As England's drought deepens, Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called for a moratorium on new data centre approvals, placing the country's artificial intelligence ambitions in direct tension with its dwindling water supply. The facilities, which collectively draw nearly two billion litres of drinkable water each year, have expanded rapidly across the very regions now classified as drought zones. The government insists that halting their growth would imperil jobs and national security, yet it has not conducted a formal environmental assessment of its own AI expansion strategy. The question
Greens demand data centre freeze over water and energy concerns
We need to slam the brakes on these energy guzzling, water guzzling data centres.
Mark
So the Greens want a complete freeze on new data centres. That's a pretty stark position. What's driving it?
Mimi
The water consumption is the immediate trigger. We're in drought conditions across much of England, and these facilities use enormous amounts of water just to cool their systems. One centre can use 1.5 million litres a day.
Luke
But we should be clear—that 1.5 million figure comes from Global Action Plan research, not from the data centres themselves. There's no mandatory reporting, so we're working partly from estimates.
Mimi
Right, which is part of the problem. Nobody actually knows the full picture. The Water Research Centre put current consumption at 1.9 billion litres a year, but they flagged an upward trend.
Mark
And the government's argument is that stopping approvals would push investment overseas and make Britain dependent on foreign companies for sensitive data?
Mimi
Exactly. They're framing it as a national security issue. If we don't build the capacity here, we have to rely on other countries to process our health and defence data.
Luke
That's a real concern, but it's also worth noting the government hasn't actually done an environmental assessment of its own AI growth zones strategy. They're moving forward without that baseline analysis.
Mark
So both sides are operating with incomplete information?
Mimi
In a way, yes. The Greens want mandatory reporting and stricter siting rules. The government says it wants "responsible" development but hasn't defined what that means in concrete terms.
Luke
And the critical infrastructure classification from 2024—that's a real flashpoint. The Greens worry it gives data centres priority over households for water during shortages.
Mimi
The government denies that would happen, but the classification exists, and it does create that legal possibility.
Mark
So what actually happens next?
Luke
That's unclear. There's no indication the government is moving toward a freeze, and the Greens don't have the votes to force one. This is a pressure campaign right now.
O Pulso
- England is officially in drought, and data centres clustered across its driest regions are drawing up to 1.5 million litres of water per day from the same supply that households depend on.
- The Green Party's call for a freeze has sharpened a fault line between environmental urgency and economic ambition, forcing a public reckoning the government had not invited.
- A critical gap has surfaced: data centres face no legal obligation to report their water consumption, leaving policymakers and communities without the basic information needed to make informed decisions.
- The government's counterargument — that a pause would drive investment abroad and expose sensitive health and defence data to foreign infrastructure — raises the stakes beyond ecology into questions of sovereignty.
- With no environmental assessment of the AI growth zones strategy yet conducted, the policy framework accelerating data centre expansion appears to be outrunning the scrutiny meant to govern it.
As England's drought deepens, Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called for a moratorium on new data centre approvals, placing the country's artificial intelligence ambitions in direct tension with its dwindling water supply. The facilities, which collectively draw nearly two billion litres of drinkable water each year, have expanded rapidly across the very regions now classified as drought zones. The government insists that halting their growth would imperil jobs and national security, yet it has not conducted a formal environmental assessment of its own AI expansion strategy. The question now settling over the country is an ancient one dressed in modern form: who decides what is essential, and who bears the cost when essentials compete.
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, has called for a halt on new data centre approvals across England, arguing that the rapid expansion of these facilities is incompatible with a country officially in drought. He made his case at a proposed site in East London, demanding stricter environmental rules and genuine local say over where such centres are built. His proposed freeze would allow only small, community-scaled facilities to proceed, drawing a sharp line between what he considers true critical infrastructure — hospitals, water systems, power grids — and the data centres powering artificial intelligence.
The water figures behind his argument are striking, if incomplete. The Water Research Centre estimated that data centres in England consume roughly 1.9 billion litres of drinkable water annually, with large individual facilities drawing up to 1.5 million litres on peak drought days. No official UK figures exist, because operators are not required to report their consumption publicly — a transparency gap the Greens want closed through mandatory annual reporting.
The government responded firmly, warning that a moratorium would be a disaster for jobs and national security, and that investment would migrate to other countries, leaving Britain reliant on foreign infrastructure for sensitive data. Officials also denied that data centres — classified as critical infrastructure in 2024 — would receive automatic water priority over households during shortages.
What has complicated the government's position is a finding by the BBC: ministers have not conducted an environmental assessment of their own AI growth zones strategy, the very policy designed to accelerate data centre development. A government official described the strategy as a statement of intent rather than formal policy, a characterisation that raises serious questions about how carefully the environmental consequences have been considered.
With 477 data centres already operating and more in the pipeline, concentrated in the drought-affected south, the debate has arrived at a genuine impasse. The economic and security case for expansion is real. So is the environmental cost of building water-intensive infrastructure in regions already under stress. Whether those two imperatives can be reconciled — or whether one must yield — is the question England has not yet answered.
Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party, is pushing for a halt on new data centre approvals across England. His concern is straightforward: these facilities consume vast quantities of water and energy, and their expansion is happening at precisely the moment when much of the country is officially in drought.
Polanski visited a proposed data centre site in East London to make his case public. He wants the government to impose stricter environmental rules on how these centres operate and to give local communities genuine power over whether they get built nearby. The freeze he's proposing would allow only small, locally-scaled facilities to proceed. "We need to slam the breaks on these energy guzzling, water guzzling data centres," he said, framing the issue as one of priorities: hospitals, water systems, and electricity grids are critical infrastructure, he argued. Artificial intelligence data centres should not occupy the same category.
The scale of the water question is real, though precise figures have been elusive. The Water Research Centre estimated in February that data centres in England currently draw about 1.9 billion litres of drinkable water annually—roughly 0.2 percent of the non-household water market. But the consultancy flagged a "clear upward trend." The Greens cited research suggesting that large individual centres can consume 1.5 million litres per day. No official UK figures exist because data centres are not currently required to report their water consumption publicly.
The government's response was swift and emphatic. A spokesperson warned that pausing new approvals would be "a disaster for jobs and national security." Investment would flee to other countries, the argument goes, and Britain would become dependent on overseas computing for processing sensitive health and defence data. The government also pushed back on the priority-access concern, stating that data centres would not automatically receive water priority during shortages, despite having been classified as critical infrastructure in 2024.
There are roughly 477 data centres already operating across the UK, with many more in the pipeline. They cluster heavily around London and the south of England—the very regions now officially designated as drought zones. The amount of water any given centre needs depends on its size, design, and local climate; hotter areas require more cooling water. The Greens have proposed that new centres be built on brownfield sites near renewable energy sources, and that operators be required to publish annual reports on water and electricity use.
One significant gap has emerged in the government's own planning. The BBC discovered that ministers have not conducted an environmental assessment of their "Delivering AI growth zones strategy," which is meant to accelerate data centre development. A government official characterized the strategy paper as a statement of intent rather than formal policy, which raises questions about how thoroughly the environmental consequences have been weighed.
The government did acknowledge one competing water loss: roughly a fifth of the UK's water supply is lost through leaks in the distribution system itself. But that observation does not resolve the core tension—between the economic and security case for rapid data centre expansion and the environmental reality of building water-intensive facilities in regions already stressed by drought. The debate is now whether those two imperatives can be reconciled, or whether one must give way.
Citações Notáveis
At a time when three-quarters of the country are in drought, it is outrageous that these are being considered critical infrastructure.— Zack Polanski, Green Party leader
A pause on building new data centres would simply send investment and good jobs abroad, while leaving Britain dependent on overseas computing for the processing of sensitive health and defence data.— Government spokesperson
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