Global digital companies are struggling to cut greenhouse gas emissions fast enough to meet climate targets, with the sector reporting 301 million tonnes of operational carbon dioxide emissions in 2024, even as artificial intelligence accelerates demand for computing infrastructure and electricity.
The figure, contained in the latest ‘Greening Digital Companies: Monitoring Emissions and Climate Commitments 2026’ report, represents emissions from Scope 1 and Scope 2 activities and was 1.2 percent higher than in 2023.
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The report, published by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and the World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), assessed 200 digital companies globally using publicly disclosed data for the 2024 reporting year.
The findings highlight a growing contradiction at the heart of the digital economy: while technology companies are improving climate reporting and remain among the largest corporate buyers of renewable electricity, the rapid expansion of AI, cloud computing and digital infrastructure is increasing energy demand and putting pressure on emissions reduction efforts.
“While digital technologies offer immense potential for climate action, their rising energy demands and emissions cannot be overlooked. Environmental sustainability must be built into how we design, power and scale the technologies shaping our shared digital future,” Doreen Bogdan-Martin, ITU secretary-general, said.
The report estimates that the 301 million tonnes of operational emissions from digital companies represented about 0.8 percent of global energy-related emissions in 2024. But the sector’s carbon footprint extends well beyond its own offices, data centres and networks.
Among companies that disclosed Scope 3 emissions, which cover activities across their value chains, those emissions accounted for 76 percent of their total carbon footprint.
That makes supply chains, equipment manufacturing and the use of digital products a bigger climate challenge than emissions directly generated by many companies’ own operations.
Gerbrand Haverkamp, executive director of the World Benchmarking Alliance, said digital companies needed to look beyond their own facilities and engage suppliers to reduce emissions.
“For example, the electronics sector, which provides many inputs underpinning digital infrastructure, accounts for 53 per cent of reported emissions across all three subsectors,” he said.
AI becomes new emissions pressure point
Artificial intelligence is emerging as one of the biggest uncertainties for the industry’s climate ambitions. The report found that operational emissions from four major AI and cloud providers increased sharply between 2020 and 2024, reaching as much as 239 percent of their 2020 levels.
The increase reflects the rapid expansion of data centres, computing capacity and electricity demand required to train and operate increasingly sophisticated AI systems.
That contrasts with the performance of 14 large telecommunications operators assessed by the report, which reduced their emissions by 11 percent over the same period.
The divergence points to a growing climate divide within the digital economy, as traditional telecommunications networks become more efficient while AI and cloud infrastructure expand at extraordinary speed.
AI itself is not inherently a climate liability. The technology can improve energy management, optimise industrial systems, forecast renewable-energy generation and help businesses reduce resource consumption. But the report warns that these benefits could be undermined if AI expansion continues without corresponding investment in clean energy and stronger emissions management.
Digital power consumption rises
The energy requirements of the digital economy are also becoming increasingly significant. A total of 163 companies disclosed electricity consumption for 2024, reporting combined use of 494 terawatt-hours (TWh).
That was equivalent to about 1.7 percent of global electricity consumption. More strikingly, just 10 companies accounted for 54 percent of the electricity reported by the assessed companies, highlighting the concentration of energy demand among the industry’s largest players.
The scale of consumption puts growing pressure on technology companies to secure additional clean electricity as they expand data centres and AI infrastructure.
Despite being some of the world’s largest corporate purchasers of renewable electricity, only 25 of the 200 companies assessed reported sourcing 100 percent renewable electricity.
Climate pledges still outpace action
The report also exposes a gap between corporate climate commitments and their implementation. Of the 200 companies assessed, 151, or 76 percent, had submitted near-term emissions-reduction targets covering Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions.
However, only 114 of those targets had been validated by science-based frameworks, while just 85 were assessed as being on track based on progress made so far.
The gap is even more pronounced when companies’ broader transition plans are considered.
Only 81 companies, representing 41 percent of those assessed, demonstrated comprehensive climate transition plans covering strategic ambition, implementation, engagement, metrics, targets and governance.
This suggests that while climate targets have become increasingly common across the technology industry, many companies still lack detailed strategies for turning those commitments into measurable emissions reductions.
Cosmas Luckyson Zavazava, director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau, said the sector had the resources and technological capacity to influence the transition to a more sustainable digital economy.
“The ICT sector has the innovation, resources, and influence to help shape a more sustainable digital future. Realising that potential means turning climate commitments into implementation, cutting emissions, strengthening collaboration among various sector actors and ensuring that digital growth, including AI, advances alongside clean energy development,” he said.
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Reporting improves, but major gaps remain
Transparency has improved, but the report found that companies continue to provide incomplete information about their environmental footprint.
About 89 percent of companies reported Scope 1 emissions, while 81 percent reported Scope 2 emissions. However, only 47 percent reported emissions across all relevant Scope 3 activities.
That reporting gap makes it difficult to establish the full climate impact of digital products and services, particularly where emissions are generated by suppliers, manufacturers, logistics networks and customers using energy-intensive equipment.
The ITU and WBA are calling for stronger climate disclosure, deeper engagement with suppliers, more effective transition planning and closer alignment between the expansion of digital infrastructure and the development of clean electricity.
For an industry increasingly central to economic growth, AI adoption and digital transformation, the report suggests that the next phase of the technology boom will be judged not only by computing power and innovation, but also by how much carbon is emitted to sustain it.
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