Op-ed in Internet Policy Review on Big Tech’s 2025 sustainability reports

In this short op-ed, I critically examine the 2025 sustainability reports released by Microsoft and Google, focusing on their electricity consumption, carbon emissions, and water usage. While both companies highlight renewable energy procurement and water replenishment efforts, a deeper analysis reveals increases in electricity use and location-based carbon emissions, as well as significant water withdrawals in water-stressed areas. Through selective metrics and accounting practices such as market-based emissions reporting, both firms present optimistic environmental narratives that obscure their actual ecological impact. This piece argues that the lack of transparency and selective communication undermines public understanding and policy oversight. It calls for more transparent disclosure of AI’s environmental costs to enable democratic accountability over Big Tech’s sustainability claims.