Big Tech plans over 20 hyperscale data centres in Scotland. Amidst widespread resistance, Kim Pratt points to the international dimensions of how disastrous the necessary mineral mining is for the environment and for communities affected.
Plans for data centres are mounting in Scotland. Our mild climate and plentiful renewables mean that Scotland has caught the eye of developers desperate to start their next supersized project. There are plans for over 20 ‘hyperscale’ data centres across the country and both the UK and Scottish Government have jumped on the AI bandwagon with supportive strategies and funding promises. Communities and environmental groups are crying out for these plans to be paused until their impacts on people and nature can be properly assessed.
There is another reason to be concerned about Scotland’s data centre boom. These projects will require thousands of tonnes of materials to build and operate. Many of these materials are known as ‘critical minerals’, which are vital for the development of modern economies but difficult to obtain. They include materials like copper, which is needed for data centre electrical and cooling systems, and gallium, which is essential for their servers. The copper required just for the proposed Auchtertool data centre is enough to build 1,000 onshore wind turbines.
The global supply of copper is struggling to meet growing demand. There are about 700 copper mines operating around the world, with major sites located in countries like Peru, Chile and Indonesia. The UN has projected that 80 new copper mines will be needed by 2030 to avoid shortfall.
When the UK Government published its critical mineral strategy, one that fails to account for the human and environmental costs of using these materials, mining-affected communities in the global south spoke out.
Rosanna Caldana, from a Chilean movement against mining highlighted recent charges and millions of US dollars in fines on the giant Anglo American firm for severe violations in the Los Bronces and El Soldado projects, including serious deficiencies in contaminated water management, uncontrolled acid drainage and failure to protect vulnerable wildlife. She said, “The lives, social cohesion and dignity of the peoples of the global South, in this case Chile, cannot continue to be sacrificed for the illusion of progress in the global North.”
Rising Global Tensions
Demand for critical minerals is creating a geopolitical scramble be tween governments who want to stockpile these resources before others get their hands on them. In February 2026, the Trump ad ministration launched Project Vault, a US$ 12 billion plan to build strategic domestic reserves of critical minerals. Supply disruptions are becoming increasingly common as China, the country where most of the world’s critical minerals are processed, restricts exports in response to US tariffs.
Like many rich nations, the UK has signed critical mineral agreements with other countries in order to improve the security of its supply. Recently the UK has made trade agreements with Indonesia, Kazakhstan and Zambia. A deal with Greenland is being negotiated. Whilst the exact content of such agreements are kept private, it is believed that they are often deeply uneven, manipulating existing power dynamics to allow richer countries to suck mineral wealth out of poorer ones.
Global south countries are starting to recognise the leverage power of their mineral reserves. In 2025, African countries came together to adopt the African Green Mineral Strategy, which aims to transform its exports from raw materials to clean technology as part of a just transition. Such partnerships are emerging in Southeast Asia and Latin America too and they are the first steps towards a more balanced, fairer future.
Big Plans From Big Tech
But more will be needed to fight back against the AI boom being driven by Big Tech. Global data centre capacity is set to double by 2030, with the total investment expected to be around US$ 3 trillion, in what has been described as the largest infrastructure investment in modern history. Tech giants, such as Microsoft, Amazon and Meta are using their immense wealth and power to expand AI into every sphere of our lives. Whilst these companies promise AI will solve the world’s problems, their true goal is to maximise their own profits.
These plans depend on the undemocratic expansion of data centres, hoarding critical minerals and fragile supply chains. Such an unfair and harmful approach, driven by growth and greed, can not lead to an equitable and sustainable future.
Data centre plans are being pushed not just in Scotland but across the world. We must stand together if we are to resist the exploitation of ordinary people and nature.
This resistance has already started happening. In the US, over 500 local bans or restrictions have been enacted and there are now dozens of cities, and local government bans internationally. For ex ample, Amsterdam has banned all new data centre developments and in Malaysia public marches have stalled several mega projects. In Scotland, no data centre developments should be approved until proper safeguards that protect people and nature are put in place. Any that are constructed must serve the needs of people in Scotland, not Big Tech.
The UK and Scottish Government data centre plans must include fair and sustainable use of critical minerals if they are to protect people and nature in a meaningful way. This should be bolstered by a new UK law on corporate responsibility which would hold corporations to account for the harms here and in their supply chains.
Our communities have more in common with those fighting data centres globally and the impacts of critical mineral supply chains than we do with the elites pedalling AI slop and writing secret trade agreements