Overview
- Amazon disclosed on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, that its 2025 greenhouse gas emissions rose about 16 percent to roughly 80.8–80.9 million metric tons of CO2e in its latest sustainability report.
- The company and multiple reports attribute the rise mainly to rapid expansion of AI-capable data centers, which increased energy demand and pushed emissions from purchased electricity up about 34 percent year over year.
- Amazon’s carbon intensity, the measure of emissions per dollar of revenue, increased for the first time since 2019, showing the emissions jump is not explained only by business growth.
- Amazon reiterated its 2040 net-zero pledge while announcing roughly $200 billion in planned capital spending on AI, chips and infrastructure that analysts say will likely raise near-term power and emissions pressure.
- Local officials, community groups and employee activists are pressing for stricter renewable and water-use rules as regulators confront grid limits, supply-chain material emissions, and water impacts tied to data-center growth.