Last week marked the beginning of COP29, where representatives from around 200 countries gather to address the global climate crisis and the pressing need to limit temperature rises. This year’s conference, held from November 11–22 in Baku, Azerbaijan, aims to continue advancing the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C target. However, one sector which remains surprisingly detached from its climate responsibilities is Big Tech. Despite public pledges, major technology companies, especially because of their dependance on East Asian suppliers, continue to contribute significantly to global emissions, making climate goals harder to achieve with their unsustainable practices.
The carbon footprint and greenwashing of big technology and supply chains
Microsoft publicly advertises its strong commitment to sustainability, pledging to become carbon neutral, water positive, and zero waste by 2030 after last year’s COP28. However, the company’s practices tell a different story: Microsoft’s technology aids fossil fuel companies in boosting oil and gas production. Through partnerships with corporations like ExxonMobil, Microsoft provides customized cloud and AI services designed to optimize fossil fuel extraction, an effort that could add as much as 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day by 2025. Despite its promise to achieve its carbon neutrality goal by 2030, the company’s emissions have increased by 43 % since 2020, the same year their goal was announced. This is greenwashing at its finest, more focused on projecting an image of environmental responsibility than actually reducing its unsustainable practices.
Beyond Microsoft, much of the tech industry’s carbon footprint originates in its supply chain, particularly from consumer electronics suppliers in East Asia. From semiconductors to displays and final assemblies, these suppliers are responsible for more than three-quarters of the electronics industry’s total emissions. This includes suppliers for major brands like Apple, Dell, HP, Amazon, Lenovo, Google, and Samsung. Most are concentrated in Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea, where semiconductor production is particularly energy-intensive. These facilities rely heavily on non-renewable sources, further complicating efforts to decarbonize the industry.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), one of the world’s largest chipmakers, has pledged to reach net zero emissions and use 100 % renewable energy by 2050. However, as of 2021, only 9 % of its energy came from renewable sources. As its electricity demand expands, it is projected to consume as much power by 2030 as a quarter of Taiwan’s population. By then, Taiwan’s semiconductor industry as a whole is expected to use twice the electricity that New Zealand consumed in 2021, with TSMC alone accounting for 82 % of it.
As South Korea’s largest semiconductor manufacturer, Samsung is projected to see emissions reach 32 million metric tons of CO₂ annually by 2030—the highest in the sector. This reliance on non-renewable sources is expected to increase South Korea’s semiconductor emissions by 145 % by 2030. Samsung received a D+, the lowest grade of all chipmakers in the ranking, for its slow transition to 100 % renewable energy.
Meanwhile, the Taiwanese assembly company Foxconn reported in 2022 emissions that surpassed those of the country of Iceland, with a renewable energy usage of only 8 % in 2022, compared to 24 % for its rival Luxshare Precision.
→ ChatGPT consumes an amount of energy equivalent to the energy consumption of 33,000 American households
According to Greenpeace’s recent reports, many top suppliers in the tech industry continue to fall short of necessary reductions, despite an urgent need for the tech supply chain to address its environmental impact. TSMC, Samsung, and Foxconn’s emissions rose in 2022 rather than declined, as they continue to rely on symbolic gestures such as renewable energy certificates (RECs) rather than meaningful changes in infrastructure or meaningful cuts in fossil fuel use. Notably, none of the top 11 suppliers have pledged to halve their emissions by 2030, a critical benchmark for meeting the Paris Agreement 1.5°C target.
In addition to the emissions from manufacturing and supply chains, the tech industry must also confront the environmental impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a technology that requires large amounts of energy to operate. A generative AI system, such as ChatGPT, consumes an amount of energy equivalent to the daily energy consumption of 33,000 U.S. households. This growing energy consumption generates greenhouse gas emissions, as most of the energy still comes from fossil fuels like oil and coal. Digital technologies account for between 8 % and 10 % of global energy consumption and between 2 % and 4 % of global greenhouse gas emissions. If the internet were a country, it would be the fourth most polluting in the world.
With COP29 spotlighting global climate commitments, it is time for Big Tech to confront its environmental impact. Companies that boast about sustainability cannot continue to support fossil fuel production. True climate leadership requires companies to set emissions targets, transition to high-impact renewable sourcing, and make meaningful reductions across their supply chains.
