Clarification on Copilot & AI Services Coverage in M365 Emissions Dashboard

Hi Marcin,

Thanks for the information.

From your response, my understanding is that there are two distinct emissions categories:

1. Emissions associated with Azure usage (for example, shown in Azure Carbon Optimization as ~100 tCO₂e), and
2. Emissions associated with Microsoft 365 applications (for example, shown in the Emissions Impact Dashboard as ~150 tCO₂e).

Based on this, would it be correct to say that the total emissions would sum to 250 tCO₂e, with no overlap or double counting between these two categories?

Additionally, I understand that Copilot usage is currently excluded from both Azure and M365 reporting. Does this mean that, as of now, we are not able to view Copilot or agent‑specific emissions?

I also wanted to confirm: if I select “All” across all filters, does this represent emissions for the entire company?

Finally, could you please clarify what is included under Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in the report?

Thanks again for your assistance.

Kind regards,

Pulkit

Yep - AFAIK, it is correct to sum the figures from the Azure and Microsoft 365 dashboards to reach a total of 250 tCO₂e without double counting. Microsoft designs these reporting tools to be mutually exclusive, ensuring that the infrastructure emissions supporting Microsoft 365 applications are isolated from the consumption-based emissions generated by your specific Azure resources. While both rely on the same underlying data centers, the allocation methodology ensures that an emission assigned to an Exchange mailbox is not also billed to an Azure Virtual Machine.

Regarding AI tracking, you are currently unable to view specific emissions for Copilot for Microsoft 365 or custom Copilot agents in either dashboard. The power consumed by the underlying hardware is technically part of Microsoft's aggregate footprint, but my understanding is that it is not yet partitioned or exposed as a line item for customers. Effectively, your current environmental reporting will have a "blind spot" for the carbon impact of your AI usage until Microsoft integrates these specific categories into the dashboards.

Selecting "All" across all filters represents the emissions for your entire company only in the context of the specific tenant and enrollment you are viewing. If your organization operates across multiple Microsoft 365 tenants or separate Azure enrollments that are not linked to the same billing profile, you would need to aggregate the data from each individual instance to get a true company-wide total. For most standard setups with a single global tenant, "All" effectively covers your entire cloud-based Microsoft footprint.

In these reports, Scope 1 emissions represent the direct greenhouse gas emissions from sources owned or controlled by Microsoft, such as the combustion of fuel in backup generators at the data centers. Scope 2 emissions cover the indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heat, or cooling consumed by the data centers hosting your services. Both scopes are calculated and allocated to your account based on your specific usage levels relative to the total output of the regions where your data resides.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin

Hi Marcin,

Thanks for the clarification—this is much clearer now.

I had a couple of follow‑up questions. Do you have any insight into when emissions from Copilot or Copilot agents might become available, so that they can be included in sustainability reporting? Alternatively, is there any other recommended approach today to estimate or capture these emissions?

Additionally, I’m unable to see any emissions reduction data in the Azure Carbon Optimization tab. Do you know how I might troubleshoot this, or how to formally request access or visibility into emissions reduction data, if available?

Thanks again for your help.

Kind regards, Pulkit Jain

I'm not aware of any official announcements regarding specific release dates for integrating Copilot-specific emissions into the Emissions Impact Dashboard or Azure Carbon Optimization.

As a current alternative, you might consider third-party libraries like Code Carbon to estimate the footprint of computational workloads or perform manual top-down estimates. For a rough internal estimate, calculate the percentage of total Microsoft 365 or Azure compute spend that is attributed to AI and apply that ratio to their total reported cloud emissions.

If you are unable to see emissions reduction data in the Azure Carbon Optimization tab, the issue might be related to permissions or data availability. To view these insights, you must have the Owner, Contributor, Reader, or the specific Carbon Optimization Reader role assigned at the subscription level. Even with these roles, reduction data will only appear if Azure Advisor has identified specific optimization opportunities for your resources, such as rightsizing or shutting down idle virtual machines.

To troubleshoot further, ensure that you have selected the correct subscriptions in the filter blade, as the dashboard often defaults to a limited view. If permissions are correct and recommendations are still missing, you can formally request visibility by opening a support ticket in the Azure Portal under the "Sustainability" or "Cost Management" categories to confirm if your specific billing account or enrollment type has been fully provisioned for the Carbon Optimization service.

If the above response helps answer your question, remember to "Accept Answer" so that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

hth

Marcin