As Microsoft, Amazon, Google and Meta pour hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence infrastructure, the rapid expansion of energy-intensive data centers is pushing emissions higher and driving a sharp rise in purchases of carbon removal credits, turning the voluntary carbon market into an increasingly important tool for technology companies trying to reconcile their aggressive AI ambitions with long-standing net-zero climate commitments
Purchases of carbon credits by major technology companies have surged in recent years as the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence drives a sharp increase in energy consumption.
Amazon, Alphabet’s Google, Meta and Microsoft have ramped up purchases of permanent carbon credits since the launch of ChatGPT triggered an industrywide AI race in 2022, according to data compiled for CNBC by carbon credit management platform Ceezer.
The companies have pledged to reach net-zero emissions, but the rapid buildout of energy and water-intensive AI infrastructure has raised questions about whether those targets can be met. Carbon credits allow companies to offset emissions by funding projects that reduce greenhouse gases, such as technologies that remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Each carbon credit represents one metric ton of carbon dioxide reduced or removed from the atmosphere.
Amazon, Alphabet, Microsoft and Meta are expected to spend close to $700 billion combined this year to expand their AI capabilities. The spending includes the construction of large data centers, which contribute to rising emissions.
Purchases of permanent carbon removal credits rose from 14,200 in 2022 to 11.92 million in 2023, based on available market data from Ceezer, which also analyzed information from carbon market insights providers Allied Offset and Cdr.fyi.
The volume increased 104% year-on-year to 24.4 million credits in 2024 and then jumped 181% to 68.4 million in 2025, according to the data.
Ceezer’s figures focus on carbon removals considered permanent. Microsoft’s purchases cover a broader range of carbon removals with different durability levels, including high, medium and low durability credits. Lower durability removals include techniques that store carbon for less than 100 years, such as soil and forestry projects.
Amazon declined to comment on its carbon credit strategy, while Meta and Google did not respond to requests for comment.
Among the four companies, only Microsoft has consistently disclosed annual carbon credit purchases dating back before 2022. Credits are often bought in batches delivered over several years, which can complicate comparisons.
Companies are also not required to report such purchases. Some credits may go undisclosed due to reputational concerns tied to earlier carbon markets, where some credits were criticized for failing to deliver genuine emissions reductions, Ceezer Chief Executive Magnus Drewelies told CNBC.
Because clean energy supply remains constrained relative to the pace of AI infrastructure expansion, reaching net-zero emissions is “impossible” for large technology companies without carbon removal, Drewelies said.
Technological carbon removal includes methods such as direct air capture, where machines remove carbon dioxide from the air, as well as processes that accelerate natural carbon storage.
Ben Rubin, executive director of the Carbon Business Council, said the increase in purchases also reflects conclusions from the United Nations’ 2022 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which said carbon removal would be necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
“The demand surge for removal in 2023 was not a short-term reaction but the beginning of a structural shift, matched by increasing private sector action and public policy support,” Rubin told CNBC.
He said companies are moving from small demonstration purchases to multi-year supply agreements.
“These buyers are looking to secure future supply, send demand signals to the market, and address residual emissions in their long-term climate strategies,” he said.
Microsoft has emerged as one of the largest buyers in the carbon removal market. Shilpika Gautam, chief executive of climate finance platform Opna, told CNBC the market is “basically Microsoft.”
Microsoft provided separate figures to CNBC showing its purchases of all types of carbon credits, not only permanent removals.
The company said its credit purchases increased 247% from fiscal year 2022 to 2023 to reach 5 million credits. That was followed by a 337% jump from fiscal year 2023 to 2024 to 21.9 million credits. The company said purchases rose by around 100% in the following fiscal year but did not give a specific figure.
Melanie Nakagawa, Microsoft’s chief sustainability officer, said the company aims to reduce emissions and remove those it cannot eliminate as it works toward becoming carbon negative by 2030.
“As a first mover in the carbon removal market, we are in a unique position to send demand signals that can lead to an increase in supply. A carbon removal market with more solutions and more buyers will get us all closer to meeting our collective targets, and drive positive planetary and economic impact,” she said in an emailed statement.
Microsoft did not specifically address whether its carbon credit purchases are linked to its AI strategy.
Renewable energy is expected to play a central role in meeting the growing electricity demand from AI data centers.
“Over the time that AI rose, emissions did slightly go up when looking at the bigger companies, but not so noticeably. This implies that hyperscalers were able to react relatively quickly, including shifting to renewable energy,” Drewelies said.
Opna’s Gautam said Microsoft’s growing carbon credit purchases can largely “can be attributed to their AI data centers build up.”
She added that Microsoft’s investments in companies developing low-carbon materials, including Sublime Systems and Stegra, could help reduce emissions as infrastructure scales.
However, she said Big Tech’s surge in carbon credit buying sits uneasily alongside their stated ambition to build cleaner infrastructure.
Last year, Amazon launched a platform allowing partners to purchase carbon credits. The company is also investing in measures aimed at reducing the environmental impact of materials, improving water and energy efficiency, and expanding renewable energy use.
Gautam said it would be “great” if the carbon removal industry no longer existed in a decade because it would mean companies had learned to build infrastructure with fewer emissions.
Drewelies said many technology companies had committed to net-zero targets before the AI boom, meaning carbon credit purchases would likely have risen regardless.
“There is a fair chance that AI very practically underpinned the need for carbon dioxide removal as a quick and flexible instrument to deal with emission increases,” he said.
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