A request from CDC Data Centres to have its greenhouse gas emissions data withheld from public release has been rejected by Australia’s clean energy watchdog. The company had argued against public disclosure on the grounds that it could reveal trade secrets.
After an almost 18-month-long assessment by the Clean Energy Regulator, InnovationAus.com can reveal the application to have indirect emissions and energy consumption data for the 2020-21 financial year was refused in late March.
The ruling was contained in an updated dataset for the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting (NGER) scheme published on Wednesday. NGER is a emissions transparency mechanism that Australia’s largest emitters are required to comply with.
“NGER data has been published following the CER’s decision, on Friday 24 March 2023, to refuse CDC Group Holdings Pty Ltd’s application to have its data withheld from publication,” the updated dataset states.
The dataset reveals CDC Data Centres (CDC) had emission of 150,299 tonnes in the 2020-21 financial year, including 150,136 tonnes of indirect Scope 2 emissions – well below that of competitors Equinix, NEXTDC and Amazon. The figures also show CDC — the largest provider of data centre services to the federal government, with Defence, Home Affairs and the Tax Office as customers — consumed 669,621 Gigajoules of energy in the same period.
CDC markets itself as an environmentally conscious company, with 100 per cent renewable power already in use in Canberra-based data centres and carbon neutrality planned for 2030, according to public information on its ESG efforts. The company’s ESG statement also refers to compliance with environmental legislation — the same legislation CDC has fought to circumvent in order to have its emissions data withheld from public view.
As reported by InnovationAus.com, CDC in November 2021 applied to have emissions data for the 2020-21 financial year withheld on the grounds that disclosure could reveal trade secrets, making it only the second data centre provider to do so.
Amazon Corporate Services attempted to do the same for its 2017-18 emissions data, but that request, also made on the grounds that disclosure could reveal trade secrets, was similarly refused by the regulator.
In CDC’s application obtained under freedom of information laws, the company said disclosure of its emissions could reveal trade secrets about data centre operations – one of three arguments available under the NGER Act.
Companies can also apply to the CER to have their data withheld on the grounds that publication could reveal a “matter of commercial value that would be destroyed or diminished”.
The documents showed CDC’s application related to a corporate initiative at least partially connected with its work with “national security and other critical [federal] government departments that store sensitive and classified information”.
“CDC provides specialist data centre services to government and national security customers with high information classification and security requirements and is subject to specific requirements regarding the handling and disclosure of customer data,” it said.
A CER spokesperson told InnovationAus.com on Thursday that CDC's application to have Scope 2 emissions and energy data withheld was rejected as it was “not satisfied” the company had met subsection 25(3) of the NGER Act.
According to subsection 25(3), the regulator is required to be satisfied that disclosure would “reveal, or would be capable of revealing” trade secrets or “any other matter having a commercial value that would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or diminished if the information were disclosed”.
A CDC said it is “dedicated to keeping our clients' data safe and secure -- and we will continue to take all steps possible to protect the confidentiality of their interests”.
“CDC engaged with the CER about possible unintended consequences resulting from the publication of NGER data. We appreciate CER’s collaboration during this process,” a spokesperson said.
“CDC has proactively supported efforts to improve climate change action through greater disclosure and transparency. This includes further work with our stakeholders and the submission for publication of the NGER reporting information for FY22.”
“CDC plans to continue submitting for publication the NGER reporting information and advocate for reporting methods to evolve to reflect international emissions boundary and accounting standards.”
In March, with its application for the 2020-21 financial year still pending, CDC requested that more recent emissions data for 2021-22 be published. Data for successive reporting years is “generally withheld” if an application is pending, according to the CER.
The data revealed CDC’s emissions were 187,568 tonnes in the 2021-22 financial year – almost all of which were in the form of indirect Scope 2 emissions (187,397 tonnes) – while its energy consumption was 856,414 Gigajoules.
All other data centres to emit at least 50 tonnes of greenhouse gases -- the threshold for reporting -- reported their emissions data in full in both 2020-21 and 2021-22, including Equinix, NEXTDC, AirTrunk, Amazon, Global Switch and Fujitsu.
In 2021-22, NEXTDC overtook Equinix as the biggest emitter of the data centre providers, producing 351,338 tonnes of emissions (1289 tonnes of Scope 1 and 350,049 tonnes of Scope 2) in 2021-22.
Equinix emitted 309,926 tonnes (826 tonnes of Scope 1 and 309,100 of Scope 2) in 2021-22.
Amazon Corporate Services – the only other data centre provider to have unsuccessfully attempted to withhold emission – produced 261,209 tonnes (626 tonnes of Scope 1 and 260,583 tonnes of Scope 2) of emissions last year.
Updated at 10:15am to include CDC Data Centres' statement.
