Nearly $400bn ($388bn) of global data centre assets have been identified as climate-exposed under modelled risk scenarios.

Schneider Electric’s report notes that AI-era infrastructure carries 2.6 times more physical risk per GW than the existing installed base, and climate risk is not yet fully priced into physical asset valuations.

The research, conducted by the Schneider Electric Research Institute and SE Advisory Services, quantifies how much value climate hazards could erode. When applied to data centres, the fastest-growing asset class of the AI era, these metrics indicate that $388bn, over a third (38 per cent) of global data centre asset value, represents unpriced climate exposure and a measurable opportunity for resilience investment.

The study identifies five core climate risk channels, including cooling, business interruption, physical damage, heat productivity, and carbon costs. Using a climate-adjusted valuation model, the study translates physical hazards and transition risks into discounted cash flow impacts, producing auditable, facility-level estimates of asset value loss.

Exposure varies markedly by region, reflecting differences in local hazards and heat stress, energy and grid characteristics, and how disruption propagates through upstream suppliers. China (56 per cent) and Europe (53 per cent) are nearly twice as exposed to value erosion than the US (28 per cent) and APMEA (28 per cent).

---