Data Center Opposition Spreads to Europe: Over 100 Groups in 15 Countries to Protest

As candidates opposed to the construction of artificial intelligence data centers (AIDCs) have secured consecutive victories in the U.S. midterm elections, over 100 organizations across 15 European countries have united to stage protests against data centers, Euronews and the Guardian reported on November 5 (local time).

Organized under the banner of "Stop Dirty Data Centres," the campaign will take place on November 6 and 7 in countries including Ireland, Poland, Denmark, Finland, Spain, the Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom.

The organizers explained that the campaign was organized amid "growing concerns over the impact that data center expansion has on local communities, public infrastructure, land, water and energy use, housing, jobs, and the cost of living."

Events scheduled across the two days include a protest in front of the Polish parliament in Warsaw, a march in Dublin, Ireland, a demonstration in front of Microsoft in Denmark, and an educational event near a planned data center site in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Owen Espley, coordinator for the pan-European protests, said, "Communities and civil society across Europe are standing up to the burden of data centers gobbling up our local energy, water, and land," adding, "The results of the U.S. midterm elections reflect shared concerns on both sides of the Atlantic."

Various European environmental groups, including "Countering Climate Change" (Campaign against Climate Change), Greenpeace, Foxglove, and the Climate Justice Universities Network, are participating in the protests.

The Öko-Institut (Oeko-Institut) in Germany projects that carbon dioxide emissions from AI data centers will reach six times their 2023 levels by 2030.

The pan-European campaign also points to issues such as the impact of AI chatbots on human mental health, the threat of AI replacing jobs, and the prioritization of data centers over housing despite severe housing shortages in Europe.

(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.