Robert Nussey, Nature Positive Manager at Ramboll UK, and Dr Andrea Bueno, Senior Consultant – Biodiversity & Ecosystems at Ramboll Deutschland GmbH, explain why biodiversity needs to be a business imperative for data centres.
In the face of escalating environmental challenges and the proliferation of digital technology, biodiversity has emerged as a critical concern for the development and operation of data centres, and all businesses. With more than half of global GDP moderately or highly dependent on natural ecosystems, biodiversity loss is not just the concern of environmentalists but is increasingly recognised as a material risk for business.
As awareness of the importance of biodiversity grows, so do the risks associated with ignoring it. We are on a trajectory of continued environmental degradation and diminishing natural resources, which left unchecked has consequences for business, communities, and the planet. Data centres that fail to consider environmental concerns associated with their construction, high energy demands, land and water usage may end up facing shortfalls in supply chains, regulatory and community resistance to planning, operational challenges (e.g. water scarcity), financial losses and reputational damage as a result.
The growing regulatory landscape
The United Nations Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), signed at COP15 in 2022, provided a landmark agreement to create, enable and motivate global action on nature by governments and private organisations. In a concerted global effort to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, several laws have been enacted that align with the objectives of the GBF.
For example, the European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) entered into force in January 2023 with the first companies needing to apply rules for the first time in the 2024 financial year, which mandates businesses to disclose their environmental and social impacts. It aims to ensure that companies’ activities positively impact people and the environment both through supply chains and at data centre locations.
This directive supports the GBF by promoting transparency more generally in corporate sustainability and encouraging businesses to consider their impacts and dependencies on biodiversity. Disclosure and reporting will open up a company’s nature action to public and financial scrutiny.
Under this directive, the data centre sector is required to address its environmental and business risks and provide evidence to substantiate biodiversity-related claims. Risk of ‘greenwashing’ must also be avoided, with recent EU legislation requiring companies to ensure environmental claims for their products and services are verifiable and science-based.
The EU Nature Restoration Law is the first continent-wide, comprehensive law of its kind aligning with global targets set under the GBF. It forms a key part of the EU’s strategy on restoring degraded ecosystems, setting binding targets to restore at least 20% of the EU’s land and sea areas by 2030, and all ecosystems in need of restoration by 2050.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is an approach to development and land management, that aims to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than it was beforehand. In England, BNG is mandatory under a statutory framework introduced by the Environment Act 2021 which came into force on 12 February 2024. It obliges the majority of developers to ensure that their projects result in a net gain of 10% for biodiversity, meaning that post-development there should be more or better-quality natural habitat than pre-development. Whilst England and other countries in the UK are early in the adoption of this approach, over 100 countries have national policies linked to BNG, No Net Loss (NNL) and biodiversity offsetting principles.
Incorporating nature at all stages
Compliance with increasing regulation will aid the data centre industry to improve its relationship with nature. Data centres that prioritise biodiversity can also enhance their operational performance and benefit their corporate social responsibility profile. Here’s how biodiversity considerations can be implemented at all stages of data centre development and operation:
- Site selection: Evaluate the new location’s impact on local biodiversity, avoiding ecologically valuable areas including protected areas, areas with endangered species, and regions with unique ecosystems to minimise disruption to nature.
- Landscape design: Create a biodiverse environment which provides nature-based solutions with features like trees to aid natural cooling through shade and transpiration (reducing the need for artificial cooling and thus saving energy), and rain gardens to hold storm water run-off in the face of increased flooding events. Increasing the biodiversity value of a site provides habitat for local animals and plants, while healthy ecosystems tend to be more resilient and effective at managing risks, potentially protecting the data centre, its equipment and infrastructure.
- Building design: Optimising the available space helps minimise land use change and its contribution to habitat loss and fragmentation. For example, using data centre roofs to combine solar panels and green roofs saves space on the ground.
- Construction phase: Support local nature with mitigation measures, such as limiting vegetation clearance, controlling erosion, and reducing pollution and sediment run-off. Be aware of the supply chain impacts on nature and use sustainable or repurposed construction materials where possible, thereby reducing consumption of raw materials from nature. Reuse or recycle construction waste materials and help increase the focus on circular economy. All of these actions help protect ecosystems and reduce biodiversity impacts at the site level and the supply chain.
- Operational stage: Implement sustainable practices aligned with nature, such as employing renewable energy sources like solar or wind, installing water-efficient cooling, water recycling and air-cooling when possible to minimise freshwater abstraction, and incorporating innovative solutions to repurpose waste heat, for example, by channelling it to nearby buildings or other facilities, or to public heating networks.
- Decommission: Finally, when a data centre is decommissioned, aim to reuse or repurpose the building materials by undertaking a pre-deconstruction audit, thereby reducing industry reliance on raw materials from nature. Once cleared, restore the site to natural conditions in a way that benefits local biodiversity.
Biodiversity plays a crucial role in the sustainability of data centres. By integrating tangible actions at every stage throughout their lifecycle, data centres can minimise their environmental impact, enhance their resilience, and foster positive relations with local communities and stakeholders. Embracing biodiversity is not only fundamental to the environmental stewardship of data centres, but it is also a strategic siting, construction and operational decision that underpins their long-term performance and viability.
