Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
Amazon’s greenhouse gas emissions rose 6% last year, mainly due to pollution caused by increased company delivery fleets and data center construction.
The jump from 6,438 million tonnes in 2023 to 6,825 million tonnes to 6,825 million tonnes in 2024 is its first year-over-year increase since 2021, according to a sustainability report released by Amazon on Wednesday. Amazon has reported its sustainability initiatives annually since 2019, when it pledged to effectively zero carbon emissions by 2040.
The company’s carbon emissions peaked in 2021, reporting 71.54 million tonnes. Over the next two years, Amazon was able to reduce indirect emissions. This was created by electricity purchased for buildings and electric vehicles, as well as electricity created by emissions created by data center construction and third party delivery. Critics have called on the company to not include emissions generated by sellers creating products for Amazon’s marketplace.
Amazon’s direct emissions, produced primarily through its own transportation and logistics business, have been steadily increasing since 2019.
One of the company’s biggest efforts to reduce emissions was to equip electric vehicles in its delivery fleet. Amazon has an investment agreement with Rivian. EVMaker has created tens of thousands of custom streaming vans for the e-commerce giants. On Wednesday, Amazon reported that more than 31,400 electric vans are deployed globally.
However, as Amazon increases the amount of electric vehicles it runs, its logistics network is also expanding. The company announced earlier this year that it was being pushed into rural areas to speed up delivery for people living away from urban areas.
Last year, emissions increased completely. Due to the advanced technology, the company’s high energy usage has led to an increase in electricity emissions by 1%.
The artificial intelligence boom is seeing an increase in energy costs. The growing demand for power and computing due to technology is home to other high-tech giants that Microsoft craves when building AI infrastructure, such as Amazon, Google and Microsoft.
Amazon itself is planning to spend $100 billion this year on data centers and delivery operations. Microsoft said spending $80 billion primarily on AI infrastructure has been on track over the past year.
Like other companies, Amazon acknowledges that pushing AI creates challenges for sustainability goals. In a report, Kalahurst, the company’s chief sustainability officer, said the company is working to reduce the enormous energy costs of AI. Among those efforts is Amazon’s first investment in nuclear energy.
Six years after the net zero carbon goal, Amazon’s emissions have risen by more than 33%, with the deadline slowly approaching in 2040.
Employees at Amazon, a group that prompted the company’s climate pledge in 2019, tore through this year’s sustainability report, accusing Amazon of hiding coal and gas energy sources.
In a news release Wednesday, the group said Amazon’s claim that it coincided with 100% of “power consumed in all data center regions with renewable energy sources” was misleading.
“The breakdown of regional energy generation in the region where more than 70% of Amazon’s US data centers live shows that much of the power in Amazon’s data centers comes from gas, and the utilities are developing new fossil fuel infrastructure to support demand from Amazon’s data centers,” Climate Group said.
The group also supported the shareholders’ proposal earlier this year, urging Amazon to produce additional reports on increasing energy demand from AI. The shareholders beat it.
“Looking ahead, we recognize that the path to being a more sustainable company is never linear as we chart new territory on an unprecedented scale,” Hurst said. “We are persistent in our goals, but as seen in the rapid adoption of AI, our approach will continue to evolve with new challenges and opportunities.
The Amazon highlight of the report was highlighted as emissions increased, with a steady decline in carbon strength. As Amazon’s revenues increase, emissions per dollar have declined. The company reported a 4% cut last year.
2025 Seattle Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Quote: Amazon’s carbon emissions jump when AI Push Tests Company’s Climate Pledge (2025, July 17) is retrieved on July 17, 2025 from https://news/2025-07-07-Amazon-emissions-Ai-company.html (July 17, 2025)
This document is subject to copyright. Apart from fair transactions for private research or research purposes, there is no part that is reproduced without written permission. Content is provided with information only.
