Protests and community-led actions against large data centers are planned across Europe on November 6 and 7. The pan-European Initiative Stop Dirty Data Centres is calling for an immediate moratorium, with events coordinated in at least nine capitals, including Berlin.

The initiative brings together more than 100 groups, making this the first time, according to the organizers, that opposition to data centers has been coordinated across the continent. Local and national movements have formed near proposed sites in recent months, raising concerns about where digital infrastructure is built and its environmental effects.

The actions come as the European Union seeks to expand its data center capacity. In its AI Continent Action Plan, published in April 2025, the European Commission set a goal of at least tripling that capacity within five to seven years.

Stop Dirty Data Centres is promoting a moratorium as a way to prompt a review of the impacts of data centers. A moratorium can temporarily pause or delay approvals for construction or operation, either for a set period or until specified conditions are met.

In Berlin, activists plan a rally on Friday afternoon in Mariendorf, where a data center is proposed. The meeting point is Lankwitzstraße 45, 12107 Berlin, at 13:00. On Saturday, environmental group Grüne Liga and the initiative Nodes of Resistance will hold a conference titled “Connect the resistance – stop data centers!”.

Digital rights group AlgorithmWatch has also launched a mass email campaign opposing what it describes as “climate destruction fueled by AI hype.” The campaign comes ahead of a Bundestag vote expected this month on relaxing Germany’s Energy Efficiency Act.

AlgorithmWatch said it collected more than 160,000 petition signatures over the summer against the government’s proposed reforms. It and the Munich Environmental Institute say more than 20,000 people have now emailed members of parliament’s energy committee from the SPD and CDU/CSU. AlgorithmWatch policy manager Julian Bothe said the CDU/CSU wants to weaken data center sustainability rules beyond what the government’s draft legislation proposes.

Sources: netzpolitik.org.