Greenpeace Protests Big Tech Data Centres Outside Swiss Site

OPA WIRE, Nov 6 (OPA) — Greenpeace activists deployed a 26-by-26-metre banner outside a data centre construction site in Beringen, northeastern Switzerland, on Friday, November 6, 2026. The 676-square-metre display featured images of tech executives Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos alongside the slogan "Big Tech Bros suck our water, electricity, data". Drone footage captured campaigners spreading the enormous banner across a field beside a facility being developed by US-based STACK Infrastructure.

The environmental group is demanding a nationwide moratorium on new mega data centres until binding regulations protect public energy supplies and water resources. Greenpeace stated that two planned facilities in Beringen could consume roughly one and a half times the annual electricity used by the entire canton of Schaffhausen, while also requiring substantial water volumes for cooling.

The demonstration is part of a broader international campaign targeting the unchecked proliferation of large-scale digital infrastructure across Europe. Organisers questioned how waste heat from the server farms will be reused and whether commercial interests are being prioritized over the public interest by local authorities.

Greenpeace continues to press regulators for stricter environmental oversight as tech firms race to expand data processing capacities. The campaign seeks immediate policy shifts to prevent local resource depletion driven by surging computational demands.