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How can we accelerate sustainability?

In 2020, we set ambitious goals to become carbon negative, water positive, and zero waste and to protect more land than we use by 2030. Now, at the midpoint of our journey, we must accelerate progress toward a sustainable and carbon-free energy future.
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Report

2025 Environmental Sustainability Report

Our annual report reflects on our progress towards our 2030 goals and how we're empowering others with the technology they need to build a more sustainable future.
Explore our annual report See how we accelerate progress

Carbon

Our approach to carbon negative

As we reach the halfway point in our journey to becoming carbon negative, we reflect on the progress made, as well as the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. This year, we identified three critical focus areas as we look to 2030.

Read more about our approach

Efficiency

The same products and technologies, including AI, that can accelerate climate solutions also pose a resource challenge. We’re continuously improving our processes and identifying solutions to do more with less—reducing emissions and resource use while ensuring our infrastructure aligns with business growth.

Availability

Many of the products and technologies required to reduce emissions, such as carbon-free electricity, are not currently available in sufficient quantities or in all necessary locations. We’re working to build markets, scale solutions, and improve access to sustainability solutions to address this gap.

Measurement and adoption

We must ensure our teams have the systems and processes needed to integrate sustainability solutions into our design, construction, and operations. We also need systems that provide accurate measurement and insights for us to track progress in our emissions reporting.

Cutting carbon, making progress

Discover how we're building markets, scaling solutions, and expanding access to make progress on our carbon negative goals.
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Efficiency

Advancing cooling technology

Microsoft is transitioning from traditional air-cooled datacenters to chip-level liquid cooling designs at all owned datacenters. This will support significantly greater rack capacity, reducing the need for new datacenter construction and the related embodied carbon emissions.

Read about the benefits
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Availability

Bringing reliable carbon-free electricity to the grid

In September 2024, we expanded into nuclear energy with the signing of our first large-scale nuclear energy PPA with Constellation for the Crane Clean Energy Center. This agreement will enable the restart of an 835-MW nuclear facility in Pennsylvania, providing a significant supply of new, reliable carbon-free electricity to the PJM power grid—a critical energy region for Microsoft’s datacenters.

Read about the agreement
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Availability

Enhancing carbon removal pathways

Last year, we supported multiple carbon removal pathways, including enhanced rock weathering (ERW). Our contracts with ERW companies—Eion, Lithos, and Undo—are deploying groundbreaking science to explore ERW’s potential as a major contributor to high-durability carbon removal.

Read more about ERW
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Measurement and adoption

Measuring supplier impact

At Microsoft, 97% of our emissions are in the Scope 3 category, with the majority originating in our supply chain. To accelerate decarbonization, we strengthened supplier engagement by requiring suppliers to transition to 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030 under our Supplier Code of Conduct.

Learn about the updates

Waste

Our approach to zero waste

To help accelerate the global shift from a traditional linear economy to a circular one, Microsoft is committed to our goal of becoming a zero waste company by 2030. Our transition is grounded in a three-part circular economy framework aimed at preventing waste and strengthening supply chains by reducing, reusing, and recovering materials.
Read about our circular economy framework

Reduce

We reduce waste by increasing the use of recycled materials in our products, reducing single-use plastics in our product packaging, and working to prevent waste generation from the outset.
 

Reuse

We reuse materials and components by designing devices that are repairable—like the Surface Laptop 7, which has 11 replaceable components, and Xbox consoles. Through our Circular Centers, we reuse cloud hardware components. By broadening repairability, we're extending the lifespans of our devices.
 

Recover

When a product can no longer be used or repaired, we promote the recovery of materials to turn yesterday's devices into tomorrow's resources. This approach reduces the need for raw material extraction. Our initiatives, like our robust trade-in and mailback program, support device recovery.
 

Devices designed for a circular future

All components in our electronic devices are designed with optimal reuse and recovery in mind. Surface Copilot+ PCs are engineered for a circular economy, reducing waste at every stage.

Advancing sustainability

To meet our climate goals and enable others to do the same, we’re taking responsibility for our operational footprint and accelerating progress through technology.
Learn about our sustainability programs

Water

Our approach to water positive

Since 2020, we’ve been working across five pillars to guide our actions and influence future decisions on our water journey.

Reduction

We’ll increase efficiency, scale recycling and reuse, and invest in innovation to drive water reductions. Beginning in August 2024, Microsoft launched a new datacenter design that consumes zero water for cooling.
Read more about zero water for cooling

Replenishment

We’ll replenish more water than we consume across our global operations. Since the inception of this program, we’ve funded 76 projects in 25 locations across the globe, which amounts to over 100 million m3 of estimated volume to be replenished over their lifetime.
Learn about our water replenishment efforts

Access

We increased access to water and sanitation services for people across the globe. We’ve already met our water access target by providing more than 1.5 million people with access to clean water and sanitation solutions.
 

Innovative solutions

We’ll drive innovation to scale water solutions. Through our Climate Innovation Fund, we’ve invested $45 million to scale innovative water solutions.
 

Policy

We’ll advocate for effective and innovative water policy. We’re partnering with organizations like the Water Reuse Association’s Coalition for Water Recycling and Water Europe to increase adoption and expansion of water reuse and increase water security and resilience.
 

Global water access & replenishment projects

We're supporting 89 water replenishment and access projects—working with partners, communities, and innovators to drive lasting impact. View the data behind the map by accessing the water access or water replenishment portfolios.
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Empowering local water solutions

Dive into the stories of how we’re replenishing and increasing access to water in the regions where we operate.

Learn about our impact

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Innovation

Accelerating Sustainability and Energy Innovation with AI

Over the last year, we’ve experienced AI’s potential for sustainability in action. In our latest report, we share recent innovations and actions at Microsoft to help unlock the possibilities of AI for accelerating sustainability progress around the world.

Read the blog post Read the 2025 innovation report

The five plays to unlock AI’s potential for sustainability

 

Explore our progress on each of the plays:

 

Invest in AI to accelerate sustainability solutions

 

Develop digital and data infrastructure for the inclusive use of AI for sustainability

 

Minimize resource use, expand access to carbon-free electricity, and support local communities

 

Advance AI policy principles and governance for sustainability

 

Build workforce capacity to use AI for sustainability

“The world needs every tool at its disposal, and the potential of AI to accelerate sustainability is already being realized."

—­Melanie Nakagawa, Corporate Vice President, Chief Sustainability Officer, Microsoft
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Shaping tomorrow:
5 innovations for our sustainable future

Explore the innovations

Insights

Between meetings

Learn more from Microsoft experts on how our work in sustainability is advancing progress, innovation, and long-term goals.

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Video still of Allesandra Pistoia, Circular Economy Lead at Microsoft

Making the most of our resources

Alessandra Pistoia, Microsoft’s Circular Economy Lead, shares how we’re using a circular economy approach to minimize waste, recover materials, and enable others to scale for greater impact.

Play Alessandra’s video
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Ensuring water for tomorrow

Catch up with Paulina Concha Laurrari, lead for water replenishment at Microsoft, as she reveals how Microsoft is empowering communities through innovative water replenishment projects.

Play Paulina’s video
Video still of Brandon Middaugh, Senior Director for the Climate Innovation Fund at Microsoft.

Driving innovation in sustainability

Hear from Brandon Middaugh, Senior Director for the Climate Innovation Fund (CIF) at Microsoft, on how we’re accelerating sustainability by investing in advanced construction materials, transforming the grid, and using new digital technology.

Play Brandon’s video Learn about CIF
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Changing the game for sustainability

Amy Luers, Senior Director for Science and Innovation at Microsoft, explains how Microsoft projects are helping to fill gaps in data about ecosystem health and makes her sustainability predictions for 2025.

Play Amy’s video
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Resources

Sustainability stories

Discover how we're working toward a net zero, environmentally sustainable future.
View more stories
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Protecting wheat from climate-related threats

Read about wheat genome research
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Supporting rainforest health in the Amazon

Learn how AI is powering Project Guacamaya
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Green building materials lower embodied carbon in datacenters

Discover how we're reducing carbon in construction

AI has the power to transform industries and uplift communities

AI is reshaping industries, economies, and communities, offering unprecedented opportunities to drive societal transformations that can accelerate sustainability progress.
Learn more about the AI economy

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