More Than 100 Groups Across 15 European Countries Protest, Demanding a Moratorium on New Large Data Centres
On November 6-7, more than 100 organisations across 15 European countries staged coordinated protests under the banner of the Stop Dirty Data Centres campaign, with actions in Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, France and the United Kingdom, among others. The protesters demanded an immediate moratorium, at European, national and local levels, on new large-scale data centres, so that the impact of such facilities on local communities, public infrastructure, land, water and energy use, housing, jobs and the cost of living can be properly assessed and stricter rules put in place.
Supporting organisations include Greenpeace UK, local branches of Friends of the Earth and Extinction Rebellion Bristol. Owen Espley, a coordinator of the campaign, said the protesters are not demanding that all new projects be cancelled, but are asking for time for governments to consider the environmental, economic and social consequences of data centre expansion and to establish stronger planning and regulatory frameworks.
The protests come as Europe races to expand data centre capacity. The European Union aims to triple its data centre capacity within five to seven years to keep pace with the United States and China in super intelligence (SI). A PwC industry outlook puts annual investment in European data centre projects at about 25 to 26 billion euros this year, up from 12 billion euros in 2020.
(Source: Euronews)
Source: Euronews
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：数据中心机房内的服务器机架（资料图）。照片：BalticServers，CC BY-SA 3.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Server racks inside a data centre (file photo). Photo by BalticServers, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
