After Microsoft's pollution climbed 23% following a green pledge, experts are warning that the company's trajectory "remains troubling."
What's happening?
Microsoft pledged in 2020 to go carbon negative by 2030. The goal? Remove more harmful pollution from the air than the company creates. But that promise is falling short, as WebProNews detailed.
Since then, its pollution has gone up, not down. In fact, it increased by 23.4%, according to GeekWire. The reason? A surge in artificial intelligence projects and the huge energy demand that comes with them.
Data centers — massive facilities that power AI and cloud systems — are popping up fast. They rely heavily on electricity, and in many cases, it's still coming from dirty sources, such as gas and coal. So, even with progress in cutting emissions, "the overall trajectory since 2020 remains troubling," WebProNews noted.
Why is this concerning?
AI can help solve problems. But right now, it's also making one worse.
Burning fossil fuels to power AI systems adds pollution to the air. That speeds up planet overheating and leads to more extreme weather, dirtier air, and higher health risks for communities.
And this isn't just Microsoft's problem. Other tech companies are scaling up fast, too, while their environmental promises lag behind. Microsoft's own work with OpenAI has fueled some of this demand. But the results are clear. The company's growth is outpacing its green efforts.
What's being done about it?
Microsoft is trying to catch up.
It recently protected a massive forest in Washington that's larger than Seattle to help pull carbon from the air. It also signed the world's biggest deal for biochar, a substance made from burned organic waste and that can trap carbon underground.
These moves matter. But they're not enough on their own. As critics have pointed out, strategies like these may help offset the problem but don't fix it if pollution keeps climbing.
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Definitely 👍 What works? Shifting to cleaner energy sources before building more data centers is key. Companies that make those changes early reduce their pollution up front, instead of trying to clean it up later.
To tell whether a company is doing the right thing or just pretending, start with this quick explainer on greenwashing.
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