Ex-Microsoft Employees Warn of AI’s Role in Accelerating Fossil Fuel Growth

Image: Saudi Aramco. Pictured: Haradh Gas Plant, Ghawar Oil Field

A group of three former Microsoft employees are intensifying a campaign in the UK to require AI service providers to disclose the emissions generated not only by their own operations and supply chains, but also by the work they perform for clients. The co-founders of the Enabled Emissions Movement made their case this week in the Financial Times, calling for transparency that captures the full climate impact of AI.

The group notes that many of the world’s largest technology companies have established, long-standing relationships with fossil fuel giants. These clients have been using advanced digital tools, platforms and analytics to increase output and optimise operations for years. For some, AI has become the next big accelerator. Saudi Aramco, for example, is reportedly expanding its AI spending, eager to integrate machine learning into its extraction processes.

According to the campaign, sales teams for cloud services like Microsoft Azure are already reporting success stories, reduced downtime, faster processing, and, crucially, increased fossil fuel extraction. Without accounting for these so-called “enabled emissions,” the group argues, AI providers risk significantly underestimating their actual climate footprint. This incomplete picture makes it harder for investors, policymakers and the public to understand the real risks at play.

As the group has previously stated, AI-fuelled efficiency gains will inevitably benefit well-funded fossil fuel producers at least as much, and likely far more, than they will benefit lean climate tech start-ups or cash-strapped utilities struggling to decarbonise.

Gaps in accounting rules “allow tech companies to present themselves as ESG leaders while avoiding accountability for how their tools are used”, the FT article summarises. It argues that firms could be under-reporting their total Scope 3 (indirect) carbon footprints by 200%.

“Public and policy debates still centre on data centre energy use, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” the article states.

A previous article quoting the Movement states: “Naturally, any AI-fuelled improvements in efficiency, data analytics and predictive capabilities will benefit well-capitalised fossil fuel giants just as much – if now significantly more – than plucky climate tech startups or cash-strapped utilities.”

The Financial Times piece was co-authored by Holly Alpine and Will Alpine, both of whom left Microsoft in 2024. Will served as a product manager in the Responsible AI and Sustainability team, while Holly was a senior programme manager focusing on environmental sustainability, community engagement and employee initiatives.

They launched the Enabled Emissions Movement alongside Drew Wilkinson, who left Microsoft in 2023 and brings expertise in community building, corporate learning and training. All three say they were deeply frustrated by Microsoft’s continued partnerships with major fossil fuel companies, particularly in the absence of precise client requirements on the energy transition.

Their advocacy has achieved some change. Microsoft now limits its oil sector work to companies with public net-zero pledges for 2050. However, these commitments are not recognised by organisations such as the Race to Zero or the Science-Based Targets initiative due to credibility concerns.

The campaign is now targeting the most prominent tech players with the largest share of fossil fuel-linked digital work: Microsoft, Google, and Amazon Web Services. While the founders are based in the United States, they aim to expand into a global movement, attracting new collaborators, supporters, and funders.

The push for enabled emissions disclosure comes against a sobering global backdrop. UN figures show that global greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high of over 57 gigatonnes in 2023, up 1.3% from the previous year. More than 70 per cent of those emissions came from the energy sector.

Most nations are not on track to meet their 2030 climate targets under the Paris Agreement. Even if every current pledge were met in full, the world would still be heading for a temperature rise of between 2.6 and 2.8 degrees Celsius by 2100. At present rates, the trajectory is closer to 3.1 degrees — a scenario that scientists warn would have devastating consequences.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has cautioned that overshooting the Paris Agreement’s thresholds of 1.5 and 2 degrees would render vast areas of the planet, home to an estimated three billion people by mid-century, uninhabitable for humans.

According to the UN Environment Programme, it is technically possible to cut emissions by 31 gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent in 2030 and by 41 gigatonnes in 2035. This would amount to roughly half of 2023’s total emissions and would be enough to keep the 1.5-degree goal within reach, all at a cost of less than $ 200 per tonne. To achieve that, however, global emissions would need to fall by at least 42 per cent by 2030 and 57 per cent by 2035.

The Enabled Emissions Movement believes that holding AI companies accountable for the full scope of their climate impact is one necessary step toward those reductions. In their view, transparency is not a threat to innovation, it is the foundation for a genuinely sustainable digital future.