Decarbonising digital infrastructure and urban sustainability in the case of data centres

Abstract This paper critically assesses the complex interplay between urban transitions of digitisation and sustainability. Building on a mixed-method research design, we unpack the challenges of decarbonising digital infrastructure while attending to urban sustainability goals in a land- and water-scarce country facing significant physical climate risks. We identify transferrable lessons on the economic, technological, and environmental synergies and trade-offs behind data centre development and argue that stewarding the global data centre sector towards sustainability requires an ecosystem-wide approach. We identify implementation gaps across five key dimensions: technological innovation, policy and regulation, finance, infrastructure, and people. We find that the progress and uptake of sustainability initiatives are often impeded by risk-averse DC operators, who are most concerned with real and perceived risks of downtime. We conclude with recommendations for data centre stakeholders to align the low-carbon transition of the data centre sector with broader objectives of climate resilience, smart city development, and sustainable finance.