Environmental protection NGOs are mobilizing in several countries on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7, under the slogan “Stop Polluting Data Centers.” Among them is the association France Nature Environnement, which is calling for an immediate moratorium on the development of these facilities, according to information reported by France Inter.
- Environmental NGOs mobilize on November 6 and 7 under the slogan «Stop Polluting Data Centers.»
- France Nature Environnement demands an immediate moratorium until public authorities define collective needs.
- The association wants to question generative AI usage and set priorities for data centers.
- Citizens are invited to join the movement and exercise their right to protest.
Data centers are buildings housing computer servers. For Maxime Colin, one of the spokespersons for France Nature Environnement, the question of their development must be settled before any other project. “As long as we haven’t precisely defined what we want to do regarding The AI / news and data centers in France, we won’t develop supercomputers that will drain all our water and electricity resources until there are none left,” he explains to France Inter.
A moratorium while needs are defined
The moratorium demanded by the association should, in its view, last until public authorities define collective needs regarding artificial intelligence, data storage, and associated uses. “What we are asking for is an immediate moratorium while waiting for public authorities to define the needs we might collectively have concerning AI, data storage, etc.,” specifies Maxime Colin.
France Nature Environnement believes we must above all question our consumption and establish priority uses for data centers. The spokesperson distinguishes in this regard storage projects from those serving generative AI. “Not all data center projects appearing today in the country aim to allow us to store more videos, but to contribute to generative AI. To allow ChatGPT, Claude, etc., to function. That usage, we have the right to question it,” he continues.
A citizen mobilization
Citizens are called to join the movement, which aims, according to Maxime Colin, at “the crazy race of the artificial intelligence giants.” On its website, the collective states it wants to assert its rights: “We will unite and exercise our democratic rights to freedom of expression, assembly, and demonstration to demand accountability from our elected officials,” it asserts. The movement has chosen the name stopdirtydatacenters.eu to present its campaign.
An archive photo accompanies the article: it shows a protest against the installation of a data center in Rovaltain, in the Drôme, on October 10, 2026.
