Microsoft environmental profile
Key environmental metrics from the FY2025 sustainability report. Numbers communities cite at hearings.
Key metrics
| Scope 2 (market-based) | 2.7M tCO2e |
| Renewable / CFE claim | 100% renewable |
| Water stewardship | 37% replenished |
| Total emissions | 20.3 Mt CO2e |
| YoY emissions growth | +25% |
What communities have won from Microsoft
The most willing of the hyperscalers to accept design and transparency conditions, and the one whose own published commitments give you the most to hold it to. Use its zero-water design as the floor of the ask: it has already built it, so 'evaporative draw is unavoidable' is not available to a developer proposing otherwise. (Strategy read.)
| Where | Year | What |
|---|---|---|
| New builds | 2024 | All datacenter designs from August 2024 use chip-level closed-loop cooling consuming zero water, avoiding >125M litres/year per facility. Announced Dec 2024; sites online from late 2027. Source 1 · verified 2026-08-05 |
| Quincy WA / San Antonio TX | ongoing | Runs cooling largely on recycled, reused or non-potable water — 74% in Quincy, 79% in San Antonio — rather than potable municipal supply. Source 1 · verified 2026-08-05 |
What this means for your community
The gap between market-based and location-based Scope 2 emissions shows how much carbon the grid actually emits vs. what the company claims after buying renewable energy certificates (RECs). A large gap means the facility runs on fossil power but papers it over with certificates — your community breathes the actual emissions.