Delivering environmental stewardship and sustainability in data centre construction
ESG | read time: 3 min
As the use of AI technologies continues to explode, large scale, resilient data centres have become critical to the global digital economy.
In both developed and emerging economies, data centre construction is underway on an unprecedented scale, bringing with it an array of social and environmental impacts that need to be understood, managed and mitigated.
Apto, one of Europe’s leading hyperscale data centre companies, is at the forefront of delivering the latest wave of this digital infrastructure, committed to the development of safe and sustainable operations.
GoodCorporation has worked with Apto since its launch in 2023. Supporting the company’s determination to implement good environmental stewardship and sustainability, we began with the development of a robust compliance programme, including policies, procedures, registers and training materials. To strengthen the programme further, GoodCorporation has now developed the framework for Apto’s Environmental and Social Management System (ESMS).
Mitigating environmental and social risks in data centre projects
To limit energy consumption, water usage and greenhouse gas emissions from data centres, and to avoid impacting local residents and communities, regulators and investors now require large infrastructure constructors and operators to demonstrate not only what steps are being taken to mitigate these risks, but how they seek to promote environmental and social responsibility through the development and implementation of an ESMS framework.
Building and implementing an effective ESMS can help ensure that a company not only meets any sustainability legislation that applies, it can also facilitate access to capital at preferential rates in certain markets.
Applying its established methodology for risk evaluation and mitigation, GoodCorporation worked with Apto to devise the following process.
Key project stages
1. Scoping and analysis:
Working closely with senior leaders, the scope of the ESMS framework was evaluated and determined. Existing environmental and social practices and procedures were reviewed and benchmarked against European legal requirements and recognised best practice to identify any gaps. Relevant stakeholders were also identified and interviewed to provide a deeper understanding of the current systems and strengthen the gap analysis.
2. Action plan development:
Drawing on the document analysis and stakeholder interviews, a draft action plan was developed and discussed with senior management and internal stakeholders with responsibility for implementing the identified actions. A successful ESMS framework will be dynamic and adaptive, with continuous improvement at its heart. It therefore requires an action plan setting out what needs to be achieved at various stages, with roles and responsibilities clearly defined. GoodCorporation worked closely with the senior leadership team to ensure the plan addressed any gaps identified and that each action was prioritised with clear deadlines and assigned responsibilities.
3. ESMS policy development:
To underpin the action plan, GoodCorporation drafted a comprehensive ESMS policy that aligned with all relevant sustainability regulation and financial institution requirements.
4. Supporting policy development:
Any ESMS framework will cover an arc of environmental and social governance matters. As such it is likely to require a suite of supporting policies to be fully effective. The final stage of the project was to review and amend any existing policies to ensure they aligned with the ESMS programme and supported Apto’s environmental and social commitments. This included reviewing and updating Apto’s Procurement Policy so that it was in line with the expectations of the newly implemented ESMS Framework.
Commenting on the ESMS programme, Hannah Kramer, Chief Legal Officer for Apto said: “Apto is committed to reducing the environmental impact of data centres by including sustainability criteria in site selection, design, construction and operational parameters. We wanted to work with GoodCorporation to develop a leading ESMS policy that would support our vision for the next wave of data centre development. GoodCorporation has designed a policy and supporting action plan that allows us to evidence how our sustainability risks are identified, mitigated and managed. This helps ensure not only regulatory compliance but also supports ethical and transparent ESG data disclosures to meet our obligations to investors.”
Gareth Thomas, GoodCorporation Director and project lead added: “Data centres will become an increasingly dominant component of our global infrastructure, making the management of environmental and social risks critical. Apto is at the forefront of promoting and delivering sustainable data centre operations and we were delighted to support their goals through the development of a robust and rigorous ESMS framework.”
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