Written evidence to the Scottish Parliamentary inquiry on AI data centres

Friends of the Earth Scotland’s response to the Climate Action Committee and the Economy, Energy and Tourism committee’s joint call for evidence.

Summary

Scotland currently has a legal responsibility to meet net zero by 2045. New construction and developments on the scale proposed by developers of hyperscale AI data centres will present a real danger to meeting these targets. The Climate Change Plan and Energy Strategies developed by the Scottish Government do not take account of these huge developments. The impact of even one of these hyperscale data centres will cause Scotland to be at serious risk of not meeting its climate goals.

Decisions on developments of this size, which will have a hugely significant impact on the environmental and carbon goals of Scotland, should not be made without consultation with the public at large. Friends of the Earth Scotland objects to these AI data centres for reasons set out in the linked