According to Ursula von der Leyen , the President of the European Commission , the European Green Deal would represent the continent ' s " man on the moon moment ". The signing of the European Green Deal was a critical moment in the sustainability efforts of not only data centres , but the entirety of Europe . In this month ’ s timeline , we explore the influence that this deal has had on the industry , and the pioneering achievements of Europe ’ s data centres – both after the deal was formed and predating this initiative .

The Scottish cloud and IT company iomart was one of the first in Europe – and , indeed , the world – to reach carbon neutrality . In 2007 , it achieved the carbon neutral status for its English data centre – a feat that was reached long before this sustainability metric was the focus of popular discussion .

The Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact is formed

In advance of the European Green Deal , the Climate Neutral Data Centre Pact was established to provide Europe ’ s data centre industry with a clear path to sustainability . The self-regulated initiative implemented a number of goals – spanning energy efficiency , green power and heat reuse – including an agreement to make data centres climate neutral by 2030 .

16 April 2023