🇲🇽 Spanish, 23 October 2026, environmental issues
Google's Finnish subsidiary accused of illegal deforestation for data center expansion
Google's Finnish subsidiary, Tuike Finland Oy, is accused of deforesting 1.3 hectares of protected forest for a data center expansion in Finland.
The deforestation occurred during the expansion of Google’s data center in Hamina, southeast Finland, and destroyed part of the habitat of the Siberian flying squirrel, a protected species.
Google was required to provide explanations to the authorities but received no sanctions, despite Finnish law prohibiting the destruction or deterioration of the species’ breeding and resting areas.
The Finnish authorities are investigating whether Google committed a crime by not respecting environmental regulations with the illegal deforestation.