Amazon\u2019s global carbon dioxide emissions spiked last year, as the tech giant scales up its ambitious artificial intelligence plans.<\/p>\n
The Seattle-based company\u2019s emissions jumped 16% to almost 81 million metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2025, after three years of fluctuating emission levels, according to a sustainability report Amazon released Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The rise was driven by an increase in indirect emissions from other sources, as Amazon\u2019s AI-related splurge on data centers requires building materials like steel.<\/p>\n
Fifteen years out from its 2040 goal to become carbon neutral, Amazon\u2019s emissions have increased by roughly 58% since the company made its Climate Pledge in 2019. The company said it\u2019s still committed to that goal as well as its 2030 self-imposed deadline to become water positive.<\/p>\n
The company\u2019s still-growing e-commerce business contributed as well. Amazon\u2019s direct emissions \u2014 those that are caused by its operations \u2014 increased by 2% in 2025 from the previous year, as it delivered more packages than ever.<\/p>\n
In the report, Amazon said it\u2019s been trying to reduce the carbon footprint of its logistics network through electric vehicles and lower-carbon fuels. Emissions per shipped product are dropping, despite the overall increase.<\/p>\n
Amazon reported emission increases in the past, though they were usually smaller upticks. But a metric that Amazon has previously used to show an overall downward trend rose in 2025 after years of decline. Carbon intensity, which measures carbon dioxide per dollar of revenue, increased 3% from 2024. For context, that metric has dropped by 38% since 2019.<\/p>\n
Amazon acknowledged in its report that AI has been a major disruption for the tech industry and its sustainability efforts since the Climate Pledge was created in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve encountered tremendous change in each of the seven years since. Perhaps none bigger than AI,\u201d Kara Hurst, Amazon\u2019s chief sustainability officer, wrote in the report.<\/p>\n
She went on to write that the technology is \u201cboth transforming what\u2019s possible \u2014 accelerating discovery, optimizing systems and unlocking solutions that weren\u2019t within reach before \u2014 yet also creating new demands for energy, water and infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
That technology, as Hurst tells it, could enable Amazon to move faster on climate solutions. Or the demand could slow it down.<\/p>\n
Amazon\u2019s emissions from purchasing electricity rose 34% last year, driven by the boom in data centers and the electrification of its delivery network. Still, the company touted its data centers\u2019 water usage, saying it is seven times more efficient than the industry average.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remain confident and optimistic in the overarching vision and the long-term progress we continue to make toward it,\u201d Hurst wrote.<\/p>\n
Amazon Employees for Climate Justice, an employee-led climate advocacy group, delivered a sharp rebuke to Amazon\u2019s sustainability report and bemoaned the company\u2019s vision of using AI to solve climate change challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmazon\u2019s leadership shows an extreme lack of responsibility for AI\u2019s impact on the climate,\u201d AECJ said in a news release Wednesday. \u201cDespite Kara Hurst\u2019s redirection to focus on how AI can create opportunities for sustainability, the company\u2019s approach to AI is driving up emissions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The group has been critical of what it calls an irresponsible and \u201cwarp-speed\u201d approach to rolling out AI.<\/p>\n
While AECJ members are not calling for an overall ban on the technology or the data centers being built to support the demand, they have advocated for a slower and measured approach to building AI infrastructure.<\/p>\n
Three Amazon employees, all members of AECJ, spoke in front of the Seattle City Council last month ahead of a vote to set a one-year moratorium on large-scale data centers in the city. Those employees said they were later pulled into \u201cinterrogation\u201d-style meetings with human resources representatives at Amazon.<\/p>\n
The group has also penned an open letter to Amazon leadership, signed by more than 1,200 Amazon employees and over 4,000 workers from other corporations and research universities, with demands for Amazon\u2019s AI strategy. The letter calls for Amazon to power all data centers with renewable energy and provide a detailed plan for how the company plans to meet its climate commitments amid the AI boom.<\/p>\n
\u201cAmazon leadership\u2019s response to a massive 16% increase in emissions is that they will \u2018stay stubborn,\u2019 but \u2018flexible on the details,\u2019\u201d AECJ said in its news release. \u201cAnnual emissions going up 58% since the Climate Pledge was announced isn\u2019t being \u2018flexible on the details.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n