water stewardship

Product news: Microsoft reports a 25% emissions rise amid AI data-centre growth despite water and circularity milestones

Brad Smith, Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft

AI Product and Learning Report

Product news: Microsoft's 2026 Environmental Sustainability Report says total Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions rose 25% year over year, mainly as data-centre infrastructure expanded. It also reports renewable-energy matching, global water replenishment and circularity milestones whose local meaning still requires careful scrutiny.