Microsoft

Microsoft is widely acknowledged for being a sustainability leader, so it’s shocking that in the 2022 election cycle, Microsoft’s political action committee (PAC) gave $239,500 to politicians with the worst environmental track records in Congress—a figure 94 percent above the average amount given to that same group by other corporate PACs in the UNFK database. This $239,500 figure represents 44 percent of Microsoft’s PAC contributions to candidates overall in that cycle. (By contrast, only about 13 percent of Microsoft’s individual employee contributions went to that same group.) 

A few years ago, Microsoft committed not just to reducing its emissions but to wiping out all the carbon the company and its suppliers have emitted since its founding in 1975. In reality, Microsoft actually saw a 21 percent jump in emissions last year due to some big data center expansions and a pandemic-fueled surge in Xbox sales and usage. 

It’s true that Microsoft was one of only two to receive an overall A letter grade from As You Sow’s Road to Net Zero and it also received top marks from the CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project). However, the company has relationships with industry lobbying groups like the Chamber of Commerce and Business Roundtable, each of which has a long history of opposing strong environmental policies. In fact, Microsoft’s Head of Government Affairs, Fred Humphries, Jr., is on the board of the Chamber of Commerce. 

Additionally, while Microsoft has acknowledged environmental justice as part of its overall racial justice stance, corporate watchdog As You Sow’s Racial Justice Scorecard reports that some of Microsoft’s policies and practices have had negative impacts on BIPOC communities. 

Unfortunately, Microsoft is another example of the corporate walk not matching the corporate talk. Microsoft’s bold climate rhetoric is being undermined by the political company it keeps as well as market-driven expansions that don’t align with its ambitious climate goals. We’d like to see Microsoft using its vast resources on upgrading its response to the climate emergency. Real leadership isn’t easy.