40 mayors worldwide, including Phoenix, endorse a pact to shape data center development
Forty mayors worldwide, including Phoenix, have endorsed a pact to guide sustainable data center development in urban areas. The initiative, launched by C40 Cities, seeks to address concerns over electricity and water consumption, land use, and climate impacts. Mayors aim to create a unified framework for city-level regulations.
Forty mayors from around the world, including a significant contingent from the United States, have signed a pact championed by C40 Cities to influence the sustainable development and operation of urban data centers. The initiative, announced during London Climate Action Week, stems from concerns raised by mayors in Phoenix, Arizona, and Melbourne, Australia, regarding data centers' high consumption of electricity and water, competition for land, and contributions to climate change.
The pact provides a framework for cities to develop their own regulations, advocating for data centers to be built on underutilized land, minimize environmental impacts such as noise and heat, utilize renewable energy, reduce water use, and capture waste heat. It also emphasizes creating local jobs, purchasing local goods, and contributing to infrastructure upgrades.
US cities endorsing the pact include Phoenix, Seattle, Palo Alto, Riverside, Albuquerque, Beverly (Massachusetts), Lincoln (Nebraska), Chicago, Cleveland, and Miami. Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego noted that pending permit requests could double the city's electricity demand and expressed concerns that current investments are worsening climate change. The mayors hope to prevent a "race to the bottom" among cities competing for data center investments and ensure development benefits local communities.