Measuring Up? The Illusion of Sustainability and the Limits of Big Tech Self-Regulation

This paper offers a critical analysis of the 2023 sustainability reports of five major ICT corporations: Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft. It scrutinises how these organisations use sustainability data, particularly within the context of their actions, their planned initiatives, and visions for the future to report on three overarching sustainability narratives: 1. Reducing the climate footprint of their own operations; 2. Influencing and reducing the climate footprint of their supply chain and consumers; and 3. Financing innovation for climate change. Despite all five corporations expressing a commitment to sustainability and confronting climate change, their specific actions and planned initiatives differ, influenced by their core businesses and existing sustainability practices. This becomes more apparent in their choice to use their own intricate measuring infrastructures for self-tracking and self-reporting environmental data. Such infrastructures, although purportedly aimed at showcasing progress towards sustainability goals, face scrutiny due to their lack of transparency and the potential for manipulation and greenwashing, especially given the lack of standardised reporting protocols within the sector. This analysis highlights that, despite these companies’ claims of commitment to carbon neutrality, their climate pledges and sustainability goals are rarely achieved. In this framework, this paper suggests that a critical approach is essential when evaluating Big Tech’s often deceptive sustainability narratives and underscores the need for more rigorous regulatory frameworks and independent third-party audits to ensure genuine progress towards a sustainable future and true accountability.