Data centres seen topping 2,200 TWh power use by 2030
Report sees water stress as $265b driver.
Electricity consumption from data centres could top 2,200 TWh by 2030, putting fresh pressure on grids, emissions, and water as sustainability narratives shift towards risk avoidance and profitability.
In its Top 10 Sustainability Trends to Watch in 2026 report, S&P Global said stakeholders are becoming more pragmatic, balancing near-term priorities such as energy security, affordability, and availability with longer-term climate and nature risks.
It also said there is growing acknowledgement that the world will fall short of the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal, which is pushing companies and policymakers to place greater weight on adaptation and resilience alongside decarbonisation.
On energy and geopolitics, S&P Global Energy’s base case sees global fossil fuel demand growing less than 1% in 2026 versus 2025, whilst solar and wind generation grows more than 17%, even as it expects the first year-on-year decline in global solar additions in 2026 due to a China slowdown.
On physical climate impacts, the report cited Munich Re estimates of $320b in global economic losses from natural disasters in 2024, and UN data suggesting 40% more natural disasters by 2030 than 2015 if mitigation is not stepped up.
It added that only 42% of companies assessed disclosed adaptation or resilience plans in 2025, based on 2,835 disclosures out of 6,751 companies.
S&P Global also pointed to water and nature risks as becoming more financially material, saying companies in the S&P Global 1200 could face $1.2t in total annual physical climate risk costs by 2050 under an emissions-reduction scenario, with water stress the second-largest contributor at $265b.
It said 43% of existing data centres are already in high water-stress regions, whilst only 8% of assessed companies have a biodiversity protection commitment.
On policy, reporting, and finance, the report said the disclosure landscape is becoming more uncertain as the European Commission pushes to simplify reporting requirements, whilst ISSB-based reporting becomes mandatory in some jurisdictions including Chile, Nigeria, Brazil, and Mexico.
It also cited green bond issuance of $622b in 2024, said sustainable issuance was 11% of the global bond market, and flagged the UNEP view that adaptation financing needs are 12 to 14 times current flows, alongside the $1.3t annual climate finance target for developing countries set at COP29.
