Shareholders Demand More Data on AI Water Consumption

Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet’s Google have each recently abandoned construction of multibillion-dollar data centers over community opposition, and now the companies are coming under shareholder pressure over the environmental impact of their projects.

More than a dozen investors are increasing pressure on companies ahead of annual shareholder meetings this spring, seeking more data on the tech giants’ water usage and conservation efforts as they seek to expand their computing power, according to Reuters interviews.

Trillium Asset Management, a Boston-based firm with more than $4 billion in assets under management, filed a resolution with Alphabet in December seeking clarity on how it will meet existing climate goals given the surging energy needs of its data centers, according to Andrea Ranger, director of shareholder advocacy.

The company pledged in 2020 to halve its emissions and use carbon-free energy sources by 2030. Yet Trillium said emissions instead rose 51%, leaving investors “in the dark” about how it planned to meet the goals.A similar resolution from Trillium last year won support from nearly a quarter of independent shareholders.

Green Century Capital Management shareholder advocate Giovanna Eichner, meanwhile, said it was in discussions with Nvidia about submitting a resolution “to ensure that short-term AI gains do not come at the cost of long-term climate and financial risk,” declining to share more details.

Shareholders also want more data on the companies’ water usage. North American data centers used nearly 1 trillion liters of water in 2025, according to data from market research firm Mordor Intelligence, roughly equivalent to the annual demands of New York City.

While Meta, Google, Amazon and Microsoft have all started using closed-loop cooling in their data centers that requires much less water, the data on that usage varies.

Meta’s 2025 environmental report showed water usage for the sites it owned, but not for the ones it leased or that were under construction. Total usage rose 51% from 3,726 megaliters in 2020 to 5,637 megaliters in 2024, enough water to supply more than 13,000 homes for a year.

Google’s 2025 environmental report showed data for the sites it owns and leases, but not those operated by third parties.

Microsoft reported total water usage, but not by site, in its sustainability report.

Amazon did not report total water usage data and instead provided figures showing usage per unit of power in its 2025 sustainability report.

Josh Weissman, director of infra capacity delivery at Amazon, said it was “increasingly disclosing site-specific water consumption data where we operate.”An Amazon spokesperson added that the company was committed to being a “good neighbor” and was investing in efficiency efforts, bringing new energy online and reducing its water use.

Site-level data is crucial because it helps investors better assess the operational risks and the performance of the company in managing them, investors said, adding they also wanted to know more about efforts to replenish water supplies.“We haven’t seen them disclosing enough about their water consumption and the impact on the local community,” said Jason Qi, lead technology analyst at Calvert Research and Management.