From Risk to Resilience: Building Climate-Resilient Value in AI-Era Data Center Infrastructure
Schneider Electric, a global energy technology leader, launched new findings showing climate risk is not yet fully priced into physical asset valuations, and that structured resilience investment reduces climate exposure by a third.
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 centers1, the fastest-growing asset class of the AI era, these metrics indicate that $388 billion, over a third (38%) of global data center asset value, represents unpriced climate exposure and a measurable opportunity for resilience investment.
The study indicates that physical risk per GW is approximately 2.6 times higher in new AI-era facilities than in the existing installed base, driven largely by the greater financial impact of downtime at scale. When combined with published prospective AI growth scenarios, the study observes a potential increase in total climate exposure to from $388billion to between $1.0 and $3.7 trillion, reflecting the scale of infrastructure currently in planning and construction.
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%) and Europe (53%) are nearly twice as exposed to value erosion than the U.S. (28%) and APMEA (28%).
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.
In 2025, global natural catastrophe losses exceeded insured coverage by approximately $170 billion, the study finds. This gap is widening by 6 to 10% each year, leaving asset owners increasingly exposed as climate hazards intensify. For data center operators and asset owners, this means climate risk is increasingly falling outside insured coverage, reinforcing the case for building climate resilience directly into facility design and operations.
The adaptation dividend
The research finds climate resilience investment can protect substantial value. Proactive adaptation delivers $150 billion in net protected value across the installed base, 30 to 39% of exposed value under every scenario tested. For operators already deploying measures such as PPAs, liquid cooling, microgrids, and climate-informed sitting, the study provides a financial framework to quantify the asset value those investments protect.
“Climate risk cannot be priced without measuring it at facility level. This model eliminates that blind spot, producing granular, auditable valuations that scale from individual assets to global portfolios and translate directly into adaptation action”, said Frédéric Godemel, Executive Vice President of Energy Management at Schneider Electric. “The most resilient facilities will be those equipped with the energy technology and intelligence to anticipate, adapt, and respond to climate risk.”
Schneider Electric | www.se.com
