Today, Microsoft published a new paper, Accelerating Sustainability with AI: Innovations for a Better Future. You can read the foreword below and explore the paper in its entirety.
Throughout history, societal transformations have been driven by the emergence of general-purpose technologies that reshaped entire economies, industries, and ways of life.
The steam engine, the printing press, electricity, and the internet have each marked pivotal social and economic shifts, leading to lasting changes in how we live and work. Today, AI stands as the latest—and potentially most powerful—general-purpose technology, offering an unprecedented opportunity to drive the societal transformations we urgently need to achieve the world’s sustainability goals.
In 2023, we published Accelerating Sustainability with AI: A Playbook, in which we highlighted that AI has three game-changing capabilities that make it an essential tool for accelerating sustainability. AI can enhance our ability to predict and optimize complex systems, accelerate the development and deployment of sustainable solutions, and empower the workforce to learn and achieve more—equipping society with the means to drive sustainability progress at a speed and scale previously beyond reach.
Over the last year, we have seen the potential of AI for sustainability in action, empowering the world with new tools for tackling the climate crisis and sustainability challenges more broadly. For example, earlier this year, Microsoft collaborated with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to use AI in discovering a new battery material requiring less lithium—a breakthrough achieved in weeks rather than the years that traditional research and development would have required. Reducing lithium dependence is crucial to decarbonization, as global demand for lithium is projected to outpace supply, potentially limiting the growth of the energy storage systems needed for the shift to electrification and renewable energy.
AI’s transformative capabilities extend far beyond sustainability, the world has an opportunity to harness AI to enhance both productivity and prosperity. By enabling smarter resource use, optimizing systems for efficiency, and fostering innovations in carbon-free energy and conservation, the AI economy also has the potential to advance both economic growth and environmental stewardship.
At Microsoft, we believe the world needs AI that is broadly accessible and trustworthy. This includes addressing the sustainability challenges associated with this technology. The five plays outlined in our AI and sustainability playbook reflect the targeted actions needed to unlock the full potential of AI for accelerating sustainability progress globally.
Across our sustainability work, we regularly assess our progress and adjust our strategies for greater impact. One lesson from this last year is that minimizing the sustainability impact of AI operations requires more than minimizing resource use in datacenter operations; it also requires supporting the communities where datacenters are located and expanding access to zero-carbon electricity. Global electricity demand is growing rapidly, at an estimated average annual rate of 3–4%. While AI currently consumes less than 0.3% of global electricity demand—and, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), is expected to remain a small portion in the decade ahead—rapid growth in certain regions can strain local grids.
In light of these realities, we have updated the third play of our playbook to include enhancing access to carbon-free energy on electricity grids and supporting local communities where we operate datacenters. In support of these expanded goals, we are expanding our effort to build and operate digital infrastructure that addresses societal challenges and creates benefits for communities.
This report highlights Microsoft’s innovations and actions to advance each of the five plays. Examples of our efforts across the five plays include:
Play 1: Invest in AI for sustainability
Microsoft is investing in building AI tools, such as MatterGen and MatterSim, which enable researchers to design and test materials with tenfold greater accuracy and significantly faster performance, while also predicting global weather and atmospheric processes with increased accuracy and at speeds up to 5,000 times greater than current forecasting systems. We are also building AI-enabled tools to empower stakeholders to more effectively and efficiently manage agriculture and water resources and to expedite the licensing process for carbon-free electricity.
Play 2: Develop digital and data infrastructure for the inclusive use of AI for sustainability
We are creating tools to fill critical data gaps, which can enhance AI models for better measuring and predicting complex systems such as biodiversity and climate. For instance, SPARROW captures images and acoustic recordings to gather data on biodiversity and ecosystem health in remote areas. Additionally, we are partnering with G42 on a $1 billion digital ecosystem initiative in Kenya.
Play 3: Minimize resource use, expand access to carbon-free electricity, and support local communities
Microsoft is innovating datacenter development with low-carbon materials like cross-laminated timber. Through an agreement with Brookfield, we aim to add 10.5 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy to the grid.
Play 4: Advance AI policy principles and governance for sustainability
We advocated for policies that accelerate grid decarbonization, including Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) transmission rules and provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States. In addition, we continue to advance AI governance within Microsoft and globally.
Play 5: Build workforce capacity to use AI for sustainability
Microsoft Philanthropies’ Skills for Social Impact program trained over 14 million people in digital and AI skills to support a workforce ready to deploy AI for sustainability. As the window for achieving global sustainability goals narrows, the urgency for action intensifies. The world needs every tool at its disposal, and the potential of AI to accelerate sustainability is already being realized. Sustainability is not a journey that can be taken alone, and unlocking the full potential of AI for climate progress requires continued partnerships to combine expertise, technology, and innovation. As we continue to explore the ways AI can advance sustainability, we invite others to join us in this journey.
Read the full report at https://aka.ms/AcceleratingSustainabilitywithAI2025