Microsoft CSO Says AI Widens Gap – and Offers Solutions – to Meeting Climate Goals
The rapid growth of artificial intelligence (AI) over the past few years has created challenges for Microsoft in achieving its “moonshot” sustainability goals, including its target to become carbon negative by 2030, with the company’s Chief Sustainability Officer Melanie Nakagawa acknowledging that “the moon has gotten further away.”
In a blog post discussing Microsoft’s progress towards its 2030 targets, however, Nakagawa reiterated that the company remains committed to its climate goals, and said that while AI presented sustainability challenges, it will also form the basis of the solutions needed to achieve climate ambitions.
Nakagawa said:
“Already, we are seeing AI make a positive impact on the planet, and in the coming years, this technology will begin to rapidly accelerate climate solutions at a scale we’ve not yet seen.”
Microsoft launched a series of moonshot sustainability goals in 2020, including commitments to become carbon negative, water positive and zero waste by 2030, as well as to protect more land than it uses by that date.
In the company’s environmental sustainability report released last year, however, Microsoft revealed that its Scope 3 emissions, which account for the vast majority of the company’s carbon footprint, were actually more than 30% higher in 2023 than in 2020, driven largely by significant growth in data centers to meet increasing demand for AI computing power. Microsoft has since announced a series of measures to help address its value chain emissions footprint, including introducing a policy for some of its key suppliers to use 100% carbon-free electricity, and launching a new supplier decarbonization team focused on tackling emissions from cloud and AI operations.
In her post, Nakagawa highlights some of the Microsoft’s key achievements towards reaching its 2030 goals, including becoming one of the world’s largest carbon-free energy buyers with a 34 GW renewable energy portfolio spanning 24 countries, growing its water replenishment portfolio to 90 projects in over 40 locations, improving the repairability of its hardware products, and surpassing its land protection goal by more than 40%.
Despite the achievements, however, Nakagawa said that “we know that our work is far from over, and that the path ahead has gotten harder,” and adding that “the world is not on track to meet critical climate goals and we see many of these challenges reflected in our own journey.”
Nakagawa’s post also indicated a key shift in Microsoft’s climate strategy. Microsoft introduced a carbon fee in 2012, charged to business groups within the company based on their emissions footprint – and extended to cover all Scope 3 emissions in 2020 – to help fund the company’s carbon neutrality commitment. In her post, Nakagawa said that stopped using proceeds from the fee to purchase unbundled renewable energy certificates, refocusing instead “on more long-term, higher-impact investments,” including carbon reduction, carbon removal and procuring clean electricity.
Nakagawa said:
“We are proud to continue making decisions that drive positive environmental impact in the market and deliver high-integrity investments. We remain resolute in our commitment to our climate goals and to empowering others with the technology needed to build a more sustainable future.”
Nakagawa joined Microsoft as CSO in early 2023, after serving in the Biden administration White House as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Climate and Energy on the National Security Council, where she played a leadership role on international and domestic climate initiatives, including working on the U.S.’ return to the Paris Agreement, and on energy issues including the international energy response to the war in Ukraine.
Click here to access Microsoft Chief Sustainability Officer Melanie Nakagawa’s blog post.