Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025

The report finds that the tech sector is facing a "climate strategy crisis" as soaring energy demands from AI and the use of outdated market-based accounting methodologies undermine the integrity of corporate climate targets. While some companies like Google and Microsoft are pioneering 24/7 hourly renewable electricity matching, others like Amazon and Meta advocate for looser accounting rules through the Emissions First Partnership. The analysis reveals that absolute location-based emissions for all five companies increased from 2019 to 2023, and critical transitions—such as decarbonising third-party data centres and hardware supply chains—remain largely neglected or poorly reported.

• The tech sector is experiencing a climate strategy crisis where GHG emission targets are losing relevance due to rapidly increasing energy demands from AI and the use of outdated emissions accounting rules.
• Absolute location-based emissions for Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft all increased between 2019 and 2023, contradicting the goals of their net-zero or carbon neutrality pledges.
• There is a significant divide in renewable electricity strategies: Google and Microsoft are implementing 24/7 hourly matching to reduce fossil fuel reliance, while Amazon and Meta co-founded the Emissions First Partnership to advocate for accounting based on avoided or reduced emissions, which the authors describe as a repackaging of the offsetting model.
• Third-party operated data centres represent a major potential accounting loophole, as none of the assessed companies transparently report the emissions footprint from these services despite research suggesting they provide half of the sector's data centre capacity.
• Supply chain electricity for hardware manufacturing accounts for at least one-third of the emissions footprint for most tech companies, yet only Apple has a specific target for renewable electricity in its supply chain.
• While tech companies are investing in carbon dioxide removal (CDR), with Microsoft being the largest purchaser of biochar and durable CDR, these investments are often used to claim net-zero status without achieving deep absolute emission reductions.
• Current validations from the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and MSCI Net Zero Tracker are criticized for being outdated or overly lenient, potentially misleading stakeholders by labeling targets as 1.5°C-aligned despite their lack of integrity.

APA

Day, T., Mooldijk, S., Smit, S., Salsabila, N. P., & Hans, F. (2025). Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025. Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/newclimate-publication-ccrm2025-tech-Jun25.pdf

Chicago

Day, Thomas, Silke Mooldijk, Sybrig Smit, Nabila Putri Salsabila, and Frederic Hans. Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025. Carbon Market Watch, 2025. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/newclimate-publication-ccrm2025-tech-Jun25.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Day |first1=Thomas |last2=Mooldijk |first2=Silke |last3=Smit |first3=Sybrig |last4=Salsabila |first4=Nabila Putri |last5=Hans |first5=Frederic |title=Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025 |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=June 2025 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/newclimate-publication-ccrm2025-tech-Jun25.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{day2025corporate, author = {Day, Thomas and Mooldijk, Silke and Smit, Sybrig and Salsabila, Nabila Putri and Hans, Frederic}, title = {{Corporate Climate Responsibility Monitor 2025}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/newclimate-publication-ccrm2025-tech-Jun25.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }