Equinix Named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Services Sustainability 2025-2026 Vendor Assessment
Equinix recognized for strengths, including water management innovation, AI sustainability and customer decarbonization instruments
REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX), the world's digital infrastructure company®, today announced that it has been positioned in the Leaders category in the first IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Services Sustainability 2025-2026 Vendor Assessment (doc #US53000525, December 2025). According to the report, "Equinix is distinguished by its strong commitment to sustainability and environmental stewardship."
"Equinix has demonstrated leadership in sustainable datacenter operations," said Olga Yashkova, Research Manager, Enterprise Workloads and Datacenter Infrastructure, IDC. "Its comprehensive strategy—from renewable energy sourcing and water stewardship to circularity, heat export and green financing—positions Equinix as a Leader and a trusted partner for organizations seeking to decarbonize their digital infrastructure and address business and regulatory requirements."
Serving as critical connectivity hubs for enterprises, cloud providers and AI ecosystems, Equinix's more than 270 data centers span 77 metropolitan areas in 36 countries. The report states that "Equinix implements sustainability initiatives and innovative approaches to energy and water management across its global colocation network."
"Equinix is uniquely positioned to meet the increased market demand for sustainable digital infrastructure solutions," said Christopher Wellise, Vice President, Sustainability at Equinix. "Our decades of pioneering new sustainability breakthroughs, combined with our next-generation energy solutions and enhanced operational efficiencies, are setting new industry standards and enabling our customers' success around the world."
The IDC MarketScape report recognized Equinix for its strengths across a range of initiatives, including:
- Waste Heat Reuse: In 2024, Equinix reported the export of 14.5 GWh of residual heat from its datacenter operations—a substantial 245% increase compared to the previous year. Equinix's heat export initiatives are particularly notable in cities such as Helsinki, Toronto, and Paris, where the company's datacenters actively supply excess thermal energy to municipal district heating networks and community facilities.
- Water Management Innovation: Equinix's water focus program drives best practices in water management for cooling, with a reported annual average Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)1 of 0.95 in 2024. Customer-facing water reports and advanced engineering solutions (e.g., water-free energy sources, thermal storage, and aggressive reuse) reinforce operational accountability in water-constrained markets.
- Low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)2: Equinix achieved a global annualized average PUE of 1.39 in 2024 (a 6% YoY improvement), with select sites showing a significantly lower number. The company aims for a global average PUE of 1.33 by 2030.
- Achieving Sustainability Goals: Equinix is committed to achieving net-zero emissions across its value chain by 2040, validated by the Science-Based Targets initiative, aiming to reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 90% and absolute Scope 3 emissions by 90% (compared to the 2019 baseline).
- Renewable Energy Commitment: Equinix was early to commit to 100% clean and renewable energy coverage by 2030, achieving 96% global coverage in 2024 (including 100% in the Americas and EMEA).
- AI Infrastructure & Sustainability Innovation: Equinix's edge AI infrastructure leverages its renewable energy coverage, enabling AI workloads and turnkey distributed AI solutions that benefit from sustainability innovations.
- Green Financing: Since 2020, Equinix has issued over US$9 billion in green bonds, with approximately $4.9 billion allocated to green buildings, renewable energy, energy efficiency, the development of sustainable datacenter facilities, and investments in next-generation technologies, such as fuel cells for onsite power generation.
- Customer Decarbonization Instruments: Equinix offers customized sustainability reporting for customers that includes granular data on electricity consumption, renewable energy coverage, carbon emissions, and water consumption.
For more information, read the IDC MarketScape report excerpt: IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Services Sustainability 2025-2026 Vendor Assessment.
Additional Resources
- IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Services Sustainability 2025-2026 Vendor Assessment [Report]
- Equinix Named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Datacenter Colocation Services 2025 Vendor Assessment [Press release]
- IDC MarketScape – Worldwide Datacenter Colocation Services 2025 Vendor Assessment [Report]
- Equinix Is a Leader in the 2025 IDC MarketScape for Data Center Colocation Services [Blog]
About IDC MarketScape
IDC MarketScape vendor assessment model is designed to provide an overview of the competitive fitness of technology and service suppliers in a given market. The research utilizes a rigorous scoring methodology based on both qualitative and quantitative criteria that results in a single graphical illustration of each supplier's position within a given market. IDC MarketScape provides a clear framework in which the product and service offerings, capabilities and strategies, and current and future market success factors of technology suppliers can be meaningfully compared. The framework also provides technology buyers with a 360-degree assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and prospective suppliers.
About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) shortens the path to boundless connectivity anywhere in the world. Its digital infrastructure, data center footprint and interconnected ecosystems empower innovations that enhance our work, life and planet. Equinix connects economies, countries, organizations and communities, delivering seamless digital experiences and cutting-edge AI—quickly, efficiently and everywhere.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, risks to our business and operating results related to the current inflationary environment; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; stock price fluctuations; increased costs to procure power and the general volatility in the global energy market; the challenges of building and operating IBX® and xScale® data centers, including those related to sourcing suitable power and land, and any supply chain constraints or increased costs of supplies; the challenges of developing, deploying and delivering Equinix products and solutions; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenues from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; risks related to our taxation as a REIT; risks related to regulatory inquiries or litigation; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see recent and upcoming Equinix quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
1 Water usage effectiveness (WUE): A measure of data center sustainability calculated based on the ratio of water used in a data center system and the energy consumption of the IT equipment.
2 Power usage effectiveness (PUE): A metric used to quantify the energy efficiency of a data center calculated based on the ratio of total energy consumed by a facility and the energy used to power IT equipment.
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