Webinar: How data centre expansion risks derailing climate goals

How can the EU move beyond efficiency to address the root causes of digital overconsumption? How can we ensure technological progress aligns with both planetary boundaries and the public interest?

On September 16, 2025, the Environmental Coalliton on Standards, ECOS hosted an online event to present our joint report: “How data centre expansion risks derailing climate goals and how to fix it.”

Authors Anastasia Tsougka from Ecos and Zuzanna Warzo discussed the consequences of unchecked AI and data center expansion in Europe. The presentation highlighted several risks:

• misdirected public and private investments into infrastructure that fails to deliver digital sovereignty,
• increased electricity demand,
• strained water resources,
• mounting e-waste generation,
• entrenched dependence on fossil-heavy power grids,
• and compromised energy security.

Watch the video recording:

Expert Insights on Data Centre Expansion

The webinar was moderated by Anna Gumbau Martínez. Following the presentations by the report’s authors, she facilitated a panel discussion with Nikolaos Kontinakis (European Commission), Pauline Denis (The Shift Project), and Samuel Rincé (GenAI Impact).

The panel explored how EU policy can address digital overconsumption while moving beyond efficiency to integrate principles of sufficiency, circularity, and transparency into digital infrastructure’s foundations.

Here are the key takeaways:

The Need for Balanced Digital Transformation

• Anastasia Tsougka emphasized approaching the green and digital transitions with “sobriety over excitement,” warning against letting technology outpace society in potentially dangerous ways.
• She stressed that the “twin transition” must remain genuinely both green and digital, with greater civil society participation.

Policy and Investment Concerns

• Zuzanna Warso raised concerns about the EU’s push for digital sovereignty through AI, highlighting the need for vigilance over public spending and private investment mobilization.
• She cautioned that missteps in this area could lead to serious problems.

The Role of Civil Society and Governance

• Nikolaos Kontinakis from the European Commission emphasized that citizens and civil society must question technology promises and arguments.
• He highlighted the importance of balanced arguments and well-informed opinions in public discussions.

Transparency and Impact Assessment

• Samuel Rincé connected transparency needs with open-source models and approaches in AI.
• He advocated for developing methodologies to assess technology’s environmental impacts while awaiting stronger regulation.

Structural Solutions

• Pauline Denis called for a clear European trajectory for the data center sector with robust monitoring systems.
• She warned about generative AI’s growth creating a self-reinforcing loop of rising consumption.
• Denis advocated for “structural sufficiency”—systemic measures encouraging moderation in digital consumption at societal levels.

Download the report