Devon data centre an ‘enormous act of self-harm’, say environmental campaigners

• Energy firm Xlinks has proposed building a large-scale AI data campus and battery storage facility within the North Devon Unesco Biosphere Reserve.
• The Campaign to Protect Rural England warned that the project threatens the region's Unesco designation and would deal a massive blow to tourism.
• Unesco confirmed that the compatibility of the proposed data centre with sustainable development goals will factor into assessing North Devon's classification.
• Xlinks claimed the development at Alverdiscott would provide up to 1.5GW of compute capacity and contribute up to £3.6bn annually to the economy.
• The North Devon Biosphere Partnership stated it currently neither supports nor opposes the plans while assessing their environmental and economic impact.

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Devon tourism could suffer ‘massive blow’ if Unesco status is threatened by data centre, says charity