Big Tech’s Green Illusion: Are We Being Fooled by Net Zero Claims?

Dr Mark van Rijmenam, CSP -

When it comes to net zero, are Big Tech’s “green” claims just a smokescreen for environmental evasion?

Big Tech giants like Amazon, Meta, and Google are embroiled in a battle over how to report their carbon emissions, with billions at stake. These companies are lobbying to influence the rules of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, potentially allowing them to understate their real-world pollution.

Amazon and Meta advocate for flexible certificate buying, which critics argue could mask true emissions, while Google pushes for stricter local and time-specific offsets to reflect actual environmental impact.

The stakes are high, as the electricity demand of data centers, especially with the rise of generative AI, threatens these companies' net zero targets. With the global climate at risk, can we trust these tech titans to truly lead the charge toward sustainability, or are we witnessing a dangerous game of greenwashing?

Read the full article on Financial Times.

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