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Activists across Europe prepare two days of protests against datacentres

Protesters across Europe are planning two days of action against datacentres this week with demonstrations taking place in 15 countries. More than 100 groups are joining together for the “Stop Dirty Data Centres” events on Friday and Saturday. They are calling for a moratorium on large projects, citing environmental and social costs that “we can no longer afford”. Datacentres have become a lightning rod for concerns over artificial intelligence, given their role in developing and operating the cutting-edge techn…

Truvace record2 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 42/100 — News report · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2380 · cite or check it
Activists across Europe prepare two days of protests against datacentres

In brief

More than 100 groups plan two days of "Stop Dirty Data Centres" protests this Friday and Saturday, with demonstrations in 15 European countries. They are calling for a moratorium on large datacentre projects, citing environmental and social costs.

The campaign points to emissions and grid demand. Öko-Institut research puts CO2 emissions from AI datacentres in 2030 at six times the 2023 level, and in the UK energy use by AI datacentres could cause up to 123m tonnes of CO2 over the next 10 years. The tech industry counters that datacentres create jobs and drive growth.

The protests follow the US midterm elections, where opponents of datacentres were among the biggest winners for the Democrats, according to the campaign. Attendance is expected to range from a handful at some events to several hundred at larger gatherings in Brick Lane and Dublin.

Main points

  1. Protests are planned in 15 countries, with more than 100 groups joining the Friday and Saturday actions.
  2. Planned events include a protest outside the Polish parliament in Warsaw, a march in Dublin, a demonstration outside a Microsoft datacentre in Denmark and a teach-in near a planned Amsterdam site.
  3. An event in London's Brick Lane area targets a datacentre development that has met local opposition.
  4. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and Foxglove are among the backers.
  5. About 250 global datacentre projects above 100 megawatts, each equal to about 300,000 homes, were announced between 2021 and 2024.
  6. The campaign also lists chatbot effects on mental health, AI job losses and datacentres being prioritised over housing.

The problem

Research by Germany's Öko-Institut projects that carbon dioxide emissions from AI datacentres will be six times the 2023 level by 2030, and in the UK 315 datacentres are queueing for 73GW of grid power against a 45GW national peak.

The full story

Organisers describe the actions as communities across Europe demanding that politicians impose moratoria on large-scale datacentre developments. Campaign coordinator Owen Espley said US midterm results reflect concerns shared on both sides of the Atlantic about the harms of large datacentres.

Beyond emissions, the pan-European campaign lists social impacts including chatbots' effect on mental health, the threat of AI eliminating jobs and the prioritisation of datacentres over housing. The tech industry argues that datacentres create jobs during construction and operation and support the development and deployment of AI.

On scale, about 250 global datacentre projects exceeding 100 megawatts were announced between 2021 and 2024, with North American schemes dominating the waiting list. In the UK, the 73 gigawatts of demand from queueing datacentres compares with a national peak demand of 45GW, and UK AI datacentre energy use could cause up to 123m tonnes of CO2 over 10 years, about as much as 2.7 million people generate.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-11-05

The debate