Brussels, 6th July 2023. Yesterday, the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact (CNDCP or The Pact) presented the results of its first certification round at a meeting with DG CNECT. Created by CISPE and EUDCA in 2021, the Pact established a Self-Regulatory Initiative (SRI) committing signatories to climate neutrality by 2030. Today, 95% of the first cohort of signatories, representing nearly 75% of data centre capacity in Europe, have been certified as meeting their obligations under the SRI. The certification confirms these businesses have the processes and measures in place to collect and analyse the data required to prove adherence to the goals and meet targets by 2030.
This year represents the first cycle of certification of Pact Operators against the five focus areas established under the Self-Regulatory Initiative. They are energy efficiency, renewable energy use, water efficiency, circular economy for electronics and circular economy for heat. Today we are pleased to confirm the adherence of 64 data centre operators who signed the Pact in its first year. Subsequent signatories will certify adherence based on 12-months of data collected since signing.
Due to the complexity of reporting, plus adaption to new legislation and regulation including the EU Taxonomy and the Energy Efficiency Directive, the certification process has taken longer than some anticipated. As a result, a small number of signatories had not completed their audits by the deadline of 1st July. However, they are on track to do so in the coming weeks. In recognition of this, they have been allocated the temporary status of ‘Certification – Pending.’ They will achieve full certifications once audit results are reported to the Board.
Commenting on the first certification cycle, chairperson of the Board, Matt Pullen, said: “The extremely high proportion of signatories which have successfully certified their climate neutral processes is a clear indication that industry has embraced self-regulation as a vital step towards meeting stringent targets for climate neutrality by 2030. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all our signatories for their hard work and commitment in achieving this significant milestone.”
Two operators have yet to inform the Board that they have commenced their certification process. They now have 60 days under the Pact’s governance to submit plans to achieve compliance. Once those plans have been agreed by the Board each will have six months to deliver. One SME has yet to confirm its self-certified status to its national trade association as per the governance. It too has 60 days to provide an update to the Board.
The full status of all signatories can be found on our website and will be updated as audits for those pending certification are completed.
About the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact: The Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact brings together over 100 Data Centres operators and providers of cloud infrastructures services and Sector Associations across Europe representing the majority of market actors in Europe. Established with the support of the European Commission and launched by Executive Vice President Timmermans in January 2021, the Pact is an unprecedented initiative by the data centre industry in Europe to proactively define and promote specific measures and targets to achieve climate neutrality across the sector by 2030.
For further information please contact:
Ben Maynard Ben.maynard@cispe.cloud
Nikolas Kockelmann nikolas.kockelmann@bureaubrussels.eu
