Amazon’s carbon footprint grew by 16% in 2025, driven by the company’s aggressive buildout of data centers to meet surging demand for artificial intelligence services. The increase marks a sharp acceleration from the 6% rise the company reported in 2024, when emissions hit 68.25 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent.
That 2024 figure was already a reversal of three consecutive years of declining emissions.
The AI infrastructure problem
Amazon’s data centers withdrew 2.5 billion gallons of water in 2025. Water usage at directly owned sites actually decreased by 2% despite expanding operations, and efficiency improved to 0.03 gallons per kWh consumed.
Amazon has earmarked approximately $150 billion for data center investments over the next 15 years. The two primary drivers of Amazon’s emissions growth have been data center construction and fuel consumption from its massive delivery fleet.
