New report compares big tech's approach to nature in data centre plans

A new report, thought to be the first scorecard to compare nature strategy across Europe’s data centres, reveals striking differences in how the world’s largest technology companies integrate nature into their data centres.

The Europe’s data centres: The nature report card, from leading European carbon-removal developer Arbonics, reviews Google, Microsoft, Meta and Apple’s European data centres. It compares and ranks their approaches to land use, site design and ecosystem restoration, and evaluates how much nature restoration would be needed to balance each facility’s annual emissions.

As demand for AI accelerates, the footprint of Europe’s data centre sector faces growing scrutiny. Electricity demand is projected to rise from 96 TWh in 2024 to 168 TWh by 2030 and 236 TWh by 2035, a 150% increase in just over a decade. The International Energy Agency expects Europe to remain one of the world’s largest regions for data centre electricity use.

The companies driving the AI race are also, in many cases, at the forefront of integrating nature into their operations. Microsoft emerges as the report’s overall leader, with 6,414 hectares of land permanently protected (more than its estimated global data centre footprint) and over 77,000 trees planted through community projects. Its initiatives include native planting at Middenmeer in the Netherlands, large-scale tree planting in West Dublin, and riverbank restoration in Spain.

However, the report warns that despite encouraging examples, nature-first design is far from standard practice. The development of large hyperscale facilities continues to involve land conversion, material-intensive construction, and changes to local ecosystems. Arbonics argues that because of this, operators should go further and restore enough nature to compensate for their annual operational emissions.

Forests offer a clear pathway to repairing the pressures linked to data centre development. Trees sequester carbon, rebuild soils, regulate water and support biodiversity. One year of operations at Meta’s Luleå data centre in Sweden would require restoring 3,350 hectares of forest, equivalent to planting 8.4 million trees, according to the report. Google’s Hamina site in Finland would require around 19.4 million trees — enough to cover the city of Paris.

“Data centre operators can help re-establish the ecosystem processes that support their infrastructure, creating long-term ecological value alongside their climate commitments” said Lisett Luik, co-founder of Arbonics.

The report acknowledges that past industrial growth cost Europe much of its nature; forests once covered roughly 80% of the continent, falling to less than half by the end of the seventeenth century. The next wave of growth, driven by AI, can take a different path. To help operators act on this, it outlines four priorities:

Increase land restoration

Prioritise brownfield over greenfield development

Report biodiversity at site level

Integrate nature-led design features, such as green roofs

Looking ahead to 2026, the report identifies several trends that will define the sector’s next chapter. Demand will continue to place growing pressure on land, water and grid capacity. Water stewardship will become a central concern, alongside a shift from carbon to measuring real ecological outcomes, including habitat and biodiversity restoration. Community trust will also play a larger role in determining where new data centres can be built. These trends show that nature-led design will need to play a far greater role in how the sector grows.

“The conversation has been framed as a trade-off for too long: innovation versus conservation, progress versus protection. But that narrative no longer holds. Europe’s balance between digital progress and nature restoration will rest on the choices of a handful of major technology companies, and it’s crucial that they get it right” said Lisett Luik, co-founder of Arbonics.