Activist groups across the UK, led by Global Action Plan, are holding two days of protests against the expansion of hyperscale data centres, including a ‘March Against The Machines’ outside OpenAI’s London offices on Saturday (28 February)
The demonstrations reflect rising tensions about the climate, energy, and community impacts of data centres being developed to meet increased demand for AI.
Legal challenge
They follow on from a recent legal challenge launched by Global Action Plan and Foxglove, calling on Buckinghamshire Council to reject the development of a new data centre at Woodlands Park, citing failures to consider the energy use and environmental impact of said facility.
In January, the UK government admitted that its decision to grant permission for the data centre should be quashed, adding that they had failed to put in place measures to ensure the developer and the operator of the data centre would be held to the commitments they made on mitigating its climate impact.
“This embarrassing climb-down could have been avoided had the Government done its job and scrutinised Big Tech’s flimsy carbon commitments in the first place,” commented Sonja Graham, CEO of Global Action Plan. “Silicon Valley abandoned its green sheen the moment AI data centres started to proliferate, which makes it all the more remarkable our Government swallowed the AI Kool-Aid without a second thought for the impacts on people and planet.”
‘Increasingly concerned’
Graham added that UK residents are “increasingly concerned” about the growing proliferation of data centres across the UK, and the impact of said facilities on energy and water availability.
“We urgently need tight, legally binding environmental standards for all new data centres, to ensure that Big Tech profits don’t come at the expense of escalating carbon emissions or household bills,” she said. “Without them, the interests of communities across the UK will continue to be subordinate to those of the US tech billionaires.”
The UK boasts around 450 data centres, according to industry estimates, with around 140 sites under development – projects that could require up to 50 GW of power. Read more here.
