Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on Thursday to demand an immediate moratorium on Scotland's rapid datacentre expansion, driven by the global AI boom. Campaigners, led by Kat Jones of Action to Protect Rural Scotland, want the Scottish government to halt approvals until it produces an environmental impact analysis and clear planning guidance defining what counts as a "green" datacentre. The protest comes days after First Minister John Swinney's programme for government pledged only a "strategic approach" with environmental and community expectations, stopping short of the pause campaigners are calling for.

At least 20 datacentre projects are currently proposed across Scotland, including one in Auchtertool, Fife, billed as the second largest in the world, and a £2bn scheme in the Lammermuir hills opposed by local residents over its scale in a rural, dark-skies area. The row reflects wider tensions around the UK's AI growth strategy, which has increasingly looked to Scotland's renewable energy and water resources after facing resistance to datacentres in London and southern England; Lanarkshire is set to host one of five UK "AI growth zones". The campaign has drawn backing from the Scottish Greens and Reform UK, though Jones rejects claims that local opposition amounts to nimbyism, arguing the projects pose a direct threat to communities near homes, schools and hospitals.