Europe must create life-cycle based sustainability criteria for data centres – CSC’s statement on draft EU sustainability rating scheme
The ICT sector’s sustainability is a crucial factor for both the EU’s climate goals and the industry’s own outlook which cannot neglect ambitious climate, energy and environmental targets.
CSC welcomes the creation of an EU-wide data centre sustainability rating scheme and is pleased to note the comprehensive approach the draft regulation takes to the sustainability of the operational phase of a data centre. However, for the rating scheme to be truly impactful, it must address the sustainability of the whole lifecycle of a data centre from construction through the operational phase to decommissioning. A comprehensive, life-cycle based rating scheme would be a good basis for further work on reducing the climate and environmental footprint of all energy-intensive industries through EU regulations, funding programmes, KPIs and incentives.