Datacentres Under Fire: Global Surge in Climate Litigation

The rapid growth of data-centres and AI hardware has increased demand for electricity, water and fossil-fuel heat. The London School of Economics (LSE) review counts about 3,600 climate-related lawsuits worldwide since 2015, many targeting data-centre energy, water use and emissions.

The Guardian

Google’s Cerrillos data-centre in Santiago was halted in 2020 after residents and the council deemed the climate-impact study insufficient. In Ireland, Friends of the Irish Environment, Friends of the Earth Ireland and ClientEarth have challenged CRU’s six-year fossil-fuel allowance for data-centres. In the U.S., the NAACP says a data-centre threatens Black and minority communities’ health; a Mississippi suit alleges Elon Musk’s xAI runs methane generators without Clean Air Act permits. Foxglove and Global Action Plan challenged the UK’s Buckinghamshire data-centre approval, saying it ignored electricity and water needs.

The Guardian

2020 – Chile court blocks Google’s Cerrillos data-centre; Dec 2025 – Irish CRU permits six-year fossil-fuel use; 2026 – LSE releases climate-litigation review.

The Guardian

LSE counted ~3,600 climate lawsuits since 2015; Irish data-centres consume >20 % of national electricity; CRU requires >=80 % renewables after six years.

The Guardian

Irish regulators argue the six-year window provides certainty and the 80 % renewable target meets national decarbonisation goals. The U.S. Department of Justice calls the data-centre operations “essential to the economy.” The UK government admitted procedural flaws in the Buckinghamshire approval and will bind mitigation measures in a council contract.

The Guardian

Friends of the Irish Environment, Friends of the Earth Ireland and ClientEarth say the CRU decision locks Ireland into high-emitting fossil gas. NAACP and civil-rights groups warn data-centres heighten health risks for Black and minority neighborhoods. Foxglove and Global Action Plan argue the Buckinghamshire project ignored electricity and water needs, undermining climate goals.

The Guardian

The DOJ’s claim that data-centre operations are essential to the economy conflicts with the NAACP’s claim of serious public-health risks, showing a tension between economic and equity arguments. The LSE report also notes a lack of comprehensive data on the global carbon footprint of data-centre fleets.

The Guardian

• “large energy users” such as datacentres would be allowed to operate on fossil fuels for the next six years, after which they must run on at least 80 % renewables. — Irish Commission for the Regulation of Utilities (CRU)

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• “It is an opportunity to get these massively energy-intensive developments powered by renewables at the moment in time where that is possible,” — Joana Setzer, Associate Professor, London School of Economics (LSE)

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• “It could improve transparency, such as in the case of the Buckinghamshire datacentre, where the full scale of environmental impacts “would not have come to light”.” — LSE climate-litigation report

The Guardian

• “The case, brought by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, says these pose serious public health risks to nearby Black and minority communities.” — NAACP (lawsuit filing)

The Guardian

Irish judicial reviews are scheduled for late 2026; additional U.S. suits are pending, and the LSE urges mandatory climate-impact assessments for all new data-centre projects.

The Guardian