Data Centres – The Consent Constraint

Capital and government support are no longer the main constraints on data centre projects. The critical question now is whether local communities will consent to them being built. That makes community consent a live financial risk for investors and developers.

Drawing on CT Group’s research across major data centre investment markets, this session will explore the following from investment and legal perspectives:

1. A fractured world raises the stakes: governments want domestic data centres more than ever, while their citizens grow wary of foreign money and of pressure on local power and water.
2. Ownership shapes support: public views shift sharply depending on who owns the facility.
3. People picture AI as a building: public fears about AI are landing on the data centre in their neighbourhood.
4. There is no single global debate: outcomes are decided locally, from water and grid strain to land and Indigenous rights.
5. The Asia-Pacific lens: how Southeast Asian governments compare on data centre development, and what this means for investors and developers in the region.
6. Sanctions and the new rules of the game: how advanced-chip export controls, sanctions and changing regulations constrain data centre location, ownership and supply – and how investors and developers can manage trade restriction risk across projects and supply chains.

Agenda 

For registration, please complete the RSVP link above by Tuesday, 24 November 2026.