September 1, 2026

Event Recap: Learning about the environmental impacts of data centers in Brazil

In a recent event hosted by MERL Tech CoP’s Climate + AI Working Group, Rhavena Madeira and André Fernandes discussed the ground realities behind data center expansion in Northeast Brazil. The conversation centered on a core question: what happens when the rapid expansion of AI infrastructures is presented as a “green” economic opportunity by tech companies, while the energy, water, land, biodiversity, and regulatory costs are pushed onto already vulnerable communities?

The Climate + AI WG is organizing a series of events exploring the global socio-environmental impact of data centers. The first edition of the series took place in spring 2026, focusing on the environmental impacts of data centers in the US and the European Union and the development of sustainability metrics within the industry.

1. “Green” sacrifice zones

Brazil’s data center strategy (and AI policy more broadly) is being driven by investment incentives, but the speakers questioned who actually benefits. Fernandes described the federal Hidata policy as an effort to attract data centers through tax exemptions, arguing that the approach risks creating enclaves where foreign companies control both infrastructure and data while Brazil receives limited technology transfer or broader industrial benefits. The discussion connected this to Brazil’s wider struggle to establish sovereignty over AI companies and limit Big Tech influence in government.

Hidata policy to pair tax breaks for data centers with renewable buildout in the Northeast is being branded as a “green” win for the tech industry. However, what’s left unsaid is that these data centers are responsible for Indigenous, Black, and Quilombola communities losing land and water to the wind farms and solar energy parks necessary to run these data centers (see TikTok’s facility in Ceará).

2. The extraction and sustainability equation does not add up

Northeast Brazil produces so much wind/solar power that operators routinely shut turbines down to avoid overloading the grid. Rather than fix storage or transmission, the government treats this “surplus” as justification for locating energy-hungry data centers in the same region.

“Green energy” does not automatically make data centers sustainable. A major theme for the speakers was this contradiction: the region has rapidly expanded wind and solar generation, yet renewable energy curtailment, continued dependence on fossil fuels, and the social and environmental impacts of new energy infrastructure remain unresolved. Rhavena Madeira argued that AI cannot be separated from the green transition debate – a genuinely just transition must prioritize climate justice, biodiversity, Indigenous rights, and local communities rather than simply supplying more electricity produced through renewable energy sources to high-consumption industries like data centers.

3. Energy transition ≠ decarbonization

Brazil is simultaneously expanding renewables and increasing fossil fuel dependence, said Madeira. We can contrast this with Spain’s draft decree released last week, which would force new data centers built in the country to match each new megawatt of demand with a new megawatt of renewable generation. Brazil is currently doing the opposite: data centers are allowed to absorb curtailed surplus from an already-built grid, which allows tech companies to label themselves as ‘green,’ but it is in reality a far cry from the additionality regulations Spain is proposing.

4. A progressive government that is pro-industry

Despite President Lula’s human rights rhetoric, Madeira and Fernandes described three years of civil society organizations being shut out of substantive Hidata policy dialogue and systematic failure to hold ILO 169–mandated consultations with local and Indigenous communities preceding data center construction. The government has also failed to tackle service gaps in under-resourced regions like the Northeast, where schools, roads, and clinics are getting built by tech companies and not the state.

Water, land, and human rights are as important as developing renewable energy capacity. Madeira described communities already experiencing water scarcity, sea level rise, and extreme weather. Data center development will place additional pressure on freshwater resources in the region’s vulnerable ecosystem.

5. A multi-pronged strategy

Facing a fragmenting inter-state “tax war” where state governments compete with each other to attract data center investments, Madeira and Fernandes are working along three tracks: legislative (regulating data centers above 10MW on environmental, sovereignty, and human rights grounds); judicial (prosecutor partnerships forcing disclosure); and grassroots mobilizing (building territorial power toward a landmark test case since Brasil currently has none). The proposed responses are aimed at building stronger democratic regulation and international networks. Both speakers emphasized that data centers are not inevitable or immaterial: “the cloud” is physical infrastructure that can and must be challenged. Madeira and Fernandes concluded by calling for networks connecting digital rights advocates with climate, Indigenous, and environmental justice movements resisting Big Tech everywhere.

Resources shared by Rhavena and André that you should explore:

This post is based on a MERL Tech event on July 29, 2026, discussing data center expansion in northeastern Brasil. The event speakers were Rhavena Madeira (of Filha do Sol, in Piauí, Brasil) and André Fernandes (of IP.rec, in Pernambuco, Brasil), discussed the ground realities behind data center expansion in Northeast Brasil.