Amazon rejects AWS climate disclosure proposal • The Register

Amazon's board of directors is urging shareholders to reject a proposal that would require the megacorp to disclose more information about the impact of its datacenter expansion on climate commitments.

The proposal, submitted by Brian Kariger and represented by As You Sow and Mercy Investment Services, highlights a growing tension between Amazon's high-profile climate pledges and its aggressive datacenter expansion plans through Amazon Web Services.

Amazon's Climate Commitments vs. Infrastructure Growth

Through its Climate Pledge, Amazon committed to achieving "net-zero carbon emissions by 2040" and matching 100 percent of its electricity use with renewable energy by 2030. The company claims to have met the renewable energy target in 2023, but shareholders question whether this can be sustained.

Amazon CEO Andy Jassy revealed the company added 3.9 gigawatts of compute capacity during 2025, with plans to double that by the end of 2027. The infrastructure spending for 2026 alone is projected at $200 billion - exceeding the entire GDP of some mid-sized national economies according to IMF statistics.

The Power Problem

The massive infrastructure expansion creates significant power demands. In Virginia, considered the datacenter capital of the world, utilities are building new gas-powered generator plants and keeping coal-fired facilities online to meet growing demand. This additional power generation is pumping millions of tons of extra greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

The proposal specifically questions Amazon's reliance on renewable energy credits (RECs) and whether sufficient volumes will be available to maintain its climate commitments as datacenter expansion accelerates.

Amazon's Response

Amazon's board recommends shareholders vote against the proposal, arguing that existing disclosures are sufficient. "We already provide regular, public updates on our progress, initiatives, and work in pursuit of our climate goals, including routinely reporting on our carbon intensity and on our efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of AI workloads and make our datacenters more sustainable and efficient," the board stated in the proxy document.

The company maintains that its current public reporting addresses the specific challenges highlighted by the proposal, making additional reporting unnecessary.

Industry Context

This issue reflects broader concerns about transparency in the tech industry's climate impact. As previously reported by The Register, hyperscalers including AWS have faced criticism for not being entirely transparent about their carbon footprint, with AWS specifically accused of being the worst offender.

The tension between climate commitments and infrastructure growth isn't unique to Amazon. Microsoft has faced similar accusations of "greenwashing" as AI technology is used in fossil fuel exploration, while Google has seen emissions increase 48% since 2019 despite its own climate pledges.

Last year, AWS participated in a datacenter operators' body that published a report critical of the EU's plans to introduce minimum performance standards for server farm sustainability.

Shareholder Meeting Implications

The proposal will be voted on at Amazon's annual shareholder meeting next month. The outcome could signal investor appetite for greater transparency around the environmental impact of cloud infrastructure expansion, particularly as AI and other compute-intensive workloads drive unprecedented datacenter growth.

For now, Amazon appears confident that its existing disclosure practices will satisfy investor concerns, even as it pursues what amounts to one of the largest infrastructure buildouts in corporate history.