Market Insight: Accounting For AI’s Rising Emissions
Join Vantage to access this research
Access our entire Carbon Management Software research portfolio by joining Vantage
Need help or have a question about this report? Contact us for assistance
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.
Figure 1. Different types of AI-related emissions come from varying sources
Figure 2. Hyperscalers’ emissions have seen a large increase in the last five years
Figure 3. Analysis of four hyperscalers’ AI emissions and energy-related reporting
About the Authors
.png?sfvrsn=db470322_1)
Alessandra Leggieri
Senior Analyst
Alessandra is a Senior Analyst at Verdantix, specializing in carbon management and software for product carbon footprints. Her research spans over 100 vendors in the carbon ma...
View Profile
Ryan Skinner
Research Director
Ryan is a Research Director at Verdantix, where he leads a team of analysts delivering research, data and advisory services that help clients navigate the fast-evolving landsc...
View ProfileOther related content
On October 22nd, Diligent and Persefoni announced a strategic partnership that will enable Diligent to focus on its core offering – GRC software – and provide Persefoni with a boos...
28 October, 2025
Greenhouse gas reporting took a major step forward on September 9 with the announcement of a strategic partnership between the International Organization for Standardization (ISO...
19 September, 2025
With over 100 providers in the carbon management software market, consolidation has long been expected. Over the past six months, several acquisitions have taken place and – althou...
09 September, 2025
In the 2025 Smart Innovators: Carbon Management Software, Verdantix benchmarked innovation across 22 providers, evaluating how their decarbonization strategy development and prog...
09 September, 2025
As sustainability pressures intensify, businesses are facing the dual challenge of reducing their carbon footprint while maintaining profitability. Carbmee, in partnership with Ver...
10 September, 2025
As attention shifts away from net zero target setting to asset level decarbonization, many firms are discovering critical disconnect between their energy management efforts and cor...
24 September, 2025