Executive summary Technology permeates every facet of daily life. More than 1 trillion semiconductors are sold annually and used in smartphones, cars and most modern equipment.2 Over 11,000 data centres are operational3 with more opened every month, handling everything from streaming to 2 billion+ prompts sent daily to AI models.4 The sector will continue growing strongly, driven by AI, cloud computing, high-performance electronics and innovations like quantum computing. But this growth has a substantial nature footprint, driven by water and land use, pollution, waste and emissions. Semiconductor manufacturing consumes over 1 trillion litres of freshwater annually,5 plus metals and critical minerals. Data centres draw 60+ GW of energy,6 enough to power California’s peak needs.7 Discarded hardware dumps 60 billion kg of e-waste annually, with less than a quarter recycled.8 To ensure future success, tech companies must act swiftly to address their impacts on natural systems and their dependencies on natural resources. Failure would threaten tech’s near-term licence to operate and long-term resilience. Since May 2024, $64 billion of data centre projects in the US have been blocked or delayed due to local concerns,9 mostly about demands on natural resources and power. Nature-positive strategies can also present financial opportunities – from recovered metals for new products to cost savings from reduced power and water consumption. This report summarizes tech’s key impacts and dependencies on nature, and recommends seven priority actions for leaders in semiconductor manufacturing, data centres and hardware. 1 Advance resilient and restorative water use: Assess supply scarcity before site development, design for efficiency, adopt closed-loop systems to cool servers and facilities and invest in watershed restoration.2 Mitigate pollution and pursue circularity: Avoid pollution through cleaner processes, reduce reliance on virgin inputs, design products for longevity and recyclability, support programmes that recover value from e-waste and restore affected ecosystems. 3 Tackle non-power operational and embodied emissions: Prevent emission leaks, deploy abatement technologies and invest in credible offset and removal schemes that deliver co-benefits. 4 Promote land stewardship and restoration: Prioritize brownfield development, conduct biodiversity risk assessments, integrate native landscaping and green infrastructure and invest in habitat restoration. 5 Power operations sustainably: Increase low- and zero-carbon power, energy- efficient computing and cooling, dynamic energy management and efficient building design to minimize upstream impacts from electricity supply. 6 Engage with the supply chain: Favour suppliers with robust sustainability certifications, prioritize low-impact materials and resource-efficient processes and establish clear biodiversity and water stewardship expectations across the value chain. 7 Engage externally and support policy- making: Report nature-related impacts and dependencies transparently through credible frameworks, support policy development and engage with customers. Tech is a consistently innovative sector – now it has an opportunity to lead on nature too. This report details how the sector can embrace the nature-positive transition across its operations and value chain.To ensure growth, tech companies must act decisively to address their substantial dependency and impacts on nature. Nature Positive: Role of the Technology Sector 6

Nature Positive Role of the Technology Sector 2025