Intelligent Data Centres Issue 53 | Page 18

not be as robust as many businesses believe . All this comes at a time as Australia has committed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 43 % below 2005 levels by 2030 . At the same time , each state has also set interim emissions reduction targets by 2030 : NSW : 50 %; Victoria : 50 %; Queensland : 30 %; South Australia : at least 50 %; Western Australia : 80 % below 2020 levels ; ACT : 65 – 75 % ( on 1990 levels ). Tasmania already achieved net zero in 2015 .

The survey sought to shed light on the importance of sustainability for organisations today and the steps being taken to address today ’ s data sustainability challenges . Key findings include :

• When asked what the biggest challenge is to achieving their sustainability goals , 45 % said they lacked a sustainability strategy and implementation plan ( compared to 37 % globally ), with 41 % plagued with striving to keep up with regulations ( versus 46 % globally ).

• One-in-three also noted that they had inadequate access to critical sustainability data .

• The timing for achieving their goals is still decades away ; on average , organisations do not expect to be at net zero carbon emissions until 2048 , 25 years from now .

• Ethical obligations ( 56 %) were cited as the primary driver of the organisation ’ s sustainability goals while complying with regulations ( 47 %) and meeting customer environmental expectations ( 41 %) rounded out the top three .

• Globally , 56 % of organisations cited compliance with new legislation and regulation as their primary drivers for sustainability goals followed by attracting and retaining talent ( 38 %) and cost optimisation ( 37 %).

• 57 % of Australian respondents said that their data centre footprint had not changed at all in the past two years . This compared to 61 % globally . Just 7 % said it decreased at all compared to 16 % globally .

• Looking ahead two years , 44 % expect the carbon footprint of their data centre will either stay the same or increase ; this compares to 73 % globally ; only 6 % ( compared to 9 % globally ) expect it to decrease more than 10 %.

The critical role of the data centre in reducing emissions

The lack of progress in reducing the data centre footprint was highlighted with just 36 % of Australian respondents compared to 50 % of respondents globally saying that creating an eco-friendly data centre was a high or very high priority for the

organisation . When asked what steps they had already taken to reduce their carbon footprint , 50 % of respondents both in Australia and globally ( 49 % globally ) are using the latest technological solutions , 41 % ( versus 46 % globally ) are shifting to alternative energy resources

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