at speed: “Yet Microsoft’s candidness—paired with real examples of systems change—offers a useful benchmark for B2B leaders looking to balance innovation with impact,” Harrison said.
- Click here for Wood Central’s special feature to learn more about Microsoft’s commitment to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and plans to totally remove all carbon emissions produced since 1975 by 2050.
