Mayors of 40 Major Global Cities Sign Pact to Curb Data Center Impact on Energy and Water
June 23, 2026
Mayors of 40 Major Global Cities Sign Pact to Curb Data Center Impact on Energy and Water
The mayors of 40 of the world’s largest cities have signed a landmark agreement to jointly address the mounting pressures that data center expansion places on electricity grids, water supplies, and local communities. The initiative, known as the Global Pact for Urban Data Centers, was unveiled during London Climate Action Week and aims to establish common standards for low-carbon energy use and the integration of data centers into urban planning.
Key cities involved in the pact include London, Phoenix, and Melbourne—all of which are data center hotspots. The agreement is designed to guide permitting and planning decisions, as well as negotiations with companies and governments, while allowing rules to be adapted to local conditions. Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece highlighted the urgency of the issue, stating: "Data centers are the biggest thing to hit the energy grid since air conditioning in the 1950s, and where the rollout of air conditioning took decades, this is happening in a few short years."
The pact rests on four core pillars. First, it prioritizes brownfield regeneration and adaptive reuse, ensuring that data centers respect local communities by avoiding displacement and minimizing public health burdens through collaboration with local governments. Second, it requires the publication of measurable benchmark data on sustainability and public health metrics. Third, it mandates that energy demand be met without building new fossil fuel plants, extending the operation of existing ones, or reopening decommissioned facilities. Fourth, it ensures fair cost coverage by directly funding necessary infrastructure upgrades—including energy, water, and network improvements—using fair share pricing tied to sustainability performance.
The scale of the challenge is particularly evident in Phoenix, where Mayor Kate Gallego noted that the existing and planned 225 data centers could nearly double the city’s electricity demand. "The unprecedented demand from the data center sector made this new pact necessary," she said. London Mayor Sadiq Khan added that while AI and data centers will play "a major role in the future prosperity of cities around the world… residents are right to expect growth to be managed responsibly." The pact will be coordinated by C40 Cities, a network of nearly 100 major global cities focused on climate action.
Source: datacenterdynamics
