Three years ago, Google set an ambitious plan to address climate change by going “net zero,” meaning it would release no more climate-changing gases into the air than it removes, by 2030. But a report from the company Tuesday shows it is nowhere near meeting that goal. Rather than declining, its emissions grew 13% in 2023 over the year before. Compared to its baseline year of 2019, emissions have soared 48%.
Global data center and AI electricity demand could double by 2026, according to the International Energy Agency. Other major tech company sustainability plans are also challenged by the proliferation of data centers. They caused Microsoft’s emissions to grow 29% above its 2020 baseline, the company said in an environmental sustainability report in May.