EU accused of hiding environmental impact of data centers

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🗞️ Driving the news: Lighthouse Reports has filed a formal complaint under the Aarhus Convention accusing the European Commission of limiting public access to data on individual data centers’ energy and water consumption
• The group argues that commercial-secrecy protections prevent citizens and policymakers from properly assessing the environmental impact of Europe’s rapidly expanding data-center fleet

🔭 The context: EU data centers reportedly consumed 20.7 TWh of electricity and more than 8 million cubic meters of water in 2025, but the Commission acknowledges that its dataset is incomplete
• The figures represent a 26% rise in electricity use and a 52% increase in water use from 2024
• The EU has also recently introduced a sustainability rating system for data centers, while targeting a major expansion of capacity

🌍 Why it matters for the planet: Data centers are becoming significant electricity and water users as AI deployment accelerates
• Without facility-level data, it is harder to compare environmental performance, identify local resource pressures or assess whether the sector is aligned with EU climate and efficiency goals.

⏭️ What’s next: The Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee is expected to assess the complaint’s admissibility in November
• Meanwhile, the Commission’s new A–G sustainability label is due to begin next summer, although Lighthouse Reports argues that efficiency ratios do not substitute for actual consumption figures

💬 One quote: “Transparency should be the starting point,” said MEP Diego Solier, while adding that commercially sensitive information should remain protected

📈 One stat: EU data-center electricity consumption rose 26% in 2025, reaching 20.7 TWh

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