Greenpeace unfurls giant banner at Swiss data centre site to protest Big Tech
Greenpeace activists spread a 26-by-26-metre banner outside a data centre construction site in Beringen, northeastern Switzerland, on Friday 6 November. The group is demanding a nationwide moratorium on new mega data centres until binding rules are introduced.
Greenpeace, the international environmental organisation, unfurled a 26-by-26-metre banner outside a data centre construction site in Beringen, northeastern Switzerland, on Friday 6 November. The activists are protesting against the growing environmental footprint of major technology companies and calling for a nationwide moratorium on new mega data centres.
The 676-square-metre banner shows Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos and carries the slogan "Big Tech Bros suck our water, electricity, data". Drone footage showed campaigners laying the huge sheet across a field next to a facility being developed by US company STACK Infrastructure.
Greenpeace's demands
The organisation wants the moratorium to remain in place until binding regulations are adopted to protect energy supplies, water resources and the public interest. It argues that the rapid growth of data centres is putting increasing pressure on local infrastructure.
According to Greenpeace, the two facilities planned in Beringen could together use roughly one and a half times as much electricity each year as the whole canton of Schaffhausen, and would also need large amounts of water for cooling. The group further questions how waste heat will be reused and who will ultimately benefit from the projects.
Part of an international campaign
The demonstration is part of an international campaign against the unchecked expansion of large-scale data centres, with similar actions taking place across Europe. Greenpeace is urging authorities to put environmental protection and public needs ahead of the commercial interests of technology companies.
