Connect | London // Major Panel: The Net‑Zero reality check - Can gigawatt-scale digital expansion align with climate goals?

Europe is entering the most aggressive build‑out cycle in its data center history, with demand forcing operators to deliver at unprecedented speed. At the same time, the updated EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EEED) is tightening the screws, with mandatory PUE, water, energy and waste‑heat reporting and rising scrutiny on operators from regulators. This session confronts a core tension for the next decade, whether Net Zero remains realistic in an era defined by accelerated compute and constrained grids. As operators race to meet stacked delivery pipelines, the question is whether sustainability is becoming a casualty of the AI‑era.

This session will examine:

• Whether delivery speed will continue to outrank sustainability as demand accelerates 
• The feasibility of achieving Net Zero without undermining commercial performance
• The climate‑resilience of current build standards and the risk of stranded assets
• The industry’s direction of travel on Net Zero amid gigawatt‑scale expansion
• How operators can navigate Europe’s increasingly fractured and divergent policy landscape