Google Cloud vs Microsoft Azure: green hosting compared
Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure side by side: each one's Green Web Foundation listing, where its data centres are and how carbon-intensive those grids are, and the evidence it publishes. They are in alphabetical order: no host pays for its place.
The difference
Only Google Cloud is listed in the Green Web Foundation's directory of verified green providers; we found no matching entry for Microsoft Azure.
Neither host's listed countries all have lower-carbon grids than the other's. Across both, their countries' grid averages run from 28 gCO2e/kWh in Norway (2025) to 705 gCO2e/kWh in Indonesia (2025), so which grid your site runs on depends on the region you choose.
These are the facts we can show, not a verdict on which is greener: the listing, the grids and each company's own claims measure different things, and none of them measures your website. Each host's full page has every quote and source.
Each dot is a country where the host lists data centres, placed by that country's grid average. Google Cloud, listed in the Green Web Foundation's directory: 29 countries, from 35 gCO2e/kWh in Sweden to 705 in Indonesia. Microsoft Azure, no matching entry in the Green Web Foundation's directory: 32 countries, from 28 gCO2e/kWh in Norway to 705 in Indonesia.
Show the data as a table
| Country | Grid average, gCO2e/kWh | Year | Google Cloud | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | 28 | 2025 | No | Yes |
| Sweden | 35 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Switzerland | 39 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| France | 41 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Finland | 57 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| New Zealand | 92 | 2025 | No | Yes |
| Denmark | 100 | 2025 | No | Yes |
| Brazil | 109 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Austria | 117 | 2025 | No | Yes |
| Belgium | 151 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Spain | 153 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Canada | 192 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| United Kingdom | 218 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Netherlands | 254 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Ireland | 263 | 2025 | No | Yes |
| Italy | 284 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Chile | 291 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Germany | 334 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| United States | 384 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| South Korea | 418 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| United Arab Emirates | 470 | 2025 | No | Yes |
| Japan | 474 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Mexico | 481 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Israel | 493 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Singapore | 497 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Australia | 518 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Thailand | 526 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| Qatar | 582 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Poland | 591 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Malaysia | 606 | 2025 | No | Yes |
| Taiwan (China) | 634 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| India | 671 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Hong Kong (SAR of China) | 676 | 2024 | Yes | Yes |
| Saudi Arabia | 680 | 2025 | Yes | No |
| South Africa | 699 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
| Indonesia | 705 | 2025 | Yes | Yes |
Google Cloud
- Green Web Foundation
Listed in the Green Web Foundation's directory of verified green providers, checked 17 October 2026.
GWF lists it as “Google Cloud” (provider 595).
GWF does not publish when a provider was last verified. Providers verified before October 2026 are reassessed under its new criteria, which no longer accept offsets, at their next reverification.
- Data centres
South Africa, Taiwan (China), Hong Kong (SAR of China), Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Australia, Finland, Sweden, Poland, Spain, Belgium, United Kingdom, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, France, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and United States
The countries of Google Cloud's public regions.
- Grid average where they are
- Across the listed countries, from 35 gCO2e/kWh in Sweden (2025) to 705 gCO2e/kWh in Indonesia (2025).
- Google Cloud's own evidence
- Carbon free energy for Google Cloud regions 13 October 2026
- Google 2026 Environmental Report June 2026
- Evidence checked
- 16 October 2026
Microsoft Azure
- Green Web Foundation
No matching entry in the Green Web Foundation's directory when we checked on 17 October 2026.
We looked for a provider with Microsoft Azure's website and found none. That says nothing either way about the energy behind its hosting; the evidence below is Microsoft Azure's own.
- Data centres
Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, India, United States, Chile, Denmark, Hong Kong (SAR of China), France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Qatar, South Africa, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and Netherlands
The countries of Azure's public cloud regions; China and US government clouds are separate.
- Grid average where they are
- Across the listed countries, from 28 gCO2e/kWh in Norway (2025) to 705 gCO2e/kWh in Indonesia (2025).
- Microsoft Azure's own evidence
- 2026 Environmental Sustainability Report 9 July 2026
- Evidence checked
- 16 October 2026
Grid figures: Ember, Yearly electricity data (2026), CC BY 4.0. Listing data from the Green Web Foundation's Green Web Dataset, made available under the Open Database License (ODbL).