Is information sustainable?

Our ability to consume information is growing at a breakneck pace, facilitated by a massive expansion of energy-intensive digital infrastructure globally. Meanwhile, markets have woken up to the imperative nature of sustainability, a topic that was once hidden in the footnotes of investment committee papers. This raises the questions of whether our growing consumption of information is sustainable and how investors should tackle the challenge. At Schroders we have long integrated sustainability into our investment process for analysing and engaging with companies. We believe that businesses must account for all of their stakeholders, not just their investors, if they are to prosper. As an investor in data centre, cell tower and fibre businesses globally, we have witnessed a substantial increase in ESG awareness from our portfolio companies over recent years, driven by the conversations that they have with their forward-thinking customers and active investors such as ourselves. In this talk we will outline our view as long term capital allocators, considering whether energy consumption poses a systemic risk to the sector.