NVIDIA's Indirect Emissions Rose 725% Since 2020, Report Finds

NVIDIA's indirect emissions have risen 725 percent since 2020, according to a new briefing from analyst Ketan Joshi and a coalition of civil society groups including Greenpeace International, Beyond Fossil Fuels, Friends of the Earth, Stand.earth and Climate Action Against Disinformation. The report estimates undisclosed emissions from the use of NVIDIA's sold chips could add nearly double that disclosed figure, reaching an estimated 21 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025, a scale the authors compare to the product-use emissions of Russian state-owned coal in 2024. The 8-fold rise is drawn from NVIDIA's own indirect emissions disclosures from 2020 to 2026; the larger downstream estimate relies on the report authors' own modelling of chip power consumption, since NVIDIA does not disclose emissions from how its chips are used after sale.

 

The briefing challenges three claims it attributes to NVIDIA: that AI development delivers a net climate benefit, that data centre demand response supports renewable growth, and that efficiency gains alone represent sustainability progress. The authors argue all three shift attention away from the company's absolute emissions growth. The report also points to NVIDIA's recently announced exclusive supply agreement with an Ohio data centre reportedly set to be powered by what the authors describe as the world's largest gas plant, with emissions they say would exceed Nigeria's entire national power grid.

 

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Campaign groups involved in the briefing called for direct action from NVIDIA and regulators. Avex Li of Greenpeace called on the company to publish a measurable supply chain decarbonization roadmap and invest directly in renewable energy where its impacts occur. Michael Khoo of Friends of the Earth called for regulatory oversight of AI companies comparable to safety requirements in aviation and pharmaceuticals. NVIDIA has not been quoted responding to the briefing in the material reviewed for this article.

 

"NVIDIA's claims that AI has a 'net climate benefit' are a greenwashing tactic used by the industry to mask ballooning pollution," said Ketan Joshi, research analyst and lead author of the report.