ESG Impact on Data Centers

Student: Nieshaal Thambipillay, 2022-2023

PwC is the world’s second-largest professional services network, offering assurance, advisory, and tax services. With this, PwC handles large quantities of data through its operations and performs data analyses to gather insights on a global scale. This capstone project seeks to develop PwC US’s understanding of its current data center operations and the implications for its 2030 zero-emission goal. The sponsor company is looking to apply a supplementary perspective in assessing decisions such as future data center operations by utilizing an ESG framework (Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance). As pioneers of change and with its data center operations, PwC requires an understanding of the gap between its current state of ESG and its commitment-backed future state of reducing emissions in absolute terms by 50%. The student will work with the sponsor to adopt the ESG framework within the scope of data operations and make recommendations to fulfill the sponsor company’s goal of net zero emissions.