14 NOV 2025 (FRI) 16:00-17:30

Geography Distinguished Seminars Series

The Digital Dilemma: Financing Data Centres for Climate Transition

Date: 14 NOV 2025 (Friday)

Time: 16:00-17:30 (HKT)

Venue: CLL, Department of Geography, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, Centennial Campus, HKU

Mode: Hybrid

Via Zoom: Zoom link will be provided upon successful registration

Registration link: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?guest=Y&ueid=103469

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Abstract:

The global economy is navigating two profound and parallel transitions: digitalisation and decarbonisation. Data centres serve as critical infrastructure underpinning digital activities, but they are highly energy-intensive and threaten Net-Zero goals. This talk critically examines the role of green finance in steering the green transition and growth of the data centres sector. Research in Southeast Asia shows that Singapore, leveraging its status as a financial hub, attracts the majority of green investments. Meanwhile, lower-value workloads are being offshored to neighbouring countries with less stringent regulatory oversight, such as Malysia and Indonesia, which also tend to attract less attention from green investors. This investment hierarchy perpetuates uneven geographies of decarbonisation, leading to an uneven distribution of climate resilience and digital competencies.

Professor Karen Lai

Professor of Economic Geography & Internationalisation Lead, Department of Geography, Durham University

Karen Lai is Professor of Economic Geography at Durham University. Her research focuses on geographies of money and finance, financial infrastructure and digital economies. Her recent projects examine how FinTech is shaping consumer practices and corporate strategies, and investigate data centres as critical infrastructure in shaping economic processes and regional development. She is co-founding Editor of Finance and Space and Editor of Economic Geography.

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