Digital Infrastructure in the Face of Climate Change: What Risk for Networks, Data Centers, and Telecom Services?
- Apr 14
- 7 min read
It would be easy to imagine that the “cloud” is immaterial. In reality, it relies on very tangible infrastructure: data centers, power grids, fiber optics, telecom equipment, and cooling systems. Like all critical infrastructure, these assets are exposed to the effects of climate change. Heatwaves, floods, water stress, storms, and supply chain disruptions are no longer distant possibilities, they are now operational and strategic challenges.
In this article, we will explore why and how companies must integrate climate risks into the design, sizing, and management of their digital infrastructure in order to sustainably strengthen resilience.
This article is based on a webinar held in March 2026 with Emma Le Boulicaut, Head of Responsible Digital at la Direction Générale des Entreprises, and Gregory Lebourg, Global Environmental Director at OVH.
Behing the “Cloud": Very Real Dependencies
An often-overlooked reality: even if they are “in the cloud,” virtual, artificial, and distributed, digital services are not detached from the physical world. They always depend on a server in a building, a power supply, IT equipment, cooling systems, telecom connectivity, and a physical supply chain. In other words, the resilience of a digital service depends on a set of interconnected physical infrastructures.
This materiality creates significant vulnerability of digital services to climate risks. A heatwave can degrade a data center’s cooling performance; a flood can impact technical basements or backup equipment; drought can restrict water access; and storms can damage overhead networks or cause prolonged power outages.
The risk therefore comes not only from the site itself, but also from its dependencies: energy, water, telecoms, maintenance, and supply chains.
Climate Events | Impacts | Consequences |
Extreme heat | The deterioration of data center cooling systems | Preventive shutdowns and declining infrastructure performance |
Floods | Flooding of utility basements and emergency equipment | Extended downtime and significant property damage |
Drought | Restrictions on access to water necessary for the operation of certain infrastructure | Limited operational capacity and rising energy costs |
Storms (strong winds) | Damage to overhead power lines, causing prolonged power outages | Telecommunications disruptions, affecting the continuity of digital services and the reliability of infrastructure |
Concrete and Already Documented Industrial Cases
This vulnerabilities are not theorical. Hurricane Sandy, which hit the U.S. East Coast in 2012, is a striking example. Many data centers were disrupted by power outages and flooding. A data center operated by Datagram on the 25th floor of a Manhattan tower experienced a four-day outage because its fuel reserves and pumping system for its backup generator were located in the basement and were flooded.
In July 2022, the UK recorded a national temperature record of 40,3°C. The Met Office noted that this extreme heat event was unprecedented and that such events are becoming more likely due to climate change. Under a medium emissions scenario, a year like 2022 could become “average” by mid-century in the UK.
This crisis highlighted the need to design infrastructure based on robust and reliable climate projections that account for extreme events exceeding historical data.
The heatwave had very concrete effects on digital infrastructure. The BBC reported that Google and Oracle experienced incidents in London due to cooling system failures, as systems were pushed beyond their design limits. Even for major players with redundancy, extreme heat can cause outages and preventive shutdowns.
Digital Infrastructure: Data Centers on the Front Line
Data centers concentrate a significant share of the risk because they combine several vulnerabilities: strong dependence on electricity, constant cooling needs, sensitivity to ambient temperature, and sometimes reliance on water depending on the technology used. The ADEME highlights that these infrastructures have become strategic digital assets, with operations requiring continuous energy supply, where cooling can represent a major share of site consumption.
The energy challenge is even more strategic as the global footprint of data centers continues to grow:
2022: between 240 et 340 TWh (IEA), representing 1 to 1,3 % of the global final electricity demand.
2030 projections: consumption could exceed 800TWh/year, according to the European Commission, driven by AI and high performance and high-performance computing.
The risk is not limited to the “data center building.” It often begins with the power supply. Gregory Lebourg notes that some older cables can become critical when temperatures exceed their design range. Climate exposure therefore also lies in upstream infrastructure, less visible but equally crucial.
Water, Heat, Electricity: An Increasingly Sensitive Trio
Even before addressing performance or capacity, digital infrastructure depends on a fundamental physical balance: producing, supplying, and dissipating. This balance, long considered stable, is becoming more fragile due to climate change. Rising temperatures increase cooling needs, pressure on power grids complicates energy supply, and drought raises concerns about water availability.
These constraints, once managed separately, are now increasingly cumulative and interdependent.
“A data center in Strasbourg consumes about 50 GWh of electricity per year but 15,000 m³ of water.” — Gregory Lebourg, Global Envrionmental Director, OVH Cloud
This does not make water a secondary issue. In France, the Arcep reports that data centers withdrew 681,000 m³ of water in 2023, mostly potable water, representing a 19% increase in one year. While still modest compared to other uses, this growth highlights its emergence as an environmental concern.
At its core, the issue is not so much determining whether water or electricity is the main challenge, but rather recognizing that adaptation strategies must be tailored to local contexts. A site facing extreme heat will not have the same priorities as one exposed to flooding, drought, or storms. This is why it is essential to adopt an approach based on local climate projections across different scenarios, along with an analysis of critical dependencies.
What Companies Need to Take Away
Companies that rely heavily on digital infrastructure, cloud services, hosted ERP systems, telecom networks, control centers, or IoT devices, must now fully integrate climate challenges into their risk analysis.
“The cloud is not in the sky; it is anchored in exposed territories.” — International Energy Agency
1) Impacts Go Far Beyond Physical Sites
Impacts can also be indirect through providers, hosting services, networks, and the broader supply chain. It is therefore essential to anticipate future climate risks:
Map critical dependencies (IT, energy, water, connectivity)
Assess suppliers’ geographic exposure to climate hazards
Integrate future climate scenarios (not just historical data)
According to Gartner, over 80% of companies will have experienced a significant supplier-related disruption by 2025.
This approach helps anticipate both direct impacts (site flooding, data center overheating) and indirect effects, which are often harder to control: supplier outages, connectivity disruptions, resource shortages, or maintenance delays.
2) Rethinking Design: Robustness and Efficiency
The intensification of climate hazards requires a deep rethink of infrastructure design standards. Historical assumptions based on past climate conditions are no longer sufficient.
Key levers include:
Adapting cooling systems (closed-loop water cooling, optimized free cooling, reduced water dependence)
Expanding equipment operating ranges to tolerate higher temperatures
Integrating climate scenarios into infrastructure sizing
Developing distributed architectures to avoid single points of failure
“We must design systems capable of surviving extreme conditions, not just optimizing performance under normal ones." — Uptime Institute
3) Resilience Depends on an Entire Ecosystem
Digital infrastructure never operates in isolation. Its reliability depends on interconnected systems: power supply, water availability, telecom networks, backup systems, site access, and maintenance logistics. A failure in any one of these can compromise the entire service.
According to the OECD, economis losses from climate-related disasters could exceed 3-5 % of global GDP by the end of the century, without adaptation.
These interdependencies become more critical as multiple systems can be affected simultaneously by the same event.
To strengthen resilience, companies must adopt a systemic approach:
Secure critical supplies (power redundancy, energy storage, diversified sources)
Anticipate local constraints (water stress, grid vulnerability, exposure)
Ensure intervention capacity (site access, workforce availability, spare parts)
4) Diagnose and Prevent
Prevention remains the most effective strategy. In digital infrastructure, this involves proactive maintenance and continuous monitoring. Relatively simple actions can significantly reduce impacts:
Adjust temperature thresholds and monitor equipment in real time
Regularly maintain cooling systems
Update backup systems (power supply, batteries, generators)
Secure sensitive areas (cabling, technical rooms, flood-prone zones)
These low-cost actions help prevent major failures, service disruptions, extend infrastructure lifespan, and control long-term costs.
"Every dollar invested in resilience can avoid up to dur dollars in losses." - World Bank
5) Time as a Strategic Factor
Time is a critical parameter in managing digital infrastructure but is often underestimated in climate adaptation strategies. These infrastructures have long investment cycles (15–30 years), and design and location decisions have lasting consequences.
According to IPCC reports, the frequency of extreme climate events has already significantly increased in most regions.
This creates a critical gap between the planned lifespan of infrastructure and the climate conditions it will actually face. Designing based solely on past climate exposes companies to major risks, from service disruptions to unexpected repair and adaptation costs.
Strategic thinking must therefore go beyond short-term ROI and include the cost of inaction: unanticipated extreme events, service interruptions, operational losses, and emergency reinvestments, which can far exceed the cost of preventive action.
Conclusion
Climate change reminds us of a simple truth: digital infrastructure is critical infrastructure like any other. It is neither immaterial nor detached from physical constraints. Data centers, networks, and digital services must now be designed for the climate of the future, not the past.
Recent events, evolving European regulations, and increasing pressure on energy and water all point in the same direction: adapting digital infrastructure is no longer a niche concern, but a prerequisite for reliability.
Anticipating these risks requires rethinking design, sizing, and management: strengthening system robustness, diversifying critical resources, integrating climate scenarios into planning, and adopting a systemic view of dependencies. Every decision made today shapes tomorrow’s resilience. Investing in prevention and adaptation is not just prudent, it is a strategic advantage.
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To help stakeholders within digital infrastructures anticipate these risks, Callendar combines scientific expertise with advanced tools to assess infrastructure exposure, identify critical dependencies, and prioritize adaptation measures. This approach transforms climate complexity into concrete decisions: site selection, cooling system upgrades, power redundancy, and tailored water strategies.
Your digital infrastructures and data centers ready for today's and tomorrow's climate? Contact us to carry out an operational cliamte assessment and secure your infrastructure before an extreme event dissrupts your activity.
