17 September 2026
NVIDIA’s greenwashing of AI climate benefits masks 725% surge in emissions – new report
Berlin, 16 September 2026 – A new, independent analysis of NVIDIA’s own climate reports reveals that the emissions relating to the supply chain of chip manufacturing, key for AI expansion, have exploded by 725% since 2020.
The report estimates for the first time downstream use of NVIDIA’s sold chips. This could be up to 21 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025, nearly twice their supply chain emissions and on par with the product-use emissions of state-owned Russian coal.
The briefing, written by climate and energy analyst Ketan Joshi and supported by a consortium of civil society groups, including Beyond Fossil Fuels, Greenpeace International, Green Screen Coalition, Climate Action Against Disinformation and Stand.earth, is also the first analysis of greenwashing-style statements commonly used by NVIDIA, the world’s biggest beneficiary of the AI boom.
Ketan Joshi, independent climate and energy analyst and lead author of the report, said: “The biggest AI profiteer, also has one of the world’s most obscure and opaque climate footprints. NVIDIA’s claims that AI has a ‘net climate benefit’ are a greenwashing tactic used by the industry to mask ballooning pollution.”
“The numbers shown in this briefing will look minuscule compared to the situation in 2030, or 2035. But NVIDIA can choose to take responsibility for what it buys and what it sells, and use its overwhelming power, influence and money to clean up the industry’s growing fossil-fuelled mess.”
NVIDIA’s business lies primarily in the manufacturing and sale of computational hardware. The supply of raw materials for these chips and the manufacturing process are both incredibly energy-intensive. Once these chips are sold, they are used in similarly energy-intensive data centre buildings, now primarily for the purpose of operating generative AI. Both of these ‘ends’ are growing in their climate impacts.
With Nvidia’s influence over AI infrastructure across Europe growing, the technology on which AI systems depend is increasingly concentrated in the hands of this single US company. Meanwhile Europe is ploughing ahead with plans to triple data centre capacity without safeguards to protect Europeans from rising costs and emissions.
Jill McArdle, International Corporate Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels, said: “Europe is being sold a fantasy of ‘green’ AI while Big Tech drives a massive build-out of emission-pumping data centres and fossil-fuel infrastructure. Tech billionaires like NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang hype up overblown climate claims while urging our governments to build gas for their data centres. Calling this a climate-friendly technology revolution doesn’t make it one – it’s greenwashing designed to secure Big Tech’s profits while locking Europe into more gas and energy dependence. Decision-makers must listen to people and deprioritise dirty data centres controlled by Big Tech.”
In a 2025 poll across five European countries, data centres ranked last for priority access to energy, with 73% of respondents saying governments should set clear rules for how energy is allocated.
The Nvidia greenwashing report follows an analysis published earlier this year, showing that Big Tech significantly overstates AI’s climate benefits. Of 154 claims analysed from companies including Google and Microsoft and institutions such as the IEA, 74% were found to be unproven: just 26% cited published research, while 36% provided no evidence at all. The analysis found no evidence that consumer generative AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Copilot are delivering substantial emissions reductions. Instead, it argues that the industry is conflating energy-intensive generative AI with lower-impact applications such as machine learning used to forecast wind patterns.
These “bait-and-switch” tactics are a new form of greenwashing, allowing the tech and fossil-fuel industries to highlight hypothetical climate benefits while downplaying AI’s rapidly growing environmental footprint.
The accelerated growth of AI is increasing pressure on emissions and electricity prices. Policy makers must take action to rein in Big Tech and require companies to disclose their energy consumption and emissions, and be transparent about the environmental and social impacts of their technologies. New data centres must be deprioritised for access to energy, water and land – and critical needs of society must be served first, such as new housing, local businesses and electrification of transport, buildings and decarbonising industry, like steel and chemicals.
CONTACTS
Jill McArdle, International Corporate Campaigner, Beyond Fossil Fuels, jill.mcardle@bff.earth, mobile +32 456 723 993 (English)
Pierre Terras, Corporate Programme Lead, Beyond Fossil Fuels, pierre.terras@bff.earth, mobile +33 646 90 21 04 (French, Spanish, English)
About Beyond Fossil Fuels
Beyond Fossil Fuels is a civil society network committed to ensuring a just and rapid transition to a fossil-free, renewables-based future. Building upon the Europe Beyond Coal campaign, its goal is for Europe to be coal-free by 2030 and phase out fossil gas from the power sector by 2035. A clean and flexible energy system will deliver lasting benefits for people, the climate and the broader economy. Beyond Fossil Fuels is a non-profit organisation with an office in Berlin, with staff spread across Europe. www.beyondfossilfuels.org