Public Meeting on Data Centres - Presentation plus Q&A

DO WE NEED MORE HYPERSCALE DATA CENTRES CONTRIBUTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE?

From the team premiering the People's Emergency Briefing in Bath April 2026, through presentations and expert opinions, we will be considering the impact of the surge of AI and data centres on our environment. 

We'll hear from speakers from Friends Of The Earth, SouthWestXR, Severn Uprising and about the dilemma between our desire to innovate with AI, the environmental impacts of the data centre infrastructure needed to support this innovation, and the need for greater accountability and responsibility from big tech.  

AI is driving ever more, ever larger data centres. We now have hundreds across the UK, and hundreds more in the pipeline. They can use huge amounts of water and energy, contribute to air pollution, and raise local temperatures. 

But is anyone thinking about why we need them, how many we need, and what their impacts might be on our communities and environment? And do we - as activists, users or potential neighbours of data centres - have enough access to information about their energy and water use, environmental footprint or end users? 

Communities across the UK - and the world - are increasingly raising concerns about the impacts of individual data centres and calling for city leaders and national decision makers to press pause on the data centre explosion. We're part of a growing global movement looking at how we can stand up to big tech and put the brakes on data centre driven harms.  

🔓 18.30 - doors open 👋 19.00 - Event welcome - 60 second intros  📷 Group photo 💚 19.10 - presentations 19.45 - Q&A 🍻 20.30 - Close

Environmentally, Datacentres are:

- - Energy vampires – proposed datacentres would more than double electricity use in the UK. They contribute to climate change by increasing the use of fossil fuels.

- - Water suckers – their water use skyrockets during hot weather – just when supplies are most in demand, competing directly with drinking water and agriculture.

- - Local polluters - they also cause constant local noise, light pollution, increase in ambient temperatures, toxic waste with "Forever Chemicals" (PFAS)

- - White elephants - AI is a bubble. 95% of AI investment firms are making losses – will hyperscale data centres be obsolete before they are built?  We can get the important benefits of AI without a massive new datacentre buildout. Press PAUSE on the data centre explosion.

After the presentation there will be a Q&A where we can also discuss future steps.

We support EDM 706: Moratorium on new AI data centres (01 Sep 2026) – urge your MP to support and sign https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/66438/moratorium-on-new-ai-data-centres

We will be inviting our MP and local councillors and are optimistic that some will join us for this important discussion about our future.

We are asking for a small donation, suggested amount £5 or whatever you consider appropriate, to cover the cost of the hire of the hall. 

Bring a friend, neighbour or family member: everyone is welcome.

Love and Rage - BathXR