The current and future environmental impacts of data centres – especially via water impacts – are serious and well-known. Any national standards or guidance for data centres must include environmental requirements.
This means, at minimum, that data centres andtheir siting does not significantly impact upon protected areas forconservation, threatened species habitat, threatened ecological communities, significantwater resources and systems, cultural landscapes, and other areas of significantenvironmental value.
Further, there should be no fast-track environmental approvals for data centres, and the EPBC Act should also be amended to bring at least medium and larger-scale data centres within the scope of the Act’s ‘water trigger’.
