Market Insight: Accounting For AI’s Rising Emissions

Executive Summary

The rapid expansion of AI is driving a surge in emissions, fuelled by energy-intensive data centres, model training and inference processes. Hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google, Meta and Microsoft are at the forefront of this growth, yet transparency in reporting AI-related emissions remains inconsistent. As AI adoption accelerates, questions arise: how are these firms accounting for the environmental impact of AI and is there an emerging best practice for disclosure? This report examines the sustainability disclosures of four leading hyperscalers, assessing how they account for AI in their corporate carbon footprint. By identifying gaps and highlighting effective approaches, the analysis provides actionable insights for improving accountability and finding workarounds to calculate AI emissions.