Activists Occupy Planned Microsoft Data Centre Site in Amsterdam

Activists entered the construction site of a planned Microsoft data centre in Amsterdam’s Sloterdijk district on November 6, halting work for the day and prompting police to remove people from the site. Some demonstrators climbed a crane, set off flares and sprayed messages on structures under construction, reports said.

Reports citing Dutch police or local media said between 150 and 200 protesters were detained on suspicion of trespassing. Other activists left voluntarily. The number who entered the restricted site is disputed: Reuters-based accounts put it at around 100, while organisers said as many as 500 entered. Hundreds more were reported at a separate demonstration outside the site.

The action was organised by climate and justice collective Geef Tegengas and environmental group Fossielvrij as part of the Stop Dirty Data Centres campaign. The coalition called for a pause in large data-centre construction pending safeguards and public decisions. It announced two days of actions across Europe on November 6 and 7.

The project is being developed by Pure Data Centres for Microsoft. The developer described it as a 78-megawatt complex and said it was willing to discuss...