The technology sector could unlock $800 billion in value across its value chain by 2030 if it puts nature at the heart of its operations and supply chains, according to a new World Economic Forum (WEF) report launched Wednesday. This represents part of the $10.1 trillion in business opportunity that could be unlocked if nature positive solutions are adopted widely by the private sector.
Over half of the projected $800 billion comes from upstream activities in energy and extractives, such as expanding renewable power, improving resource recovery, and advancing circular manufacturing of electronics and appliances, according to the Nature Positive: Role of the Technology Sector report developed in collaboration with Oliver Wyman. Another third is expected from infrastructure and the built environment, including energy efficient buildings, smart metering, wastewater reuse and sustainable construction.
Pim Valdre, Head of Climate and Nature Economy at the World Economic Forum, stated that companies that invest in nature and transition towards net zero, nature positive and resilient business models will become better at managing risks and enjoy competitive advantages. These advantages include stronger support from communities and regulators to grow, greater resilience to environmental shocks, better alignment with customer and investor expectations, and new opportunities for growth and cost savings.
The research comes as tech sector growth is set to remain strong, propelled by artificial intelligence, cloud computing, demand for high performance electronics and frontier innovations such as quantum computing. However, the growth brings with it a substantial nature footprint, including intensive water use, pollution and waste, greenhouse gas emissions and land pressures that threaten operational efficiency and business resilience.
Over 1 trillion chips are sold each year, powering smartphones, cars, televisions and other everyday devices. Behind the scenes, more than 11,000 data centres are in use, and the demand for them is expected to rise by 19 to 22 percent annually to 2030. Semiconductor manufacturing alone uses over 1 trillion litres of water annually and depends on mining metals and critical minerals.
Global data centres draw more than 60 gigawatts of power, exceeding the peak electricity demand of the whole of California. Hardware production contributes to more than 60 billion kilogrammes of electronic waste each year, with less than a quarter currently being recycled. The sector is currently responsible for around 4 percent of global energy use.
Data centre projects have been blocked or delayed in recent years because of community opposition, highlighting how constraints on natural resources can weaken operational efficiency. These challenges can be addressed by adopting practices such as circular resource recovery and fostering partnerships across mining and minerals supply chains, the report notes.
The report finds that seven practical actions across water, pollution and waste, land use, greenhouse gas emissions, power, supply chain and policy engagement can help tech companies better manage their nature impacts and dependencies. By planning for the risks of nature loss, companies can limit disruptions, mitigate impacts from extreme weather events, policy or market transition and broader systemic issues, and reduce exposure tied to essential ecosystem services like clean water.
By scaling renewable power, improving energy and water efficiency and advancing circular manufacturing and recycling models, the sector can reduce its nature impacts substantially. Adopting innovations such as liquid cooling in data centers can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 21 percent, while circular material recovery initiatives have achieved up to 95 percent emission reductions compared to virgin mining.
Nick Studer, President and Chief Executive Officer of Oliver Wyman, noted that the tech sector has an opportunity to lead in both economic growth and the nature positive transition but there is no time for delay. Tim Christophersen, Vice President of Climate Action at Salesforce, emphasized that in a sector growing fast, it is important to address the ways in which the technology industry depends on and impacts nature.
Christophersen added that no individual company will be able to solve nature related risks and impacts on their own, stressing that stakeholders must come together from all points within the technology value chain to build resilience. Increasingly, companies are reporting on nature related risks, following frameworks like the Taskforce on Nature related Financial Disclosures.
Leading companies are proactively shaping policy to drive the nature positive transition. A joint United States government and tech industry board, including IBM, Microsoft, Alphabet, AWS, and AMD, advises on responsible artificial intelligence infrastructure. Similar partnerships can create sector wide platforms for nature metrics, such as the European Green Digital Coalition’s development of methods to estimate tech enabled emissions reductions.
The report emphasizes that as natural resources and ecosystems become increasingly critical to sector resilience and growth, tech companies can lead by integrating nature with their strategies, product design and procurement. By enabling its own sustainable growth, the sector will be better positioned to enable the nature positive transition in other industries as well.
The Nature Positive Transitions Sector Series explores transformative pathways to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. Focusing on critical sectors, the series highlights the dual impacts and dependencies of these industries on nature, alongside the priority actions businesses can take to avoid and reduce negative impacts, mitigate nature related risks, build resilience and unlock opportunities across value chains.
Each report identifies sector specific material impacts on nature, such as pollution, land use change and resource use, and offers actionable recommendations to align business practices with global biodiversity and climate goals. The report will be presented at the World Economic Forum’s 56th Annual Meeting, taking place January 19 to 23, 2026 in Davos Klosters, Switzerland, under the theme A Spirit of Dialogue.
