Google Faces Scrutiny Over Forest Clearing for Finland Data Centers

Google's massive data-center expansion in Finland has been at the center of controversy after it was revealed that nearly 500 football fields' worth of forest were cleared before environmental-impact assessment procedures had concluded. The clearing, which amounts to approximately 300 hectares of Finnish forest, occurred before the project's environmental review was complete.

The clearing is part of Google's €13 billion investment in Finnish AI infrastructure through 2028, spanning data centers across Hamina, Kajaani, Muhos, and Vaala. The company has maintained that tree felling activities were carried out in compliance with Forestry Act requirements, citing ecological surveys conducted before work began.

However, Hanna Halmeenpää, chair of the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation, disputes this claim. She points to satellite imagery showing four areas identified as nature sites in the local plan that were bulldozed, potentially disrupting wildlife corridors and local bird species.

The core dispute revolves around a sequencing problem where hyperscale projects move faster than environmental review processes, resulting in ecological costs arriving before formal approval is given. LVV must now determine whether compliance with Finland's Forestry Act is sufficient when a separate, broader environmental assessment was still incomplete at the time of clearing.