Tencent sustainability score: 40/100
Tencent is a Chinese internet group based in Shenzhen: games, social networks such as WeChat and QQ, and music and video subscriptions bring in about half its revenue, and advertising, payments and cloud services most of the rest. Tencent Holdings Limited was incorporated in 1999 in the British Virgin Islands and moved its registration to the Cayman Islands in 2004; its roots go back to 1998 (Shenzhen Tencent Computer Systems Company Limited).
More about Tencent
It had 115,849 employees at the end of 2025 and RMB751.8 billion revenue in 2025.
Founded 1999Head office Shenzhen, ChinaStaff ~115,849 (31 December 2025)Revenue ~RMB751.8B revenue (2025)Website ↗
Tencent's footprint was 5.97 million tCO2e in 2025, mostly from the data centres it owns and leases; it fell 1.5% on 2024 but is still above its 2021 base, and its electricity use rose 35%. Its supply-chain figure counts almost nothing for the content, game development and marketing it buys, so the size deduction for an incomplete footprint (0.70x) applies. 48.5% of its electricity is green, through power purchase agreements and certificates. It has SBTi-validated targets and aims for carbon neutrality by 2030, partly with offsets. Its water use has risen by almost half since 2023.
Tencent scores 40/100 (Below expectations) on SINK's independent climate assessment, scored from public data only. Scores are free. Companies can never pay for anything about their own score. Last verified November 2026.
That places Tencent joint 409th of 934 companies scored, and 14th of 28 in Media / Entertainment / Publishing.
What is Tencent doing well, and where does it fall short?
Strongest on Carbon Footprint: Operations and Targets & Commitments (8/10, 7/10). Weakest on Emissions Trajectory and Water Impact (2/10, 4/10).
Where Tencent lost points
For each question that lost points, the evidence our public rubric looks for that we didn't find.
- Emissions from its own operations8/10No verified figures published with their method and a falling trend.
- Emissions from its supply chain5/10Most of its supply-chain (Scope 3) emissions aren't measured.
- Whether its emissions are falling2/10No evidence its emissions are falling, not even from energy bills or mileage.
- How clean its energy is5/10Less than half its energy shown to be renewable, or no transition plan.
- Its effect on nature5/10Its effect on nature isn't measured or independently verified.
- How it uses materials and handles waste5/10No measurable waste or recycling targets reported publicly.
- Its effect on water4/10No measured water footprint with reduction targets.
- Its climate targets7/10Its targets aren't validated by the Science Based Targets initiative.
- How openly it reports7/10No annual impact report, or no pay linked to climate targets.
- Its record on controversies7/10Points deducted for controversies or its business model. The finding is under question 10.
A score changes when the evidence does. We use new published evidence at the next rescore. Anyone can send us new evidence, free. How to send it.
How is Tencent's SINK score calculated?
Same ten questions for every company. No private weighting.
SINK = (0.3 × Base + 0.7 × Performance) × ScaleHas Tencent's score changed?
Tencent's score has moved from 45 to 40 across 2 recorded reviews, down 5 points.
- 45 → 40-54 November 2026
Re-scored on v2.5 (brand batch: streaming, owner rulings 2026-11-04): Media / Entertainment as largest segment; category 1 at 0.07% of Scope 3 = partial, 0.70x. Sector corrected "SaaS / Digital Services" (base 70) → "Media / Entertainment / Publishing" (base 60), sourced from OWNER_RULING Owner ruling 2026-11-04: Media / Entertainment / Publishing. No segment is over half of revenue, so the largest decides. FY2025 annual results announcement (18 March 2026): total revenues RMB751.8bn; Value-added Services RMB369.3bn (49.1%: domestic games 164.2, international games 77.4, social networks incl. music and video subscriptions 127.7), Marketing Services RMB145.0bn (19.3%), FinTech and Business Services incl. cloud RMB229.4bn (30.5%), Others RMB8.1bn (1.1%). The SaaS / Digital Services mapping is overridden.
- Scored 4511 April 2026
Initial score at platform launch
What evidence is Tencent's score based on?
11 sources used in this assessment. All publicly available. Each row shows which of the ten questions it informed.
18% of them were published by Tencent itself; the rest come from independent sources.
Tencent reports a 2025 footprint of 5,965,348 tCO2e, but its purchased goods and services (Scope 3 category 1) are about 0.07% of its Scope 3, so the content, game development and marketing it buys are almost entirely missing. SINK treats its Scope 3 as partial, so the size deduction for an incomplete footprint (0.70x) applies.
“In 2025, our Scope 2 emissions using the location-based method were 4,906,182.6 tCO2e.”
“representing an increase of 3.1% compared to the base year (2021)”
“Renewable energy share achieved 21.4% in leased data centers in 2025”
“Tencent performed comprehensive accounting exercise of all 15 categories of Scope 3 emissions”
“Tencent commits to reduce absolute scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions 70% by 2030 from a 2021 base year.”
“This was significantly less than that of Alibaba Group (15.4% in FY2023) and Tencent (12.4%).”
“Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu took the top three spots in Greenpeace”
“Tencent was responsible for 5.1 million tons of carbon dioxide last year”
“Tencent Holdings Ltd. is stepping up the use of renewable energy with a goal of zeroing out emissions by 2030”
“This company received a CDP Water Security score of B.”
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How does Tencent compare with other media / entertainment / publishing companies?
Where Tencent sits among media / entertainment / publishing peers.
Among the 28 major media / entertainment / publishing brands we've scored, Tencent sits 14th of 28.
Who scores higher in Media / Entertainment / Publishing?
The 3 companies in the sector scoring nearest above Tencent.
Netflix's climate footprint is growing in absolute terms despite intensity-based targets, driven by rising Scope 3 emissions from production outsourcing.
See the breakdown →Spotify's footprint rose 3.9% to 202,666 tCO2e in 2025, almost all of it in its supply chain, mainly cloud computing, marketing and other bought-in services, estimated mostly from spending.
See the breakdown →Which companies moved this week, and why.
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