The Albanese Government’s recent backdown on mandating renewable energy for data centres in Australia has sparked criticism from health experts who argue the decision ignores the climate crisis unfolding globally. The move could allow facilities in Queensland and the Northern Territory to be powered by fossil fuels, a shift that climate advocates say undermines national climate goals.
Energy policy and the Himalayan tragedy
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen insists the policy change is not a full concession to states seeking exemptions. He told ABC TV that the amendment allows state-owned energy companies to claim fossil fuels are cheaper than renewables, but the Australian Energy Regulator must approve such requests. Critics, however, point out that the primary metric for approval is price, not emissions.
This policy shift comes just days after a devastating flash flood struck the Nepal-Tibet border region. The disaster, triggered by a glacial collapse, destroyed villages and infrastructure in Rasuwa and Nuwakot. Researchers link such events to the destabilisation of glaciers caused by rising global temperatures. The tragedy highlights the physical costs of climate change, which experts argue are being exported to vulnerable regions while policy debates occur in Canberra.
Related: Promoting physical activity through systems change
It is difficult to ignore the irony that as the climate crisis dismantles clean energy infrastructure in the Himalaya, Australia is simultaneously opening a legal pathway for coal and gas to power its data centres. The tragedy in the Himalaya reveals the stakes. The river that tore through Rasuwa and Nuwakot had flooded barely 14 months earlier, this time triggered by ice breaking from a destabilised glacier. Every unit of fossil-powered compute adds to the heating that is destabilising those glaciers. The gains are captured in Australia, whilst the costs are exported to communities who had no seat at any table.
Public health experts say the media often treats these issues as separate stories. Reporting these events as silos—placing AI on technology pages, floods on world pages, and energy on business pages—makes it challenging for the public to see the full picture. This separation obscures the direct link between fossil fuel policies and climate disasters, such as the flash floods in Nepal.
Health experts call for stronger action
Professor Melissa Haswell of the University of Newcastle described the Government’s decision as a “double backflip” executed without grace. She compared the Federal Government’s move to “committing unmitigated planetary criminality” and breaking international rulings on climate obligations. Haswell argued the decision to allow expansions of gas to feed data centres represents an open door to Australia’s betrayal of current and future generations.
Related: Right to bear witness under attack
Dr Simon Judkins, an emergency physician and member of Doctors for the Environment, said the Government’s continued approval of high-emission projects is inexplicable in the context of record heatwaves in Europe and wildfires across the northern hemisphere. The Guardian reported that at least 35,000 more people died during Europe’s record-breaking heatwaves this summer than would normally be expected.
Professor Kent Buse from Monash University Malaysia said the lack of transparency in the data centre exemption process is concerning. He noted that the “flagship protection” on renewable energy was softened within weeks of pushback, suggesting that other protections in the Australian AI framework are now understood to be negotiable. Buse urged the media to report data centre policy as climate and health policy, rather than treating it as a technical regulatory issue.
Experts are calling for a reversal of the current exemption pathway. Buse said the relevant legislation is not due until early next year, meaning there is still time to influence the outcome. He urged politicians and policy makers to “hold the line on the renewables requirement” and to write climate, health, and equity into the exemption test rather than price alone. Public health professionals are also encouraged to build alliances with unions, the creative sector, and the climate movement to ensure independent monitoring of the AI sector.