2026 Global Analysis of Planned Data Centres for Physical Climate Risk and Resilience - Key Findings Report

The global race to build AI and digital infrastructure is accelerating at extraordinary speed. For data centres - infrastructure built around near-continuous uptime expectations - even short periods of disruption can have outsized financial and operational consequences. But while much of the public debate has focused on energy demand and water consumption, physical climate risk is emerging as an increasingly important consideration for investors, operators and policymakers.

The 2026 Global Analysis of Planned Data Centres for Physical Climate Risk and Resilience - Key Findings report presents selected findings from XDI’s global analysis of physical climate risk and resilience across planned data centre infrastructure. It provides an early global view of where planned data centre infrastructure may require greater resilience to withstand future climate conditions - and where investment in resilience may materially improve outcomes.

Specifically, it analyses 

→ 2,595 planned data centres globally

→ Physical damage to data centre infrastructure from 11 climate change hazards

→ Operational disruption from extreme heat 

→ Infrastructure dependency considerations 

→ Indirect risk, including supply chain risk 

→ Different resilience specifications for construction 

→ Forward looking risk under different climate scenarios.

→ Country and state rankings for the world’s climate riskiest data centre hubs.

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