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How we say YES to LIFE YLNM Position Paper (July 2026)

Image: Covas do Barroso Credit: Salva La Selva

 

1. Introduction: Saying Yes to Life

 

Yes to Life, No to Mining (YLNM) is a global solidarity network of and for Indigenous Peoples, impacted communities, local organisations, and networks who are standing up for their right to say No to Mining and to advance life sustaining and post-extractive futures.

 

In one of our earlier position papers, we laid out the reasons why we say “No to Mining.” These include the widespread and often unregulated destructive impacts of mining on environments and communities; and the pressures from companies and governments upon communities to accept projects often in the absence of people’s rights to free, prior and informed consent. 

All communities have the right to self-determination of livelihoods and futures, and to defend their territories, livelihoods and the wellbeing of the people and the earth. All communities have the right to say no to mining. 

At the same time, across the world, communities resisting mining are not only saying no to destruction, but yes to life. This paper is an articulation of how communities protect their territories and build lives of connection and thriving – for both present and future generations.

2. Defending Life: The Context of Extractivism 

Extractivism is a term which describes the logic of large-scale resource extraction to serve national and transnational corporate and economic interests, at the expense of local territories and communities. 

“(Extractivism) is a logic of violence that includes abuses to life, health, land, food, and water; displacement of people; violations of Indigenous Peoples rights; gender-based violence and discrimination against women; criminalisation of workers and human rights and environmental defenders; and the use of military and security forces to protect natural resources and corporate interests.” Nat Lowrey and Anisa Rogers writing for Chain Reaction (Friends of the Earth Australia), 2021.

Dron Alliansi Sulawesi – Toxic Tour 2023. Credit: Alliansi Sulawesi

Mining is one of the world’s most destructive forms of extractivism because of its scale and the wide range of impacts caused by its processes, not to mention the ever-increasing expansions for critical minerals under the banners of green energy transition, energy security, the “digital transformation” and defence. 

Expansions in the name of the “green transition” are not driven by care for people and environment, but by market factors – the economic values of key minerals and the geopolitical competition to control supply chains. The underlying logics of most “sustainable” or “green” mining enterprises are extractivism, capitalism, colonialism and imperialism. Saying yes to life means breaking free from these long-binding blights on our world and not falling for their new guises.

Another underpinning and prevailing myth is that of  “development as progress”. This has governed the agendas of the Global North over the Global South for decades. It is tied to the categorization of countries into developed and developing, the imperative of economic growth, and the false idea that transnational investment in resource extraction is the solution for poverty – an idea that not even its authors truly believe. 

It is time to take back the narrative. We assert that people and communities affected by mining and extractivism should have the right to define their own well-being, livelihoods and development pathways.  

The many justifications invented for mining expansions are creating a global profusion of “sacrifice zones”. These are geographical areas where the rights and health of people, lands, water and biodiversity are prioritised below capitalist interests. All over the world, mining frontiers are hotspots for human rights abuses, land grabbing and violence. 

Meanwhile these are often the very same areas where people are practicing sustainable and life-giving alternatives to extractivism, and are stewarding and safeguarding some of the most important ecosystems on the planet. 

In our previously published paper, “Towards Just Transitions for People and Planet”, we articulate the following:  “A truly just transition must be popular, inclusive, and grounded in the Right to Say No, and a right to choose non-extractive ways of life … This includes the amplification of alternatives to mining and extractivism, and empowering new paradigms of global justice that restore balance between peoples and the Earth.” In other words – a just transition is about defending life. 

3. What does “Yes to Life” Mean?

 

In a world where all futures are at stake, and where we cannot rely on top-down, capitalist and market-driven solutions to our intersected crises, it is essential to bring forth stories from the grassroots and extractive frontlines which help us to collectively imagine post-extractive futures. 

These are our “Yes to Life” stories: examples of surviving, thriving, growing and celebrating which demonstrate pathways and possibilities for pursuing a life-sustaining future at local and global levels.

Yes to life means centering land, water, forests and oceans as living systems with their own intrinsic rights to exist, persist and thrive, as well as to be healthy habitats for all living beings, including people who call these places home and depend on them for survival. 

Yes to Life means understanding communities as being Stewards of Life. It recognises the authority of Indigenous and community governance, and centres life-ways which are based on reciprocal relationships with nature.

Yes to Life means nurturing and supporting systems of Interdependence and Care, centred on the wellbeing of people and ecosystems and on our collective futures – human and other-than-human.

Yes to Life means protecting old ways and innovating new ways of living, which are regenerative and sustainable for generations into the future. It means imagining and bringing about a post-extractive future in which “many worlds fit” – a pluriverse, rather than a hegemony. 

“To say yes to life …

To create in order to reconnect” is, at its core, a collective affirmation:

Yes to autonomy.

Yes to caring for territory.

Yes to creativity as a form of resistance.

Because to create is also a way to resist.”

Claudia Alavez, coordinator of UNIR – Haiti

4. Principles for Saying Yes to Life

 

4.1 Territorial sovereignty and Indigenous self-determination

Globally, mining expansions disproportionately impact on Indigenous lands. In 2020, according to a report by the World Resources Institute, industrial and illegal mining together affected 450,000 hectares (over 20%) of Indigenous lands in the Amazon region. In Australia, a 2024 study found that 57.8% of critical mineral projects lay within formally recognised Indigenous lands. This went up to 79.2% when including land subject to undetermined native title claims. 

Indigenous stewardship is recognised to be one of the most important ways of preserving critical ecosystems and mitigating global warming. This is because the lands of Indigenous peoples largely contain critical ecosystems and carbon sinks; because many Indigenous traditional practices offer effective climate solutions, such as sustainable agriculture and water management systems; and because Indigenous peoples are custodians of unique knowledge and worldviews that emphasise deep kinship between humans and nature. 

Therefore, Indigenous self-determination over their lands and the extractive activities that affect them are fundamental to the principles and practice of Yes to Life.

4.2 The Right to Say No

The “Right to say No” is an essential balance of “Yes to Life” – one cannot exist without the other. In order to thrive, communities must be able to self-determine and set their own boundaries with regards to extractive projects that affect them. 

When unable to do so, communities are locked into uneven power dynamics with interests whose primary goal is to pursue projects in order to maximize investment returns for shareholders. This power dynamic makes the pursuit of life-sustaining economies and activities challenging, and sometimes even impossible – because when local energies and resources get sucked into survival efforts (firefighting), they are made less available for life-sustaining pursuits (growing green shoots). 

On the other hand, where possible, engagement in local actions that are positive and oriented towards thriving is one of the most important strategies used by communities to assert their sovereignty and to reject projects and influences that are not in their best interests.

4.3 The Rights of Nature and Earth Jurisprudence

Rights of Nature and Earth Jurisprudence movements are founded upon the recognition (understood by many Indigenous cultures) that Nature is a living community of interrelated and interdependent beings with inherent rights. 

As a legal tool for defending not only ecosystems but the communities which depend on them, Rights of Nature gained global attention in 2008 when Ecuador defined nature in its constitution as a living being (Pacha Mama) with rights to “exist, persist and thrive”. These revolutionary laws have become increasingly useful in supporting Ecuador’s grassroots struggles against state-backed oil and mining exploitation. The Los Cedros case, where the inherent rights of a cloud forest were successfully defended against a transnational mining company, is an emblematic example of how local and international networks can work together to bring forth the permanent protection of a biosphere.

Rights of Nature and Earth Jurisprudence movements and initiatives now spread around the world. They champion visions and strategies which challenge the colonial extractive power hegemony in both the Global South and North. The Rights of Nature has recently been recognised as an essential element of a “Just Transition” to a life-sustaining future – see our position paper for a slightly deeper dive on this topic. This is a powerful assertion of the principle of “Yes to Life” – not just for humans, but all species who share planet Earth with us.

The extraordinary biodiversity of Los Cedros Reserve in Ecuador, protected in 2021 by constitutional laws for Rights of Nature. Photo Credit: Liz Downes

 

4.4 Protection and regeneration of ecosystems

Mining expansions pose an ever greater threat to the world’s most vulnerable and biodiverse ecosystems. A 2026 analysis has revealed that more than 3,267 active mining operations are located within biodiversity hotspots – these operations account for almost 5% of the global mining industry’s total footprint. 

Mining is a key cause of deforestation – a 2024 study indicated that mining resulted in 1.4 million hectares of tree cover loss between 2001 and 2020. This only included extraction operations for five minerals (bauxite, iron ore, copper, gold and silver) and did not include the flow-on deforestation from pollution and infrastructure. Of this forest loss, 260,000 hectares were in Indigenous lands and areas around communities. 

More recently, the devastating impacts of massive industrial and illegal mining expansions can be seen across primary tropical rainforests and Indigenous lands in the Amazon, African, Asia and Pacific regions. Mining also impacts on ocean ecosystems: by pollution from land-based mines, dumping of toxic wastes, and the expansion of experimental explorations for metals in the deep sea. The protection and regeneration of ecosystems are vital to protecting what is left and rebuilding what is lost for a world where ecosystems and communities can thrive.

 

4.5 Community wellbeing over profit

Industries pushing “socially responsible mining” can never realistically prioritise community wellbeing over, or indeed as well as, investment. Even where companies claim they respect the needs of communities they operate in, there is a dynamic of corporate greed which is inherent to the practice of business under the capitalist model. The bottom line is always profit. 

For this reason, voluntary “environmental, social and governance” standards and schemes claiming to improve the due diligence of mining companies (such as certification schemes) fail by default to protect communities from harm. For communities to be able to ensure their own life-sustaining futures, their rights and wellbeing must be centred first and foremost over those of corporations. This means autonomy, sovereignty, the right to say no, and democratic decision-making power over any project that affects them. 

 

4.6 Solidarity and collective responsibility

It is difficult for projects building towards life-sustaining futures to be scaled up from the grassroots without global support and networks. Communities fighting mining are often living and working under direct threats of persecution, as well as struggling with food insecurity, threats to livelihoods, destruction of their lands and possibly poverty and other social injustices. 

To make our struggles visible is a call to action: it is to say that extractive frontlines cannot sustain themselves alone. People cannot survive and thrive and defend life against threats when they are isolated. We have a collective responsibility to support and advocate for those who are living under systems of oppression.

 

4.7 Intergenerational justice

The adverse impacts of extractivism are often intergenerational. In the case of mining projects, operations may last decades – which means decades of tailings accumulation, toxic runoff, land degradation, and soil, water and air contamination. Impacts may continue for decades, centuries or millennia after a mine is closed; and sometimes the damage is irreversible – as in the case of species extinctions, destruction of ecosystems, or the permanent displacement of communities.

So in terms of intergenerational justice, “Yes to Life” means creating and defending the conditions that make it possible for life to continue into the future. It means protecting lands, water, biospheres, and the communities which depend on them for the sake of all generations.

5. Pathways: How Communities Say Yes to Life 

We stand in solidarity with local communities resisting extractivism and uphold their right to decide in respect of all decisions that affect their lands, waters, and futures. This includes autonomy, self-determination, and territorial sovereignty of Indigenous peoples everywhere, and affirm the right of all communities to protect and care for their territories according to their own values and knowledge systems. And we stand for the rights of communities to forge alternatives to the industrial extractive model which help them not just survive, but thrive on their own terms. 

This section, the core of our paper, presents a tapestry of alternatives: ways in which communities are saying yes to life and sowing and tending the seeds of a future without mining in their lands.

 

5.1 Defending Territories and the Right to Say No

Private property sign expressing no to mining interests, Intag, Ecuador. Photo Credit: Liz Downes

Almost all struggles against extractivism start, and are sustained, at the local level. Mapping tools like the Environmental Justice Atlas paint a sobering picture of the sheer number of communities fighting for their lands across the globe, particularly in the Global South. At time of writing the EJ Atlas contains 4524 cases centred around mining, water justice, land clearance and waste disposal issues; and of course, many cases are not mapped. 

As the intensification of mining puts pressure on ever more local frontiers, communities are defending their Right to Say No in every possible way available to them – through organising, assemblies, solidarity networks, legal struggles, direct action, and much more. These struggles often involve long and gruelling campaigns which, sadly, are ultimately unsuccessful in stopping projects or preventing damage. 

However, whatever the outcome, the act of protecting life does not lose its value. And there are cases around the world where resistance has succeeded in defending life. It is vitally important to make these wins visible and celebrate them in the spirit of “Yes to Life.” 

Sulawesi, Indonesia, hosts the world’s largest nickel mining industry. Enormous, open-pit Chinese, Brazilian and Australian-owned mines funnel ore into a “hellscape” expanse of processing plants and smelters – the Morowali Industrial Park – which stretches along the coast of Central Sulawesi. The environmental and social impacts of this industry are nothing short of catastrophic. And recent expansions further threaten the livelihoods of rice and pepper farmers, who provide thousands of jobs in their regions and protect large tracts of biodiverse rainforest.

Some communities have responded by forming female-led resistance collectives – such as the Loeha Raya Women Fighters of Lake Towuti. These women are organising a campaign to protect their air, water and land from a new mining concession owned by Brazilian company, Vale. Despite intimidation and threats from both company and state, they continue to push back against Vale with a strength that defies the scale of what they are up against – a strength rooted in their conviction that no mining “jobs” can replace the loss of their homes. 

Image: Loeha Raya Women Fighters with YLNM and Rainforest Rescue, 2024, Sulawesi, Indonesia. Photo credit: YLNM

In Colombia in 2017, the citizens of the mountain district of Cajamarca voted with a 98% majority to ban a huge gold mining project owned by South African company AngloGold Ashanti. The popular consultation was led by grassroots youth activists and small-scale farmers. The victory helped inspire a movement of similar democratic consultations across the country, all soundly rejecting planned mining, oil and gas projects.

“By saying ‘no’ to mining, communities are not saying no to development. They’re saying we need to transition to new forms of development that are not based on exploiting non-renewable resources. People in Colombia are calling for a new paradigm and a new development model that includes alternatives that are rooted in and serve the well-being of the planet and the people.”

YLNM coordinator Mariana Gomez, quoted in The Gaia Foundation.

For over 14 years, communities in Cajamarca, in the highlands of Peru, have fought to hold back the Minas Conga gold project – a planned expansion of Newmont’s massive Yanacocha open-pit mine. The Yanacocha mine itself has an appalling record of air, soil and water contamination and water depletion; the Minas Conga project is projected to be three times the size and threatens to dump its waste in the source lands of five major rivers. Despite being met with violent oppression by the state, civil society groups have remained defiant and have fought several legal battles against the company’s attempts to manufacture environmental and social licence. To date, the multi-billion-dollar project remains stalled.    

Large-scale popular resistance can galvanise the voice for “No to mining” and achieve the blocking of projects that would otherwise devastate lands and livelihoods. In Serbia, a national people’s movement has to date prevented Rio Tinto from developing the huge Jadar lithium project in a historic district. In the Solomon Islands in 2020, the remote community of Wagina Island won a seven year legal battle to stop a Chinese-owned bauxite mining project which would have affected the livelihoods of up to 60% of the population. 

 

5.2 Practising Indigenous Sovereignty 

Indigenous communities, as prior mentioned, suffer the brunt of contemporary mining expansions for so-called critical minerals. “Yes to Life” for most Indigenous communities is deeply grounded in connection to land, sacred sites, and place-based cultural heritage.

In Ontario, Canada, the Eagle’s Nest nickel project – owned by Australian company Wyloo Metals – is a huge mining operation proposed on Treaty 9 territory on what local First Nations call ‘the breathing lands’. The area covers wetland and peatland ecosystems which form one of the world’s most important carbon storage sinks. In 2021 several First Nations declared a moratorium against mining on these territories: 

“This MORATORIUM is urgently required because, as the caretakers of this part of the Earth where the Creator put us, we have a profound and sacred duty to ensure that this part of the Earth is not so wounded from Ring of Fire development that it can longer support our relations and ways of life, or help protect the world from catastrophic climate change; as the James Bay lowlands stand as one of the last and most important bastions of defence against climate collapse.”

At the end of 2025 an access road was  approved to go ahead by the Government of Ontario, which is pushing the project as a multi-billion-dollar investment in renewable energy resources. Despite this setback, First Nations remain firm in defense of their lands, alongside allies such as the Friends of the Attawapiskat River, the Land Defense Alliance, and the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network. 

In the Philippines, indigenous communities have asserted their rights to defend territories against mining for decades – often while facing serious persecution from the government, corporations and private interests. In the province of Palawan, nickel mining expansions are threatening a once-pristine UNESCO biosphere reserve and the lands of the Pala’wan, Tagbanuwa and Batak peoples. The Coalition Against Land Grabbing (CALG), a coalition of indigenous campaigners, are urging a moratorium on mining based on damage already done to ecologically sensitive areas and agricultural lands, and on the “illegitimacy” of the Free Prior and Informed Consent process employed by the mining company.

On 18th February 2023, to save Brooke’s Point biocultural diversity paradise from ruthless incursion of mining development in the island of Palawan (Philippines) indigenous peoples and local residents put up barricades. People perceive these as one of their last remedies to halt ongoing destruction. Photo credit: Coalition Against Land Grabbing CALG

Indigenous peoples often have to resort to protracted legal battles to defend sacred sites and territories. Occasionally there are wins or milestones worth celebrating – with the caveat that there is often a long fight to continue. In May 2025, nine tribes of the Lakota Sioux of Black Hills, South Dakota, won a lawsuit which cancelled the permit of a graphite drilling project threatening their sacred grounds of Pe’Sla. 

During the same week, Yindjibarndi traditional owners were awarded $150 million in the latest iteration of their twenty-year legal fight against an iron ore mine owned by Australia’s second richest person, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest. For the Yindjibarndi, this is nowhere near a “win”, or the end of their struggle: the amount represents a fraction of the $1.8 billion they asked for, and more importantly will never make up for the destruction of up to 250 cultural sites by mining operations. Nevertheless, the result highlights the urgent need for accountability for mining companies who operate with near impunity when it comes to Native Title laws in Australia.

In Sweden, Saami reindeer herders filed a petition to the UN International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, complaining that three metals mining concessions had been granted on their land, in violation of their Free, Prior and Informed Consent and of national laws protecting their territory and traditional way of life. After five years of legal process, in 2025 the UN finally ruled in favour of the Saami. 

 

5.3 Protecting and Regenerating Ecosystems 

Around the world mining-impacted communities are engaged in ecosystem protection and regeneration activities, in order to restore damaged environments, defend territories, and develop and protect local livelihoods as a preventative measure against mining incursions. 

In the Finnish Boreal, the small community of Selkie has not only stopped decades of destructive peat mining through a spirited campaign, but has undertaken to restore the fragile river catchments and wetlands which had been polluted by the mine. Through a restoration programme bringing together traditional knowledge and science, this wetland has enjoyed a dramatic return to health, with many key species of birds and fish reviving their populations. Read their incredible story, Landscapes of Renewal, here.

In Myanmar, Indigenous Karen people created the Salween Peace Park – an initiative to protect their land, livelihoods and extraordinary biodiversity, and to assert their right to self-determination. During over 70 years of armed conflict, hundreds of thousands of Karen people have experienced genocide, torture, sexual violence, and displacement at the hands of the state armed forces. Karen lands are threatened by logging, private agribusiness, infrastructure projects and gold mining. Karen communities have resisted these threats  through public celebration of their culture, identity and nature stewardship. And so the Salween Peace Park came into being. 

 

“The Salween Peace Park empowers our indigenous Karen communities to guide local development and conservation in line with traditional knowledge and cultural practices. By basing local governance in the hands of the community, the Salween Peace Park enables the conservation of nature and Karen culture, and the pursuit of a peaceful and stable life for local communities, something that is denied to them by Myanmar government laws and military ambitions.” 

 

These hopes and dreams have been challenged by ever-increasing militarisation – in 2021 after the coup, and again in 2023, state military-led airstrikes bombarded villages. These assaults have forced hundreds of people to flee and live deeper in the forest, terrified of the next attack. Despite this, conservation and territorial defence activities continue. In 2024, Karen people embarked on a new campaign of self-determination – to register their own land titles without government approval. This process has involved an intensive mapping and documenting of ancestral lands, registering the data in a database, and handing out titles to locals. 

 

5.4 Defending Food Sovereignty and Land-Based Livelihoods

The term ‘food sovereignty’ was first coined in 1996 by the global peasant movement, La Vía Campesina. This is the right of communities to define their own food and agriculture systems, and to produce healthy and culturally appropriate food through ecologically sustainable methods. 

Food sovereignty is not just food security – it is a much broader political concept which asserts food as a human right rather than a commodity. It centres justice and solidarity over profit. It puts the needs and aspirations of those who produce, distribute and consume food at the heart of food systems and policies, rather than market demands. It defends the interests and inclusion of future generations. It offers strategies to resist and dismantle the current corporate trade and food regime, and directions for food, farming, pastoral and fisheries systems determined by local producers and users. Defending food sovereignty is a powerful way for communities to say “no to mining” and “yes to life”. 

Covas do Barroso is a mountainous rural region in Portugal famous for its traditional agro-silvo-pastoral food production, which has been recognised as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System (GIAHS) by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation. Local communities have very strong ties to the land, which is administered as a system of communal lands covering approximately 2000 hectares, called baldios. 

Unfortunately the region also contains lithium resources. In 2023, after years of aggressive encroachments to conduct explorations, UK-based company Savannah Resources was given the green light by the Portuguese government to develop its mining project. Most of the mining area covers the baldios. Local communities have reacted by conducting vigils, blockades, filing lawsuits, hosting international protest camps, creating street theatre, among other tactics. They argue that economic value cannot be assigned to communal lands; and furthermore, the mountains themselves are alive and cannot be quantified:

“When we allow ourselves to be truly present in the mountains, with all our senses immersed in it, listening to its sounds and its silences, seeing its colours, its shapes, its species; when we allow ourselves to feel its soil; when we quench our thirst in its waters or eat its fruits; when we feel the heat of its wood or the breeze of its breath on our skin; when it makes us feel fear or joy; we realise once again that the mountain is alive, that the mountain is part of us and we are part of the mountain.”

From New Tales of the Barroso Mountains, published by YLNM.

In Cajamarca, Colombia, food sovereignty is at the core of “Yes to Life” initiatives and non-extractive livelihoods being developed since civil society resistance stopped AngloGold Ashanti’s huge proposed gold mining operation in 2017. Communities and their local environmental youth collective, COSAJUCA, have built partnerships with local agronomists to teach people pathways towards developing their own sustainable businesses. Cooperative agribusiness has flourished. But the most inspiring story of all is that of the arracacha – a native Andean parsnip of which the Cajamarca region is the world’s biggest producer.  

In 2017, soon after the victory against the mining project, a local arracacha producing association, APROSAN, formed a partnership with the socially and environmentally conscious Colombian restaurant chain, Crepes&Waffles. The partnership assured a stable, generous market price for APROSAN’s products and supported the association to develop less chemical-intensive and more ecologically friendly farming systems. Crepes&Waffles has since expanded its buying of products from Cajamarca to some fruits and raw sugar. APROSAN has also moved into upscaling the processing of arracacha with new cooperatives and selling the raw vegetable as well as products like arracacha chips all over the country, transforming the vegetable from a “peasant food” to the real gold of Cajamarca.

Arracacha: The “real gold” of Cajamarca, Colombia. Photo: Federico Pardo for We Feed The World, The Gaia Foundation, 2019.

Farming communities in northwestern Haiti have collectivised to generate creative solutions to poverty, environmental degradation, and other pressures brought on partly by threats of gold mining in the northern territories of the country. While Haiti currently does not have a visible government and there is no mining legislation, transnational companies are expressing interest, and people are speculating that processes are occurring behind closed doors to allow projects to progress with no consultation. They are preparing.  

A grassroots collective, UNIR, runs workshops and educates affected rural communities in a participatory way, using games, flash cards and trivia to make people aware of the mining being proposed. Their campaign, “Create to Reconnect” has four highly successful initiatives in environmental education and action: Reducing plastic use and designing eco-friendly sanitary towels for women (led by a young woman from the north of the country); installing composters in northern Haiti to revive the use of natural fertilizers in planting; home gardens, integrating more than 15 crops in a single space; and school programs making “eco-bricks”.

“It is a very significant process for us, because we are supporting four community initiatives which promote something special: to create, imagine and inhabit our territory from our own solutions which come from our daily life and the real needs of our communities.”

Claudia Alavez, coordinator of UNIR and member of Yes to Life No to Mining

Ecological restoration and the strengthening of food sovereignty through collective reforestation and food production initiatives in southeast and north Haiti. Photo credit: UNIR Haiti, 2026

5.5  Water sovereignty

Water is essential for all life. But humans and many other species can only survive on fresh water, which makes up less than 2% of the water on earth. Of this, only 0.5% is immediately available to us, the rest being locked up in ice caps, groundwater systems and soil. Yet we are witnessing uncontrolled expansions of an industry which uses vast amounts – not just at the extraction stage, but to an even greater extent in ore processing and refining.

Some of the world’s biggest mining operations are located in arid lands where water is either scarce or exists in finite quantities, such as BHP’s operations in the Atacama desert of Chile, and Glencore’s huge nickel plant near Kalgoorlie in Western Australia. Mining also contaminates water supplies depended on by people and ecosystems. Hence, struggles against mining are often themed around water, its defence and its protection.

Through the Andes region, spanning Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, communities have used campaign slogans like “Water is Life” and “Water is worth more than lithium, gold, copper” to push back against mining expansions. In the highlands of Ecuador, the resistance against mining expansions have been largely built around the defense and sacredness of water. In 2018, a national “March for Water” involved hundreds of Indigenous people marching 600 kilometres from the country’s south to the capital, Quito, carrying swathes of blue material representing their sacred rivers.

“Water is Life” National March, Ecuador, 2018. Photo provided by Carlos Zorrilla

The arid region of Puna de Atacama spans parts of Chile, Argentina and Bolivia. It is erroneously known as the ‘Lithium Triangle’ because of its perceived richness in resources for the “green energy transition”. In reality it is a sacrifice zone where mining expansions for lithium brine in high-altitude salt lakes (salares) are having dire impacts on water, fragile ecosystems, and Indigenous livelihoods. Communities are fiercely resisting, because any more damage to water systems will mean death for their cultures and the entire landscape.

“Friends and farmers, with whom I shared a transcendental part of my life, generously explained to me how the collective use of water makes the existence of farming lands, forests, and wetlands possible amid the desert. The presence of farmers and shepherds, I understood, not only depends on these hydro-agro-ecosystems but also produces the conditions for their very existence … Mining stories are, when all is said and done, water stories.”  Ramón Balcázar, OPSAL (Plurinational Observatory for Andean Salares)

 

5.5 Building Community, Solidarity Economies and Intergenerational Justice

Local communities are strengthened in their resistance against extractivism when they share identities grounded in place. In Covas do Barroso, Portugal, communities are knitted together by their connection to the baldios – their traditional system of land stewardship. In Ireland, people have been resisting gold mining threats by Canadian company, Dalradian Resources, to the ecologically significant Sperrin Mountains for over ten years – as well as other mining concessions covering 25% of the land mass of Northern Ireland and 27% of the Republic of Ireland. Local groups are empowered and united by the spirit of duchás – the Irish concept for belonging or connection to land which is communal, ecological, and points to an identity shaped by place.

2024: Knitting community. During the camps in Covas do Barroso, a range of activities were organised, such as this crochet workshop led by one of the local residents. Photo: Guadalupe Rodríguez/ Salva la Selva

5.6 Protecting Defenders and Strengthening Collective Resistance 

Environmental defenders around the world get disproportionately targeted and persecuted by governments and corporations protective of their investments. According to Global Witness (2024) most assassinations each year are related to mining. Some statistics from recent years are covered in our paper “Why we say No to Mining.”

From 2012, the Philippines has been ranked as the deadliest country in Asia for people protecting land and the environment. More than 120 environmental campaigners have been murdered over the past 15 years, according to the grassroots organisation Coalition Against Land Grabbing (CALG) – with mining linked to a third of all killings. Through the years of persecution has emerged a tapestry of support for environmental defenders comprising grassroots organisations, Indigenous and rural communities. In the Asia Pacific region, these include Kalikasan, a network of environmental organisations advocating for persecuted defenders; and APNED (Asia Pacific Network for Environmental Defenders). 

In Ecuador, the numbers of environmental defenders being persecuted by corporations and government has increased sharply since 2016, when the country changed its mining investment laws and invited dozens of transnational companies to snap up mining leases across two million hectares of land – mainly Indigenous territories, biodiversity hotspots, and farmlands. As explorations and projects got underway with next to no environmental oversight and zero consultation, new local resistance groups sprang up everywhere. In 2021 several of these groups formed the National Anti-Mining Front, which continues to support a broad swathe of struggles, often with limited resources at their disposal. 

The Intag region of the northwest of Ecuador has a decades-long history of struggle against mining – the longest continuous resistance in Latin America. As a result the region has developed a tightly-linked network of civil society groups, which have collaborated in recent years to declare Intag a “Mining Free Zone”. Citizens have defended their lands in a wide variety of ways – from setting up chain blockades across roads to stop mining companies entering, to community assemblies, to conservation, reforestation and environmental education projects, to legal interventions against criminalisation of defenders, to court battles, and even a national referendum. Emblematic outcomes such as the court wins for the rights of nature in Los Cedros and Llurimagua would not have been successful without these strong civil society alliances. 

 

5.7 Collective decision-making, governances and convergences 

Strong local collective decision-making and community governance systems are critical in building up the power of civil society resistance and expanding solidarity networks.

The Karen people in Myanmar have constructed a regional coordination of governance to present a strong, united front in defense of their lands. This is grounded in local, grassroots governance bodies and a charter of principles; these local voices are then added together and channelled into a regional General Assembly. In this way, community voices are strengthened in relation to those of neighbouring stakeholders. Members of the General Assembly, in turn, work consistently with representatives of each community. 

“The Salween Peace Park empowers our indigenous Karen communities to guide local development and conservation in line with traditional knowledge and cultural practices. By basing local governance in the hands of the community, the Salween Peace Park enables the conservation of nature and Karen culture, and the pursuit of a peaceful and stable life for local communities, something that is denied to them by Myanmar government laws and military ambitions.”

Popular referendums have in many areas proved to be a powerful and decisive way to galvanise community resistance. In northwestern Ecuador, a campaign called “Quito Sin Minería” brought together rural communities in a campaign calling for a national referendum on mining in the mega-biodiverse Chocó Andino region. In 2023 over 60% of Ecuadorians voted to ban mining in that area. Just a couple of years earlier, the city of Cuenca similarly achieved a referendum at the provincial level, in which over 80% of voters said “no” to mining in the region’s highland watersheds. This win continues to bolster the resistance movements of Cuenca today, even in the face of increasing pressures from the state and corporations to advance grand-scale mining. 

Regional and global networks and convergences are a key way to articulate and solidify collective action, reflection and strategy. The Foro Social Panamazónico (FOSPA) is a biannual regional platform bringing together Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant communities, social movements, and civil society from across the Amazon basin. Similarly, in the Asia-Pacific region, the Asia Pacific Research Network (APRN) provides a collective space for civil society organisations to tackle shared social and environmental concerns and elevate the voices of frontlines. 

The Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature (GARN) is a rapidly growing network now with members in 40 countries. GARN’s organisational structure is grounded in and centres the authority of Indigenous peoples and stands for transforming systems in vision of a regenerative society for all beings on planet Earth. La Via Campesina is an international movement of peasants defending and building food sovereignty across the Global South and North. The Thematic Social Forum on Mining and Extractivism is a solidarity network of people from mining-affected communities which has so far held three global assemblies – Johannesburg (2018), Indonesia (2023) and Brazil (2025). While the Global Tapestry of Alternatives weaves anti-capitalist, post-capitalist, localised democracy groups committed to transformative alternatives.

Bringing people face to face in international convergences around official events like the United Nations COP climate summits has helped to forge cross-sectoral alliances of civil society groups working in different thematic areas of the “just transition.” In November 2025 tens of thousands, including YLNM, converged around the COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in a huge show of unity for a liveable future:

“Our process brought together more than 70,000 people who make up local, national, and international movements of indigenous and traditional peoples, peasants, Indigenous Peoples, quilombolas, fisherfolk, traditional peoples who live from sustainable forest extraction, shellfish gatherers, urban workers, trade unionists, homeless people, babassu coconut breakers, terreiro peoples, women, the LGBTQIAPN+ community, young people, Afro-descendants, the elderly, and peoples from the forest, the countryside, the peripheries, the seas, rivers, lakes, and mangroves.”

People’s Summit March in Belém do Pará, Brazil, November 2025. Photo: Liz Downes

5.8  Celebration of Life

Yes to Life involves the celebration of life in all its diversity – creating movements and resistance that cannot be stamped out. 

The struggle in Tolima, Colombia against mining giant Anglogold Ashanti has gradually evolved, and since 2011 has brought together diverse parts of civil society to flourish into an annual celebration: a protest of art, music and political-environmental education in the city of Ibagué. The colourful Marcha-Carnaval, held on World Environment Day, draws thousands of people together in defense of Life, Water and Land and in opposition to state extractive policies in the name of the “green energy transition”. With national and even international participation, this event makes resistance against mining both attractive and joyful – a flame that cannot be easily put out. 

In Toronto, Canada, a bi-annual event called the River Run is held by the Grassy Narrows First Nation and allies in protest against the diverse extractive industries which impact their lands. The Grassy Narrows community has suffered many traumas including forced displacement, destruction of sacred sites through hydro damming, mercury contamination, logging, and mining expansions. They have also held a long-running blockade against extraction that functions as a language school and cultural center. Mercury poisoning in particular has a multi-generational impact on health within the community. Hence this family-friendly event is both about political action and celebrating survival. 

In Western Australia, a powerful initiative called “Reclaim the Void” was launched in 2022 by elders of Ngalia communities near Leonora – a town in the infamous “Goldfields” region where mining has occurred for over 150 years and which currently hosts over 60 operating open pit mines, some among the largest in the world. The region is riddled with the scars of old mines. The project brought people together in crafting “camps” in town and on Country (Ngurra) to weave huge brightly coloured rugs from discarded fabrics which were then exhibited in significant cultural and meeting places as a celebration of survival and reconnection to Ngurra and Tjukurrpa (law). 

 6. Transforming the Global System

Thematic Social Forum convergence in Indonesia, 2023. Photo: Guadalupe Rodriguez

Making local alternatives possible requires global structural change. As we have said in another position paper on the Just(ice) Transition, “we can’t mine our way out of the climate crisis — but we can build post-extractive futures that sustain life with dignity for all, and the inherent rights of Nature to exist, thrive and regenerate everywhere.” 

This means changing the entire way we conceptualise our political and economic systems at a global level, as well as supporting democratically owned energy transition initiatives at the grassroots level. At the very least we must decentralise the production of renewable energy, demand the reduction of consumption by the world’s richest and most industrialised countries, and centre the imperative to stop creating sacrifice zones in the name of climate action, energy security, national security or AI. 

 

6.1 Degrowth: Reducing Demand for Extraction

The demand for extraction is created by production for the sake of profit, not need, and for the manufactured consumption patterns of the Global North and its industrial imperialism. This occurs at a relentless cost to the Global South and the marginalised communities within richer countries. 

Degrowth is an increasingly accepted umbrella term for one movement that posits scalable alternatives to the hegemonic global economic system. In a previous position paper we state: “the concept of degrowth is based on an internationalist justice-based perspective, and sheds special light on the necessity for the world’s most affluent regions and classes to reduce their (over)consumption and to tackle the unequal ecological exchange (extraction) of materials and labour from the poorer regions of the world.” 

Degrowth is rooted in anarchism. While propagated to some extent in academia, the concept is rarely mentioned in top-down, hierarchical climate mitigation discourse. It has largely (and rightly) fallen on grassroots groups to do the cutting-edge work of developing degrowth models and practices which have real social benefits.

Often these same groups are also doing justice work supporting the frontlines of extractive sacrifice zones. For example, the Australian Degrowth Network – which has emerged over the past few years in one of the world’s biggest mining jurisdictions – works in alliance with First Nations and anti-extractive networks while supporting community-building and local economic initiatives.

 

6.2 Just(ice) Energy Transitions 

What does a Just Transition mean to us? As we expressed in our previous paper on this topic: 

“A Just Transition means a transition shaped by peoples and communities, not imposed on them. It must centre the right to say no to destructive projects and the right to self-determination over territories, livelihoods, and ways of life. A just transition must also honour the Rights of Nature, recognising that ecosystems are not resource banks for human use, but living relatives whose well-being determines our own.” 

Farming communities in the “food basket” of southeastern Nigeria have for decades been fighting unscrupulous, mostly state-owned coal mining companies. In 2022, a prolonged action by women of the community of Owukpa resulted in the closing down of the coal mine operating right on their back door. However, by this time the mine and other regional operations had caused years of accumulated damage, particularly air and water pollution, which continues to impact on people’s health. 

Despite this, and despite a serious regional conflict which has made the area unsafe to live in for many and caused significant displacement, farming people are resilient and determined to resurrect their livelihoods. In January 2025, YLNM, in partnership with the Health of Mother Earth Foundation, distributed multifunctional solar power systems to 40 women in Owukpa. The beneficiaries noted that these systems would help improve their homes and businesses.

“We advocate for an energy transition that is both ecologically and socially just. Harnessing Nigeria’s vast solar and wind potential would provide clean, renewable alternatives to coal, offering communities like Owukpa a way forward without the environmental and health hazards associated with coal mining.” 

 

6.3 Corporate Accountability

We live in an age of economic imperialism and global corporate hegemony. Both must be dismantled in order for a life-sustaining future to be possible. Most attempts at regulation of transnational corporations come from within the power structures that maintain corporate hegemony (eg. so-called certification schemes). However, from the grassroots it is possible to address the impunity of companies and call out, or even directly disrupt, supply chains that cause harm. 

Since genocides such as that in Gaza and Congo and the increasing geopolitical and military tensions around the world, organisations such as YLNM have worked hard to draw attention to the money flows and mines-to-weapons pipelines which make these wars and conflicts so lucrative, as well as the impacts of mining expansions at all stages of the supply chain. Once these patterns are identified, strategic activism can bring accountability to the supply chain. This may include boycotts and sanctions, targeted protests and actions, market and shareholder actions, and legal cases. 

Investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) is a highly problematic international system of secretive tribunals that allows corporations to sue states outside of domestic and international law. The grassroots is gaining traction in challenging this system. In April 2026, over 340 civil society organizations called for a “global coalition to break free from ISDS” ahead of the Conference on Transitioning Away from Fossil Fuels in Santa Marta, Colombia. 

The international food sovereignty network La Via Campesina says: “People’s sovereignty, dignity, and justice cannot coexist with corporate impunity. The challenge before us is not just to document violations but also to interrupt the systems that make them profitable. To do that, we must reclaim the language of law, the tools of economics, and the principles of international solidarity—not as abstractions, but as weapons in the struggle for liberation.”

7. The Importance of Global Solidarity

Local mining and extractive frontlines often find themselves facing a perfect storm of challenges – corporate bullying and divide/conquer tactics, greenwashing and corruption, aggressive state-driven economic campaigns, environmental and social impacts, and – last but not least – violence and militarisation, which may be associated with any of these other factors.  

Communities struggling against violent conflict often find themselves isolated from outside resources and wider advocacy and support networks. This may be because areas are considered too volatile or dangerous; because state or corporate powers actively try to prevent anyone supporting frontlines; or because whole regions are impacted by violence and political conflict, causing overwhelm among human rights and environmental defence networks. Grassroots networks may be too stretched or under too much threat of persecution themselves to be able to support all the frontlines in crisis. 

Bigger NGOs often have comparatively more resources, but their hierarchical structures, competitive business models, funding conditions and self-censorship often create restrictions on the kinds of struggles they can or are willing to support. Without strong local connections, international NGO resources risk being detached from reality, or channelled simply to the most “charismatic” struggles which can attract media and donors – leaving less visible communities struggling on their own. 

For these reasons, when frontline communities are in crisis, it is the grassroots civil society organisations with strong global partnerships who are often best placed to connect struggles, amplify voices and enact timely responses. Global solidarity networks play a key role in making struggles visible, channeling resources to the frontlines that need them the most, supporting life-sustaining local economies, and celebrating alternatives to extractivism. 

Global networks are also well placed to amplify local issues of human rights abuses and environmental impacts, and connect these issues to activist groups who are working to dismantle the root problems and create alternatives at the systemic level. This means tying local struggles to the wider picture of growth-based economies, the imperialist ambitions of the Global North, and the global military-industrial complex. Local voices and stories no longer remain contained, isolated or unheard – they help to focus the energies of those with the most resources to act, and to create a world where extractivism, war, violence and militarisation are alien.

This is exactly why YLNM started twelve years ago from solidarity connections between Latin America and Africa. Now, we are a network of communities and organisations that span the globe.

8. Conclusion: A Future Rooted in Life!

 

As we have seen through this weaving of stories, “Yes to life” means a diverse range of concrete things that communities around the world are demonstrating and implementing in order to ensure a liveable future. 

 

Yes to life means … 

 

• Yes to post-extractive, local economies and livelihoods; 

• Yes to grassroots- and Indigenous-led solutions to the climate crisis;
• Yes to a truly just transition for people and planet; 
• Yes to protecting and restoring environments on which livelihoods depend;
• Yes to protecting and restoring biodiversity and waterways for the sake of the rights of all life to exist, persist and thrive;

and

• Yes to empowering economic models and practices based on kinship, collaboration and reciprocity with nature! 

 

We know that a fully just and sustainable transformation towards a better future cannot emerge from the same extractivist system that caused the collective crisis we’re in. Such a transformation must dismantle corporate power, challenge neocolonial dependencies, and redefine our relationship with nature based on care, solidarity, and ecological balance. 

 

As YLNM, we stand for and strive towards the nurturing of a global, systemic socio-ecological transformation which is empowered and led by the grassroots. 

 

We work together across the Global South and North to envision and forge the conditions for a human society that:

• Upholds the right of local communities and Indigenous peoples to say NO to mining and other destructive projects, on the basis of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent;
• Ensures protection for environmental and human rights defenders (EHRDs); 
• Advances post-extractivist and decolonial alternatives which are guided by planetary limits, peoples’ sovereignty and ecological justice;
• Promotes degrowth and reduced production within industries and sectors which are driving our planetary ecological and social crises;
• Promotes limits on over-consumption, particularly in the Global North;
• Dismantles imperialism;

and

• Recognizes and enforces the Rights of Nature and Earth Jurisprudence as foundational models for sustainable and democratic life on Earth.

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report today synthesizing decades of climate attribution research that underscores how heat-trapping emissions from burning fossil fuels makes different types of extreme weather more likely and/or severe. NAS conducted an overview of events like extreme heat, drought, wildfires, tropical cyclones and convective storms. They also touch on event impact attribution, the leading edge of the field that quantifies how climate change has contributed to specific harms like increased human mortality and economic losses.

The report and its contributors have been attacked by the fossil fuel industry in the lead up to today’s release, the latest in a coordinated campaign by Big Oil to undermine climate science and intimidate scientists. Companies like BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell are facing mounting lawsuits aiming to hold them accountable for the climate damages caused by their decades-long disinformation campaign. In April, U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Representative Harriet Hageman introduced a bill offering sweeping immunity from liability to these major climate polluters.

Below is a statement by Dr. Carly Phillips, senior scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and co-author of multiple attribution studies, including on forest fires in the western United States and global sea level rise.

“Attribution science confirms what billions of people around the world have experienced firsthand—deadly events like extreme heatwaves are occurring more often and tropical cyclones are more intense due to climate change. Despite efforts by the fossil fuel industry and its cronies to intimidate panelists and misrepresent the research, the Academies’ report affirms the scientific consensus: attribution science is based on rigorous peer reviewed methods and provides critical information about how climate change is driving increases in the frequency and/or severity of extreme events.

“This robust research field provides key evidence to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for its role in driving climate change. Congress must not grant Big Oil immunity for climate deception and the harms they knowingly caused that attribution science makes evident. Communities deserve their day in court and no one—including fossil fuel companies that have profited at the expense of people and the planet—should be above the law.”

The attack on attribution science is part of a larger effort supported by the Trump administration to eliminate states’ and communities’ ability to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for its role in the climate crisis, particularly through the courts.

EPA Administrator Zeldin’s attack on the Endangerment Finding, a foundational scientific finding that global warming emissions endanger public health and the environment and thus must be regulated by the EPA, also included baseless attacks on attribution science.

To speak with Dr. Phillips, please reach out to UCS Communications Officer Daela Taeoalii-Tipton at dtaeoaliitipton@ucs.org or 801-808-0759.

Additional UCS resources:

• Peer-reviewed study tracing fossil fuel companies’ contribution to climate change and ocean acidification
• Peer-reviewed study attributing climate change and sea level rise to fossil fuel companies
• Blog post explaining attribution science
• Blog post on accurately communicating about attribution science

AES, American Electric Power, CenterPoint Energy, Duke Energy and NiSource could be affected under a “more consumer-oriented utility commission policy,” Paul Patterson, a Glenrock Associates equity analyst, told Utility Dive.

Study: Pregnant women routinely exposed to chemicals of concern, some linked to poor birth outcomes Anthony Lacey July 16, 2026

Potentially harmful but commonly used chemicals were widely detected in urine samples of pregnant people, according to a new study. At least 45 individual of these chemicals were found in half of the study’s participants. 

The authors measured the presence of over 100 different chemicals, choosing those that people are commonly exposed to and that have a high probability of leading to poor birth and child health outcomes. 

This group of chemicals include those often found in personal care products, food, drinking water and household items, including phthalates, pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. 

The lead researchers are affiliated with the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina, Stanford University School of Medicine and the Woods Institute for the Environment. 

For the study, published in JAMA Network Open, scientists collected urine samples from over 5,300 pregnant women across the U.S. Of the 113 specific chemicals tested for, all but three were detected in at least one sample. 

Samples were collected on average in the second trimester at multiple research sites in 14 states between 2000 and 2021. 

Links to worse birth outcomes

Exposure to many of these chemicals, but especially phthalates and PAHs, were associated with shorter gestation and lower birth weights. The findings are concerning because these factors are linked to poorer long-term health and development in children.

Phthalates help make plastic flexible and stabilize fragrances in products. Commonly used phthalates and their replacements were associated with earlier delivery and increased risk of preterm birth. 

PAHs make up a large class of chemicals that are produced when coal, oil, gas, wood or tobacco are burned. Car exhaust, grilling and cigarette smoke are all potential sources of exposure. 

The study reported that higher levels of PAHs were associated with increased risk of lower birth weight adjusted for gestational age. This means that even when accounting for how early or late a baby was born, mothers who were exposed to higher levels of PAHs during pregnancy had babies that weighed less than expected at birth.

UNC professor of epidemiology Jessie Buckley, Ph.D. led the research. She says: “Our study underscores the importance of reducing harmful chemical exposures during pregnancy. Even small differences in birth weight or gestational age can have significant impacts on children’s health.”

‘Regrettable substitutions’ linked to same effects

The urine samples in this study were collected from participants over two decades. During that time, several chemicals found more widespread use while others were phased out, including some “high concern” phthalates banned by states or regulatory agencies for use in children’s products or food packaging. 

But in these circumstances, manufacturers often replaced the concerning chemicals with structurally similar alternatives, effectively perpetuating exposures that pose similar health harms.

For example, as concern rose about exposure to one phthalate, di-2-ethylhexylphthalate, or DEHP, manufacturers replaced it with diisononyl phthalate, or DiNP.

Researchers found the replacements for common phthalates were detected in the urine samples and were associated with the same health risks as the banned substances they replaced.

One of the stronger links to shorter gestation, or earlier delivery, was driven by this replacement ingredient. For example, DiNP was significantly associated with a 16% increase in risk of preterm birth.

Today, DiNP has been phased out again in favor of other structurally similar, but different, phthalate replacements that are likely to have the same impacts on health. DiNP may still be present in products, even though the levels are heavily restricted by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. 

Reducing your exposure to chemicals

The study findings highlight that exposure to harmful chemicals during pregnancy can affect birth outcomes, which may in turn influence children’s health long term. Some of the chemicals linked to birth and children’s health outcomes include phthalates found in personal care products or food packaging.

Consumers seeking safer products can read labels and consult ingredient-checking tools such as EWG’s Skin Deep® database or use EWG’s Healthy Living™ app, which includes Skin Deep.  

Phthalates used in personal care products might not always show up on the label if they are part of a fragrance blend. Avoid products that do not disclose their fragrance. The umbrella term “fragrance” or “parfum” can be a blend of up to 100 ingredients, some of which may be chemicals associated with health harms. 

Consumers can also choose cleaning and personal care products bearing the EWG Verified® mark, which are free from EWG’s chemicals of concern and meet strict standards for health. 

Consumers who want to reduce exposure to pesticides from food residues can consult EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ and download EWG’s guide to washing produce.

Efforts to reduce exposure do not require replacing everything at once. Even a small change, such as swapping out one product for a safer alternative, can be a simple way to start reducing exposure to harmful chemicals. 

Areas of Focus Women's Health Toxic Chemicals Pesticides Phthalates Authors Alexa Friedman, Ph.D. July 16, 2026

Nurses and constituents held a press conference and protest on Wednesday, July 15 at the Chicago residence of Senator Dick Durbin to demand he donate his financial contributions from Palantir Technologies, the tech company powering ICE surveillance, to immigrant rights groups.

A Japanese steel giant has pledged billions in new investment in Pennsylvania’s Monongahela River Valley, raising hopes that it would clean up pollution from its steel mills in the region. But documents show that its plans to ramp up production will worsen local air quality.

Read more on E360 →

Regulators approved 64% of the dollar value of revenue increase requests over the past five years, suggesting today’s rate cases will continue to raise bills, according to a recent report from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Millions of people around the world drink coffee to boost their energy. Researchers in South Korea have now given new meaning to the concept of coffee as fuel.

The team from the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) report a way to convert soggy coffee grounds into a high-quality coal-like fuel. The process, reported in the journal Chemical Engineering Journal, takes just 90 seconds from start to finish. And the final product has fuel performance comparable to conventional charcoal, according to the researchers.

The world generates almost 10 million tons of waste coffee grounds each year. Most of this ends up in landfills or gets incinerated. The spent grounds hold a lot of energy because of their high calorific value. But they have a high moisture content, so using them as any kind of biofuel would first require a long drying process or oil extraction.

But the KIGAM researchers eliminated the pre-drying step. Instead, they developed a way to use the moisture to accelerate the reactions and improve the quality of the solid fuel.

In the new technique, called flame plasma pyrolysis, the researchers start with coffee grounds containing around 55% moisture. They create a plasma flame by burning liquefied petroleum gas and compressed air. This creates a plasma as hot as 900°C and puts the coffee waste under immense pressure.

The pressurized heat rapidly vaporizes the moisture, triggering hundreds of tiny explosions in the coffee grounds, reducing the mass of the grounds by 83.3% and transforming them into a dry, porous biochar, all within 90 seconds.

The process boosts the calorific value of the coffee gounds by about 33%. The biochar exhibited a heating value of 29 megajoules per kilogram, comparable to that of coal.

According to a press release, the new process should work on any high-moisture organic wastes, such as food waste, sewage sludge, and agricultural residues. “We plan to expand the technology to various types of high-moisture organic waste and further optimize the process for industrial-scale commercialization,” said Taejun Park, lead author of the study.

Source: Taejun Park et al. Rapid conversion of wet spent coffee grounds into high-calorific biochar via drying-free flame plasma pyrolysis for process intensification. Chemical Engineering Journal, 2026.

 

 

Headline News:

• “Food Inflation Is Finally Slowing. So Why Could Your Supermarket Bill Start Rising Again?” • Food inflation has been slowing in the eurozone. However, economists at Oxford Economics and Deutsche Bank expect food price inflation to pick up again next year as higher commodity prices feed through the food supply chain. [Euronews]

French food market (Terry Granger, Unsplash)

• “Solar Power Records Set in Spain, France, Germany, and Italy” • Solar power production increased in all major European markets, year over year. The largest increases were 16% in both France and Spain. Also, Germany, Spain, Italy, and France all set new records for solar production, according to analysis from AleaSoft Energy Forecasting. [CleanTechnica]
• “New Jersey Orders At Least One New Nuclear Plant As Energy Demand Surges, And Rate Fears Grow” • New Jersey is laying the groundwork for at least one more nuclear power plant. The New Jersey Monitor reports supporters say the effort could expand the state’s supply of low-pollution electricity, but opponents warn it may add to utility bills. [The Cool Down]
• “GB Solar Generation Hits Quarterly Record” • Great Britain generated a record 8.0 TWh of solar power during Q2 of 2026, while renewables supplied 53% of total electricity, according to Montel’s Q2 GB Electricity Market Summary. Montel said wind remained Great Britain’s largest source of electricity generation, producing 18.9 TWh. [reNews]
• “Why Europe, India, And China Should Adopt Cleantech ASAP ” • Europe, India, and China are spending billions upon billions on oil, gas, and coal from other countries. They are funding other economies heavily to buy dirty, polluting, inefficient fuel that also causes severe health problems and premature deaths among their own people. [CleanTechnica]

For more news, please visit geoharvey – Daily News about Energy and Climate Change.

This story is published through the Indigenous News Alliance.

AI is the transformative technology of our time, with the potential to reshape our world on a global scale. And yet, underpinning its potential is the need for so-called hyperscale data centers that require vast amounts of land, energy, and water. As tech companies and governments continue to develop this infrastructure at a huge scale, Indigenous peoples around the world are responding to this threat in different ways. They are raising concerns about mounting pressure on water resources and inadequate consultation, but in some cases embracing projects for their economic benefits. 

The rapid expansion of this massive digital infrastructure has Indigenous leaders, governments, and experts calling on those developing them to comply with the principle of free, prior, and informed consent while exploring whether this infrastructure can be established in ways that advance Indigenous rights and priorities.

During a panel discussion on the second day of the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, or EMRIP, Indigenous delegates said that while there must be policies to ensure that AI does not harvest Indigenous knowledge without consent, protections for Indigenous lands and waters are equally important. 

“AI is resource-intensive and requires vast amounts of energy. In Sápmi, we already see how large data centers put [immense] pressure on our territories,” said Maren Storslett, who is a member of the Sámi Parliament in Norway. “This forces a conversation about priorities and limits and we need to be at the table on these discussions.”

According to the International Energy Agency, conventional data centers, which store thousands of computer machines and other equipment to power everyday digital life like cloud storage, may draw around 10 to 25 megawatts of power per year. But a hyperscale, AI-focused data center, of the likes being built by or for transnational companies such as Google and Amazon, can require 100 megawatts or more annually, consuming as much electricity as 100,000 households would use over the same time. 

All of that energy is needed to power the immense racks of servers that provide the computing power behind things like ChatGPT, Claude, and other platforms. They also require copious amounts of water to keep them cool.

This demand for energy and water, driven in part by the increasing rack power density for AI workloads, is a frequent concern raised by sources at the international Indigenous conference. Research by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory estimates that all data centers in the U.S. alone directly consumed approximately 17.4 billion gallons (66 billion liters) of water in 2023. It also estimated that the energy generation consumed 211 billion gallons (800 billion liters) of water. 

Read Next A solution to data center backlash? Put them in oil fields. Jake Bittle

Other research puts it into perspective: By 2030, the energy required for data centers is expected to double to 945 terawatt-hours — enough to meet the needs of all 1.3 billion residents of Sub-Saharan Africa for 5.5 years. Those facilities would also require enough to meet the domestic water needs of all the same people for a year.

“These technologies … come with environmental cost,” said Aluki Kotierk, who is Inuk from Canada and current chairperson of the U.N. Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues. “The data centers that power them consume vast amounts of energy, water, and minerals, resources that are often extracted from or developed on Indigenous peoples lands without their meaningful participation or consent, with potential serious consequences for their rights, livelihoods, and environments.”

Extraction for AI data center resources can result in the degradation of sacred sites and threats to fragile ecosystems, according to Camila Vergada, who is a board member of the Forum for Real Economic Emancipation.

While there are potential benefits for Indigenous people, the electricity and water needs of hyperscale, AI-focused data centers can be detrimental to Indigenous lands that lack the capacity to meet their resource requirements, according to Matthew Rantanen, who is a Cree descendant and advocate for digital equity in Indian Country.

Rantanen, who is a co-chair of two technology-related subcommittees of the National Congress of American Indians, believes an industry shift toward renewable energy and alternative cooling methods is needed to ensure that AI infrastructure aligns with Indigenous priorities and rights. 

The permitting needed to build these data centers should require in-depth studies of resource availability and the impacts on communities and ecosystems, as well as the involvement of those impacted throughout the lifecycle of a project — a point that was reinforced by participants at the EMRIP. 

Others, like Rochelle Diver, who is a citizen of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe and the U.N. environmental treaties coordinator for the International Indian Treaty Council, are calling for broader support for Indigenous-led moratoriums on data centers. “We are in an urgent situation regarding the infrastructure being built on a massive scale to power AI technology,” she said. 

Data centers are often built in water-stressed regions, like Querétaro, Mexico, and Santiago, Chile. In a protest against the construction of a Google facility in Santiago, Indigenous peoples, local communities and workers’ unions rallied around the slogan “no es sequia, es saqueo” (“this is not a drought, this is a robbery”). Last year, the Anacé Indigenous people in Brazil filed an official complaint before federal authorities, requesting the cancellation of a $10 billion data center for the popular social media platform TikTok on their land. Leaders said their right to consultation was violated, and their concerns dismissed.

Roberto Anacé, leader of the community in Brazil, said in a WhatsApp message that the project “hinders our community, first disrespectfully separating relatives, causing fights, personal interests, bringing out ambition and hatred in human beings, and above all destroying our sacred things: Mother Earth, water, climate, air.”

Read Next Data centers are straining the grid. Can they be forced to pay for it? Naveena Sadasivam

A recent analysis by the London School of Economics suggests that the next wave of climate litigation may relate to the impacts of large data centers that AI relies on. In 2024, due to the efforts of Chilean protesters in Santiago, an environmental tribunal suspended construction of the Google data center, ruling that the environmental impact had not been properly considered. So far, there has been no progress on the Anacé peoples’ lawsuit against TikTok. 

In the U.S., a more than $1 billion Meta data center project in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has received mixed responses among Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members. While some support it, others firmly oppose it and have actively campaigned against it. Cheyenna Morgan, who is an enrolled member of the Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Native Americans and the coalition coordinator of Stop Data Colonialism, said in an email that the data center will place a heavy burden on local power and resources. 

Meta, Google, and TikTok did not reply to requests for comment. 

Through Stop Data Colonialism, Morgan works to stop the rollout of hyperscale data centers on vulnerable lands, and said her community is already experiencing an increase in electricity bills and is expecting further rate hikes. “These impacts will be felt on regular people who didn’t ask to have these in their neighborhoods,” she said. 

 In March, the city council passed a moratorium to allow more time to assess the project’s impact. Similar moratoriums have been passed by tribes in the U.S., including the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (EBCI), and the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.  

At the U.N., some delegates spoke of direct experience with harmful data centers, while others spoke of the potential risks. 

Julia Aka Wille, who is Inuk from Greenland and invited by the Inuit Circumpolar Council to speak at EMRIP, said that even though her homeland does not have any data centers yet, the community is still concerned about their impact on the climate. “They still affect us in that way, because they use so much energy and water, and it will contribute to the general climate change,” Aka Wille said. “The Arctic is the region that is most affected by climate change because the ice is melting, and this affects us that we can’t really have the same way of living anymore.” 

Read Next AI is a double-edged sword for Indigenous land protection, UN experts warn Aimee Gabay

Although Aka Wille sees opportunity in AI to help teach and preserve Indigenous languages like hers, she hopes that Indigenous peoples from around the world can work together to ensure AI is used in a responsible way.

In Alberta, some Indigenous nations are embracing the data center boom, emerging as key stakeholders and investors. The Woodland Cree First Nation recently announced plans for a 650 megawatt data center that will utilize an idle power plant for energy generation. Woodland Cree has a 51 percent stake in the project.

Te Kāhui Raraunga, an Indigenous-led initiative in Aotearoa New Zealand, demonstrates how some tribal nations are considering AI-initiatives that respect Indigenous rights and priorities. The organization, linked to the Data Iwi Leaders Group, has created a Māori Data Governance Model and Māori AI Governance Framework focused on data policy and infrastructure. 

As part of this initiative, leaders from 85 tribal nations gather each quarter to ensure the communities’ key priorities are upheld. 

“These hyperscale data centres come with promises of economic development and digital sovereignty; however, the reality can be much different, and it is vital that iwi Māori have the information they need to make informed decisions,” Erena Mikaere, the digital program lead for Te Kāhui Raraunga, said in an email. 

She added that the organization has developed resources for tribal leaders that highlight the impacts of hyperscale data centers, as well as key considerations before signing any agreement allowing one.

At EMRIP, Indigenous delegates stressed the need for meaningful participation throughout the development, implementation, and governance of AI initiatives that affect them. 

“We must not only ask what AI can do, but what it should do,” said Maren Storslett. “Respect for the rights of Indigenous peoples must apply across the entire life of AI systems.”

Grist reporter Joseph Lee contributed reporting to this story.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Data centers are booming. Indigenous leaders want help protecting their lands. on Jul 16, 2026.

‘Triple dipping’ taxpayer dollars: Trump eyes billions more in subsidies for wealthy farms Anthony Lacey July 16, 2026

The Trump administration is asking Congress to send another $11 billion to farmers through taxpayer-funded farm subsidies, even though many would-be recipients are wealthy farms that already receive billions through several farm subsidy programs.

If Congress approves the request, it would be on top of the $12 billion currently allotted to farmers through the Farmer Bridge Assistance Program this year. 

Farmers also already receive payments from two other categories: commodity programs and the federal Crop Insurance Program, new EWG research finds. According to data in EWG’s recently updated Farm Subsidy Database, farmers last year received a staggering $29.5 billion by “triple dipping” into three categories of farm subsidies. 

The administration’s request, combined with these other payouts, would make payments swell to over $50 billion in 2026. This will place an even greater burden on taxpayers whose median income and wealth remain well below those of the average farm household. Total payments would make up a third of farm income this year.

Many smaller farmers are facing legitimate financial challenges, including lower commodity prices, higher input costs and uncertainty driven by President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the war with Iran. But America’s farm subsidy system overwhelmingly rewards the nation’s largest and wealthiest operations, not the family farms most in need of assistance.

Trump’s latest $11 billion bailout plan is largely the result of self-inflicted problems: a farm economy troubled due to the tariffs and war, which he started and which created instability in the global export markets. Rather than addressing those underlying policy choices, the administration is once again asking taxpayers to foot the bill.

Neither the House farm bill passed this spring nor the Senate farm bill now under consideration would make any much-needed changes to federal farm subsidy programs. Reform is vital to limit – not increase – the many billions taxpayers are paying to lucrative farms every year. These farms already benefit from multiple programs – they don’t need more support.

Triple dipping happens each year

EWG identified three sources of the billions in Department of Agriculture 2025 payments: crop insurance and traditional commodity farm subsidy programs that pay out every year, and ad hoc programs approved by Congress.

Six individual programs are covered by the three USDA farm support payment categories:

• An indemnity payment from the taxpayer-subsidized federal Crop Insurance Program.
• A payment from one of two traditional commodity subsidy programs tied to crop prices or revenues: the Price Loss Coverage program, or PLC, and the Agricultural Risk Coverage program, or ARC.
• Payments from three ad hoc programs established by Congress: the Emergency Commodity Assistance Program to help farmers with increased costs and reduced crop prices, and the Supplemental Disaster Relief Program and the Emergency Livestock Relief Program designed to support farmers through weather and climate disasters.

Farmers collected $29.5 billion in 2025 from the three types of payments. The largest share of payments were made in the ad hoc category. Together the three ad hoc programs accounted for $16.3 billion, representing over half of all payments. (See Figure 1.)

Crop insurance paid out 37% of total payments from all programs in 2025, or $11 billion. Payments from the ARC and PLC commodity programs made up the smallest share, at $2.1 billion, or 7% of total payments. 

But ARC and PLC payments will increase from 2025 levels in future years due to higher subsidies established in Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBBA, which Republicans pushed through Congress last year.

Figure 1. Ad hoc farm subsidy programs were by far the largest source of payments to farmers in 2025

Image

Source: EWG, from the USDA Risk Management Agency, Summary of Business data, and Farm Service Agency, Payment Files Information

Farmers in 3,053 counties across the country received payments from at least one of the three farm support categories. In a total of 2,320 counties, or 76%, farmers collected payments from all three. 

The ad hoc programs had the largest reach, with farmers in 98% of the counties receiving payments. 

Just under half of all payments from the three payment categories – $14 billion in taxpayer dollars – went to farmers in just seven states, in descending order of largest payments: Texas, Minnesota, Kansas, Iowa, Nebraska, North Dakota and Illinois.

The payments were very highly concentrated in just a few states, with farmers in Texas, Minnesota and Kansas alone accounting for 25% of all payments. 

Farmers and taxpayers pay into crop insurance premiums every year. Taxpayers shoulder 63% of the cost, on average, and indemnity payments are made from total premiums collected. 

Taxpayers foot all – 100% – of the cost of traditional commodity farm subsidy programs and the ad hoc subsidy programs. An increase in ad hoc subsidies, as the administration is requesting, would send considerably more taxpayer money to farmers.

The largest farms benefit the most

The push for another bailout comes as some farmers are struggling financially given increased costs for critical supplies like such as fuel and fertilizer, 

And it’s a jarring request at a time when millions of hardworking Americans across the country are also grappling with everyday living costs. Incomes are not keeping up with the rising cost of living, and almost half of Americans cannot afford basic living expenses like food, rent and healthcare.

Trump’s bid to send even more taxpayer money from an additional ad hoc program to farmers would benefit the largest and wealthiest farms the most. 

In 2025, the top 10% of farms received 59% of all commodity subsidies. At the same time, the smallest 80% of recipients only got 22% of payments. 

Most farm subsidies go to growers of commodity crops like corn and soybeans. Very little funding goes to farms that grow food like the fruits and vegetables millions of Americans eat, referred to as “specialty crops.”

Farm household income and wealth are also significantly higher than the average U.S. household. In 2024, the median farm household income was $102,748, much greater than the median U.S. household income of $83,730. 

Just 2% of all family farm households had levels of wealth below the median American wealth. 

Farmers qualify for commodity and ad hoc subsidies as long as their annual income is not above $900,000 per person, or $1.8 million for a farmer and his or her spouse. But the Crop Insurance Program does not have an income limit, so farmers who make above that level still qualify for premium subsidies and indemnity payments.

No need for more payments

The Trump administration’s latest proposal comes a year after enactment of the OBBBA, which expanded farm subsidies while paying for those increases by making deep cuts to nutrition assistance for hungry Americans.

By expanding subsidies at the expense of hungry people, the law increases the likelihood of farmers’ triple dipping into multiple farm support programs. It causes serious harm to millions while benefiting relatively few farmers.

Reform of the farm subsidy program to prevent triple dipping and make other much-needed fixes to these massive payouts is long overdue. But the House-passed farm bill and Senate farm bill under consideration won’t rein in farm subsidies.

Mostly large and wealthy commodity crop growers already receive billions of dollars from multiple farm subsidy programs every year. These farmers do not need even more taxpayer support from another new Trump-driven ad hoc farm subsidy program.

Areas of Focus Farming & Agriculture Farm Subsidies Authors Anne Schechinger, M.S. July 16, 2026

Ontario’s publicly managed water and wastewater systems are good examples of public systems that have learned from the failures of privatization and have been amended...

The post Keep Water Public: The quiet corporatization of Ontario’s water first appeared on Spring.

Open access notables

Renewable energy discourses of fossil fuel companies: obstruction and delay of climate action, Desai et al., Energy Sustainability and Society

For decades, multinational fossil fuel companies have strategically promoted discourses to obstruct climate action. Initially, the fossil fuel industry publicized communications that denied the role of fossil fuels in climate destabilization. Recently, however, they have advanced nuanced messages to delay climate action and policy. As the climate crisis worsens and calls to phase out fossil fuels intensify, research into the industry has revealed pervasive “greenwashing” and a discrepancy between external messaging on renewable energy and internal operational positions. Corporate annual reports, which are public-facing communications, offer insights into how companies align their internal strategy with their external messaging. Based on a textual analysis of the annual reports of four of the largest fossil fuel companies (ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, and TotalEnergies), this research compares how companies have adapted their communication strategies about renewable energy between 2016 and 2022.

When algorithms decide the climate: AI, disinformation, and the crisis of environmental truth in the Anthropocene, Vidal, PLOS Climate [commentary]

We often describe the Anthropocene as a planetary emergency. Yet beneath the ecological upheaval lies a deeper and more destabilising fracture: the erosion of environmental truth [1]. By environmental truth, I refer to the collectively negotiated understanding of climate and ecological realities, shaped by scientific, social, and technological processes. Climate knowledge today is reported, debated, and contested, but increasingly it is computed [2]. Algorithmic infrastructures now decide what becomes visible, credible, and politically actionable. My argument here is direct: AI systems and digital platforms have become co-producers of environmental truth, and this reconfigures the very conditions under which climate policy, public debate, and democratic decision-making occur. The Anthropocene is as much a crisis of meaning as it is of ecology.

When models outrun politics: Biofuels as a stress test for scenario plausibility, Hedenus, Energy Research & Social Science

Long-term energy scenarios often assign a substantial role to biofuels in net-zero pathways, despite decades of policy support and limited evidence of sustained cost reductions or large-scale diffusion. Using biofuels as a critical case, this paper examines a broader problem in scenario construction: the misalignment between modelled technology pathways and socio-technical feasibility. Drawing on innovation theory, learning-curve evidence, and observed patterns of policy support and investment, it argues that biofuels are constrained by a configuration of mutually reinforcing limitations, including feedstock-dominated costs, weak learning dynamics, and permanent policy dependence. These constraints do not form a simple causal chain, but jointly limit the conditions under which large-scale competitiveness could emerge. Despite this, energy system and integrated assessment models often project extensive biofuel deployment under assumptions that abstract from political volatility and investment risk. The paper argues for greater use of empirical plausibility checks to improve the relevance of long-term energy scenarios.

Global Warming Has Accelerated Significantly, Foster & Rahmstorf, Geophysical Research Letters

Recent record-hot years have caused discussion over whether global warming has accelerated. Previous analysis found acceleration (i.e., increase in warming rate) has not yet reached a 95% confidence level, given natural temperature variability. We remove the estimated influence of three main natural variability factors: El Niño, volcanism, and solar variation. The resulting adjusted and thus less “noisy” data show that there has been acceleration with over 98% confidence, with faster warming over the last 10+ years than during any previous decade.

Compound coldwave and freezing-snow events decrease during 1994−2023 over global land area, Ma et al., Advances in Climate Change Research

With accelerating global warming, compound climate extremes pose amplified threats to ecosystems and socio-economic stability. However, the occurrence and evolution of Compound Coldwave and Freezing-Snow (CCFS) events in a warming climate remain a critical knowledge gap. This study provides a quantitative assessment of the spatiotemporal changes of CCFS characteristics, including its frequency, duration, and severity from 1964 to 2023, by integrating daily minimum temperature data from Berkeley Earth with hourly precipitation amount and precipitation type data from the ERA5 reanalysis. The spatial distribution of CCFS events exhibits a pronounced interhemispheric asymmetry, with over 90% of occurrences located in the Northern Hemisphere. Mid- to high-latitude regions of Eurasia and North America, where show the highest CCFS frequency, also experienced substantial temporal changes. Compared to the earlier period (1964−1993), notable declines in CCFS frequency, total duration, deficit heat, and combined severity are observed across most land regions during the recent warming period (1994−2023). Globally averaged trends reveal a faster reduction in CCFS frequency and total duration, as opposed to a slower decline in deficit heat and combined severity. The reduction has been particularly rapid in the top 20% most affected land areas, concentrated in subtropical North America, northern/eastern Europe, and Siberia. In these regions, average event frequency, duration, deficit heat, and combined severity declined markedly from approximately 3.5 events, 28 d, −44 °C, and 25 in 1964 to about 2 events, 18 d, −14 °C, and 17 in 2023. However, the average duration per event extends from 1964 to 2023, especially across mid to high latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. Furthermore, CCFS frequency and duration demonstrate a nearly linear decrease with global warming, while severity indicators follow a nonlinear, logarithmic decay. This disparity indicates distinct sensitivities among different CCFS characteristics. For all CCFS indicators except average duration, the linear component of the response outweighs the nonlinear component. The results will aid forecasting efforts and help to improve hazard preparedness and mitigation strategies.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Spring 2026, Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of more than 4 to 1 (68% versus 16%). By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Americans are more likely to think global warming is mostly human-caused (59%) than to think it is mostly caused by natural changes in the environment (27%). 66% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, including 29% who say they are “very worried.” 59% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including 35% who think weather is being affected “a lot.” 13% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.

Cheaper. Cleaner. Unstoppable. Clean technologies that are delivering for the climate, James Haselip and Lakshmi Bhamidipati, United Nations Environment Program

At a time when climate risks are intensifying, this policy briefs highlights a powerful and hopeful shift: many clean solutions are no longer niche—they are becoming the new normal. Across energy, transport, buildings and food systems, “positive tipping points” are emerging. As costs fall, technologies scale, and public support grows, adoption is accelerating in self reinforcing ways. Solar power, electric mobility, and sustainable cooling are proving that climate action can be economically competitive, socially beneficial and globally scalable. This report shows that the transition is not only possible—it is already underway. With the right policies, investments and partnerships, we can amplify these positive tipping points, unlock cascading benefits, and deliver a future that is more resilient, equitable and sustainable. 287 articles in 92 journals by 1998 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

A strong constraint on radiative forcing of well-mixed greenhouse gases, Feng et al., Nature Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41586-026-10289-x

A Weakened East Asian Winter Monsoon Triggered Record-Breaking Marine Heatwaves in the South China Sea During 2023–2024, Lu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 10.1029/2026jc024234

Bipolar Oceanic Processes Drive Indonesian Throughflow Decline Under Climate Warming, Wang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl121630

Contrasting Responses of Dissolved Oxygen in the Northern Benguela Upwelling System to Four Decades of Warming, Salama et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023848

Deep ocean control of global temperature after net-zero emissions, Lee et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-026-01934-1

Drivers of Trends in Northern Hemisphere Cold Spell Characteristics Over 1980–2025, Osmolska et al., White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) pmh:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:242617

Dry and moist convective upper bounds for near-surface temperatures, Nicolas & Hotz, Weather and Climate Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/wcd-7-843-2026

Marine Heatwaves in the Java Sea, Indonesia: Characteristics and Atmospheric Onset Drivers, Bayhaqi & Iskandar, Open MIND Open Access pmh:10.6084/m9.figshare.31444423

Ocean acidification as a planetary signal linking Earth system memory to deep-time lithosphere–ocean geochemical interactions, Das & Choudhury, Earth-Science Reviews Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105623

Recent equatorward shift of the summer North Atlantic jet dominated by internal climate variability, Sheng et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aee8136

Sea-surface temperature variability and climate drivers in Cuba's Jardines de la Reina National Park (2003–2022), Castillo-Álvarez et al., Ocean science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-1409-2026

The Arctic overturning circulation: transformations, pathways and timescales, Dörr et al., Ocean science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-565-2026

The Response of the Global Overturning Circulation to Recent and Projected Antarctic Meltwater Changes, Gülk et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2026jc024622

Understanding the Response of the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation to Carbon Dioxide and Sea Surface Temperature Increases in Aqua-Planet Simulations, Johnson et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045481

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
The correlation between Arctic sea ice, cloud phase and radiation using A-Train satellites, Atmospheric chemistry and physics, 10.5194/acp-24-7899-2024 12 cites.

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Observations of climate change, effects

Assessing climate change impacts on heat waves and heat index: a case study of Uttar Pradesh, India, Awasthi et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1679941

Attribution of the 2022 Asian Spatially Compound Heatwave-Flooding Event to Atmospheric Circulation, La Niña and Anthropogenic Warming, Wang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd045461

Burned Area Over Africa Reduced by Shortened Dry Season, Mohammed et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl121751

California Temperature Since 1520 CE Shows Interactions in Extremes of Heat, Drought, and Fire, Harley et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118590

Century-Scale Climate Evolution in Semiarid High Plateaus, Algeria, Rouabhi, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-25-0181.1

Climate impacts from North American boreal forest fires, Gerrevink et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41561-026-01940-3

Compound coldwave and freezing-snow events decrease during 1994−2023 over global land area, Ma et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.032

Drivers of Trends in Northern Hemisphere Cold Spell Characteristics Over 1980–2025, Osmolska et al., White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) pmh:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:242617

Emerging dryland flooding, Bai et al., Earth-Science Reviews 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105612

From stationary to non-stationary: Characterizing extreme precipitation behavior in an arid environment, Nikoo, Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.109212

Global Warming Has Accelerated Significantly, Foster & Rahmstorf, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118804

Intensifying droughts, heatwaves, and compound drought–heatwave events and their spatiotemporal patterns in Africa (1979–2024), TIAN et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100879

Modeled and Observed Stratospheric Temperature Changes: Implications for Fingerprint Studies, Santer et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av002196

Nonlinear increase of compound drought-heatwave events since the early 2000s, Kim et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea3038

Quantification of the influence of anthropogenic and natural factors on the record-high temperatures in 2023 and 2024, Farago et al., Earth System Dynamics Open Access 10.5194/esd-17-451-2026

Rainfall and Rain-on-Snow Events Over Greenland in Summer: Climatology, Trends, Synoptics, Frame et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd044726

Seasonal characteristics and trends in precipitation partitioning in the Arctic, Cast et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-2127-2026

Spatiotemporal Variations in Warm Season Heat Extremes in the Midwestern United States, 1959–2020, Rasaq-Balogun & Schoof, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-25-0202.1

Warming of the high-mountainous climate sensitive Jammu and Kashmir during the period 1980–2024, Gopikrishnan et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-61302-2

Winter Warmth: Quantifying Historical Changes in Very Warm Winter Days across the United States, Martin et al., Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-25-0120.1

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Amplified warming of North American cold extremes linked to human-induced changes in temperature variability, Nature Communications, 10.1038/s41467-024-49734-8 21 cites.

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Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

A satellite-based approach for estimating runoff and river discharge in the Pan-Arctic region from 2003 to 2022, Leopardi et al., Remote Sensing of Environment Open Access 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115353

A standardized permafrost ground temperature collection for Canada 2025, Meier-Legault et al., Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.18675016

Advancing Climate Services in South Asia: The SARCI Framework for Actionable Climate Information and Regional Capacity Building, Bhuyan et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-25-0172.1

Earth observation for land representation: implementing the Paris Agreement requirements for greenhouse gas reporting, Cima et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2638495

Low Cross-Product Agreement in Global Coastal Marine Heatwaves (1982–2023) and Implications for Trend Attribution, Sun et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl124134

Modeled and Observed Stratospheric Temperature Changes: Implications for Fingerprint Studies, Santer et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av002196

Performance of gauge-based and reanalysis gridded temperature datasets in representing means and extremes across different climate zones of the Brazos River Basin, United States, Tarkegn et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1731069

The Observed Circumpolar Decline of Antarctic Bottom Water Volume, Wyatt et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121359

Trends and Sensitivities of Low-Cloud Cover and Top Height From Spaceborne Lidar Observations, Tesche et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122478

Trends in Atmospheric Radiative Cooling from Satellite, Reanalyses, and CMIP6 Datasets, Jouan et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0511.1

Weather and Climate Extremes: Simplex, Dynamical Systems and Hull Clustering, Hannachi et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045044

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Improving global temperature datasets to better account for non-uniform warming, Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society, 10.1002/qj.4791 7 cites.

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Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Assessing the Likelihood of Unprecedented Antarctic Heat in the Current Climate, Suitters et al., Journal of Climate Open Access 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0436.1

Climate response to Nature Future scenarios in a regional Earth System Model, Sieber et al., Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) Open Access pmh:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/800243

Dynamic and steric sea-level changes due to a collapsing AMOC in the Community Earth System Model, Westen et al., Ocean science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-1353-2026

Dynamically downscaled future projections of the Northwest Atlantic Ocean across low to high emissions scenarios, Kim et al., Ocean science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-1987-2026

Extreme Coastal Waves Due To Australian East Coast Lows in a Warming Climate, Deshmukh et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023405

Future Climate Projections of Hazardous Convective Weather Using an Ensemble of Environment-Informed, Convection-Permitting Dynamical Downscaling Simulations, Wang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd045354

Robust Yet Diverse Tropical Responses to Antarctic Meltwater Across Models, Zhang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120291

The Antarctic Peninsula under present day climate and future low, medium-high and very high emissions scenarios, Davies et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1730203

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Emergence of lake conditions that exceed natural temperature variability, Nature Geoscience, 10.1038/s41561-024-01491-5 40 cites.

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Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

A statistical-dynamical method for projecting temperature across multiple SSPs from a limited subset: A CMIP6 case study, Xie et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.030

Accessible Climate and Impact Model Output for Studying the Human and Environmental Impacts of Nuclear Conflict, Harrison et al., Geoscience Data Journal Open Access 10.1002/gdj3.70076

AerChemMIP2 – unraveling the role of reactive gases, aerosol particles, and land use for air quality and climate change in CMIP7, Fiedler et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-3477-2026

CMIP7 data request: land and land ice priorities and opportunities, Li et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-3129-2026

Marine Secondary Aerosols Are Required for Modeling Clouds in the Arctic, Lapere et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl121724

MESMER v1.0.0: consolidating the modular Earth system model emulator into a sustainable research software package, Bauer et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-5669-2026

Modifying Mountains in Models Reduces Wet Bias in Western North America, Sexton et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0428.1

Optimizing global forest burned area simulations: Multi-earth system model assessment, Bayesian model averaging synthesis, and climate drivers, Wang & Di, Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105390

The PolarRES dataset: a state-of-the-art regional climate model ensemble for understanding Antarctic climate, Gilbert et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-2629-2026

Uneven Spatial Distribution of Arctic Warming in Boreal Winter and CMIP6 Historical Simulation Bias, Bao et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2026jd046383

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Improving CMIP6 Atmospheric River Precipitation Estimation by CycleConsistent Generative Adversarial Networks, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 10.1029/2023jd040698 28 cites.

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Cryosphere & climate change

A standardized permafrost ground temperature collection for Canada 2025, Meier-Legault et al., Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.18675016

Brief communication: Inferring Glacier Equilibrium Line Altitudes in the Europe Alps with FROST, Herrmann et al., cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-20-3817-2026

Brief communication: Uncertainties in Southern Ocean sea surface conditions and their impact on Antarctic climate over 1958–1978, Dalaiden & Bethke, cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-20-2089-2026

Changes in 1958–2019 Greenland surface mass balance are attributable to both greenhouse gases and anthropogenic aerosols, Kuo et al., cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-20-2317-2026

Changes in Arctic Sea Ice Lead Width Distribution: Model Development and Experiments, Zhang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2026jc024245

Changes in glacier mass balance and their drivers in the Kangri Karpo Mountains from 1980 to 2023, Ji et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.034

Contrasting dynamics of lake- and marine-terminating glaciers under same climatic conditions, Vacek et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-3827-2026

Fracture-driven weakening amplifies projected ice loss from West Antarctica, Blasco et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2601529123

Future Retreat of Great Aletsch Glacier and Hintereisferner – application of a full-Stokes model to two valley glaciers in the European Alps, Rückamp et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-2999-2026

High Fraction of Glacial Meltwater Along Two Separate Isopycnals Observed in Summer 2020 Near and Off the Pine Island and Thwaites Ice Shelves, West Antarctica, Kim et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023212

Long-term variations in precipitation types (rain, snow, and sleet) on the Tibetan Plateau: Implications for the cryosphere and ecohydrological systems, LI et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.03.009

Modelling the sensitivity of ice loss to calving front retreat rates in the Amundsen Sea Embayment, West Antarctica, Barnes et al., cryosphere Open Access pdf 10.5194/tc-20-777-2026

Projecting the response of Greenland's peripheral glaciers to future climate change: glacier losses, sea level impact, freshwater contributions, and peak water timing, Shafeeque et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-875-2026

Recent Observations of Thwaites Glacier, West Antarctica Are Consistent With High Rates of Loss in Next 50 Years, Goldberg et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118823

Regime transitions in Arctic surface momentum balance reveal persistent and predictable dynamical states, Liu & Liang, Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-75328-7

Review article: 30 years of airborne radar surveys on the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets by the Alfred Wegener Institute, Franke et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-2485-2026

Skillful multiyear prediction of Atlantic sector Arctic Sea ice and its link to AMOC variability, Li et al., Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.21118022

Synergistic effects of precipitation and phase changes intensify future rain-on-snow events in the Tianshan and Pamir regions, Central Asia, Yang et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2025.100833

Tidal Mixing on the Antarctic Continental Slope Enhances Ocean Heat Transport With Implications for Sea Ice, Hus et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122819

Wind-triggered Antarctic sea-ice decline preconditioned by thinning Winter Water, Spira et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41558-026-02601-4

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Degradation and local growth of “Xing'an-Baikal” permafrost responding to climate warming and the consequences, Earth-Science Reviews, 10.1016/j.earscirev.2024.104865 46 cites.

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Sea level & climate change

Dynamic and steric sea-level changes due to a collapsing AMOC in the Community Earth System Model, Westen et al., Ocean science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-1353-2026

Sea-level rise in a coastal marsh: linking increasing tidal inundation, decreasing soil strength and increasing pond expansion, Huyzentruyt et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-751-2026

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Barriers and facilitators for using palaeoclimate evidence in UK climate decision making, Boyall et al., Geoscience Communication Open Access pdf 10.5194/gc-9-275-2026

Differences in physiological tolerance to global warming caused the Permian–Triassic transition between the Paleozoic and Modern faunas, Marquez et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 10.1073/pnas.2533086123

Global ocean heat content over the past 3 million years, Shackleton et al., Nature 10.1038/s41586-026-10116-3

Holocene Climate Changes: Unraveling Processes, Mechanisms, and Impacts Across Spatiotemporal Scales, Tan et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120388

Multi-proxy resolved timing of permafrost initiation in a peat plateau, northern Norway, Kiss et al., The Holocene Open Access 10.1177/09596836261432397

Terrestrial Ecosystem Response to Changing Temperature and Seasonality in the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum: Shallow Marine Records From the Salisbury Embayment, USA, Willard et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Open Access 10.1029/2025pa005278

The 8.2 Ka Abrupt Climate Event: Causes, Impacts and Future Implications, Dixit & Kumari, Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change 10.1002/wcc.70050

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Large-ensemble simulations of the North American and Greenland ice sheets at the Last Glacial Maximum with a coupled atmospheric general circulation–ice sheet model, Climate of the past, 10.5194/cp-20-1489-2024 2 cites.

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Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Climate Change Projected to Increase Rates of Background Tree Mortality Across Eastern North America, Wang et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70995

Climate Warming Drives Northward Contraction and Genetic erosion in a Cold-Adapted Soil Worm Species, Chen et al., Diversity and Distributions Open Access 10.1111/ddi.70236

Climate-Driven Range Shifts Limit the Role of Non-Native Trees for Adaptation Processes of European Forests, Hazarika et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73999

Coral Reef Protection May Help Avert Risks to People, Property, and Economic Activity Caused by Projected Reef Degradation, Storlazzi et al., Earth s Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025ef006255

Declining Vegetation Response to Soil Moisture and Vapor Pressure Deficit in Inner Mongolian Grasslands, Zhou et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0597.1

Deeper waters, more calcifiers: Spatial variation in benthic assemblages highlight conservation challenges in sub-Antarctic Marine Protected areas, Bergagna et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.107889

Developmental Stage-Specific Responses to Extreme Climatic Events and Environmental Variability in Great Tit Nestlings, Satarkar et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70794

Effects of Marine Heatwaves on Chlorophyll-A Concentration and Carbon Uptake in the Northwest Pacific over the past Decade, Dong et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 10.1029/2026jc024050

Elevated CO2 and warming intensify plant reliance on soil nitrogen reserves despite intensive fertilization, Zhu et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-75147-w

Exploring turnover dynamics in Iberian Oak forests under climate change scenarios, Passos et al., Discover Conservation Open Access pdf 10.1007/s44353-026-00084-0

Fall and Spring Staging in a Refugia-Dependent Migratory Snake, Jesper et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73890

General Predictions for the Effects of Warming on Competition, Davis et al., Ecology Letters pdf 10.1111/ele.70395

Graminoids Increase Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Thawed Permafrost at the End of the Growing Season, Mollenkopf et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70783

Greater climate sensitivity of older forests than younger forests in the Extratropical Northern Hemisphere, Jin et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111081

Heatwaves induce strong vegetation functional suppression rather than structural changes in Sub-Saharan Africa, Okrah et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111351

Heavy Rain, Less Bloom Under Heat: Succession of Size-Structured Phytoplankton Community Without Biomass Increases in a Monsoonal Korean Coastal Ecosystem, Shin et al., Microbial Ecology Open Access 10.1007/s00248-025-02680-4

Heterotrophic respiration by soil microbes in a changing climate, Jansson et al., Nature Reviews Earth & Environment 10.1038/s43017-026-00806-x

Human-induced intensification of sea surface temperature regime shifts threatens global Large Marine Ecosystems, Xing et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-70986-z

Integrating ensemble species distribution modeling and ecological niche dynamics to assess climate-driven distributional changes of two major forest pests (Anoplophora chinensis and Anoplophora glabripennis) in China, Yang et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1874688

Long-term monitoring reveals biomass loss and concurrent dominance changes in coastal zooplankton community, Stoffers et al., Ecography Open Access 10.1002/ecog.07958

Marine Heatwave Persistence Drives Phytoplankton Miniaturization and Productivity Decline in the South China Sea, Zhao et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 10.1029/2025jc023755

Modelling root exudation and plant-microbe interactions under CO2 fertilization in a mature forest, Schufft et al., VU Research Portal pmh:oai:research.vu.nl:openaire_cris_publications/5249553c-3d95-4531-8c0d-286e0b0ec00c

Modelling the impacts of marine heatwaves on plankton in the Salish Sea, Suchy et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-4667-2026

Predicting Coral Offspring Survival From Reef Thermal Histories in Ningaloo World Heritage Reef, Nobre, Open MIND Open Access pmh:10.5281/zenodo.21017257

The Interplay of Climate Change, Urbanisation, and Species Traits Shapes European Butterfly Population Trends, Colom et al., Global Ecology and Biogeography Open Access 10.1111/geb.70204

Towards rainy high Arctic winters: How experimental icing and summer warming affect tundra plant phenology, productivity and reproduction, Moullec et al., Journal of Ecology Open Access pdf 10.1111/1365-2745.70234

Tropical forests are facing increasing risks of exposure to critical temperature thresholds, Tiel et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2528622123

Wallace's pARCs—Making Climate, Climate Change and Biodiversity Data Available to Protected Area Managers and Conservation Planners With an Example From Biebrza National Park, Poland, Price et al., Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1002/cli2.70031

Warming summers limit reindeer grazing, weakening herbivory pressure in the mountain tundra, Stoessel et al., Ecography Open Access 10.1002/ecog.08209

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Vegetation resistance to increasing aridity when crossing thresholds depends on local environmental conditions in global drylands, Communications Earth & Environment, 10.1038/s43247-024-01546-w 41 cites.

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GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

A Critical Review of Carbon and Phosphorus Linkages in Soils, Ibrahim et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70804

A Drier Year Markedly Enhances Methane, but Not Carbon Dioxide, Emissions in a Mediterranean Reservoir, Ramón et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70979

Air and soil warming have different effects on soil organic carbon storage, Luo et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03367-5

An Ice Sheet-to-Ocean Analysis of Carbon Stores and Fluxes in Earth's Polar Regions (RECCAP2, Polar Ice Sheets), Wadham et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2025gb008677

An integrated framework combining multi-resolution satellite data, deep learning, and process-based modeling for urban carbon accounting, Dhawi et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1787442

Carbon exchange in a tropical montane rainforest: Annual budgets, drivers, and anomalies, Liu et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111049

Changes in Oceanic Carbon Storage Due to Anthropogenic Carbon Input Over the Past Three Decades, Hong & Zemskova, ATMOSPHERE-OCEAN pdf 10.1080/07055900.2026.2660361

Exploring the dynamic impact of biomass energy, deforestation, fossil fuels and green technology on greenhouse gas emissions in China, Chen & Arshad, Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1695374

Greenhouse Gas Emission Characteristics and Mitigation Pathways of Wastewater Treatment Plants Based on Monthly Emission Data, Zhou et al., Greenhouse Gases Science and Technology 10.1002/ghg.70037

Impacts of historical land cover changes on carbon stocks in the Itacaiúnas River Basin, eastern Amazon, Cavalcante et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1724355

Interannual Variability of Oceanic Carbon Uptake Associated With Long-Term Sea-Ice Loss in the Western Arctic Ocean, Zhou et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans 10.1029/2025jc023831

Methane exchange in a California oak savanna: insights from tree stem, soil, and ecosystem fluxes, Kasak et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111347

Millennial-aged peat carbon outgassed by large humic lakes in the Congo Basin, Drake et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41561-026-01924-3

Millennial-aged peat carbon outgassed by large humic lakes in the Congo Basin, Drake et al., Nature Geoscience Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41561-026-01924-3

Observation-constrained sensitivities of Arctic methane emissions to warming, Liu et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2523274123

Peak season soil GHG exchange after 23 years of ungulate exclusion in an old-growth temperate forest, Philipsen et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111329

Peat fires contribute disproportionately to Siberian fire carbon emissions, Khairoun et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adl2368

Photosynthesis, heat, and structure: an evident hierarchy of environmental conditions driving wetland carbon assimilation, Romero et al., Remote Sensing of Environment Open Access 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115339

Projecting nitrous oxide over the 21st century, uncertainty related to stratospheric loss, Prather & Wilson, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2524123123

Riverine woodlands as a dynamic source of the marine sedimentary carbon sink, Herzschuh et al., PNAS Nexus Open Access 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag229

Soil black carbon decline following deforestation and farming in karst rocky desertification Southwest Guangxi, China, Zhang et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1706399

Spatiotemporal dynamics and driving mechanisms of carbon sequestration advantage across ecological zones: a case study from 2000 to 2023 in the Zhangjiakou–Chengde region, China, Huang et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1709990

Strong monsoon influence on South Asian methane emissions in 2020 revealed by a Bayesian inversion constrained by satellite observations, Subramanian et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-9757-2026

Transcontinental Divergence in Soil Carbon Stock Response to Decades of Wetland Drainage, Liu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70797

Unlocking the climate and market potential of China's blue carbon ecosystems, Benani et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.017

Upland Methane Sinks Under Climate Change: Global Patterns, Drivers and Trends, Cheng et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70747

WaterLANDS: A Database of Carbon Stocks, GHG Fluxes and Biodiversity Indicators in Restored European Wetlands, Ascenzi et al., Global Ecology and Biogeography Open Access pdf 10.1111/geb.70199

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Temperature responses of ecosystem respiration, Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, 10.1038/s43017-024-00569-3 93 cites.

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CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Adoption of carbon farming schemes: risk matters, Photinodellis et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2623365

Negative emissions to mitigate Earth system risks, Gasser et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-69896-x

Optimized deployment of carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) in China's cement industry: A scenario-based analysis, Wang et al., Energy Sustainable Development/Energy for sustainable development 10.1016/j.esd.2026.101948

Temporary carbon dioxide removal to offset short-lived climate forcers, He et al., Nature Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41586-026-10607-3

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Evaluating the near- and long-term role of carbon dioxide removal in meeting global climate objectives, Communications Earth & Environment, 10.1038/s43247-024-01527-z 34 cites.

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Decarbonization

Decarbonising UK industrial clusters: the role of green finance and the risk(s) of lock-in, Finkill et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1836939

Decentralized solar adoption in the Global South: A comparative analytical review of pathways, trade-offs, and development outcomes, Shastri et al., Energy Sustainable Development/Energy for sustainable development 10.1016/j.esd.2026.101991

Drivers, barriers and interventions for green hydrogen supply chains: A multi-actor framework, Luukka et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115160

Energy intensity, offshoring and the illusion of decarbonization, Amadei et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-74721-6

Geologic hydrogen: From natural occurrences to anthropogenic generation – A review of fundamentals, potential, challenges and prospects, Liu et al., Earth-Science Reviews 10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105338

Intensifying research on regional decarbonization through citizen participation and communication: Insights from a Japanese case study, Hatakeyama et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104438

Long-duration electricity storage needs for coping with Dunkelflaute events in Europe, Kittel et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-75342-9

Scenario-based analysis of electric vehicle adoption in the United States: Technology, infrastructure, and electricity pricing, Gong et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115218

Selective and direct hydrogen generation from mixed plastic waste via alkaline thermal treatment with inherent carbon storage, Park et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access pdf 10.1073/pnas.2537552123

Towards high resolution, validated and open global wind power assessments, Peña-Sánchez et al., JuSER Publikationsportal Open Access 10.34734/fzj-2026-00534

Understanding the resource potential of natural hydrogen on Earth: Scientific gaps, uncertainties and recommendations, Etiope et al., Earth-Science Reviews Open Access 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105413

Wavelet Analysis of Coastal Near-Surface Wind Speed Over China and Teleconnections to Large-Scale Climate Anomalies, Tan et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70509

Wind turbines do not appear to harm health, unlike fossil power plants, Auffhammer, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 10.1073/pnas.2614642123

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Circular battery production in the EU: Insights from integrating life cycle assessment into system dynamics modeling on recycled content and environmental impacts, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 10.1111/jiec.13527 36 cites.

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Geoengineering climate

Air quality impacts of stratospheric aerosol injections are likely small and mainly driven by changes in climate, not aerosol settling, Wang et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-1339-2026

Efficacy assessment of stratospheric aerosol scrubbing as a counter climate intervention strategy, Jones et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-26-7589-2026

Efficacy assessment of stratospheric aerosol scrubbing as a counter climate intervention strategy, Jones et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-26-7589-2026

Solar radiation modification in Asia: Current progress, knowledge gaps and future priorities, TANG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.accre.2026.07.005

Targeted marine cloud brightening weakens subsequent El Niño, Wan et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adx3012

Aerosols

Asian Dust Emissions under Climate Change, Zhou et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0680.1

Global expansion of the sensitive aerosol-limited marine cloud regime under emission reductions, Han et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aef9665

Reductions in Anthropogenic Aerosol and Greenhouse Gas Drive Divergent Regional Impacts on Wildfire Risks in China Under Carbon Neutrality, Yang, Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.17538507

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
How well can persistent contrails be predicted? An update, Atmospheric chemistry and physics, 10.5194/acp-24-7911-2024 20 cites.

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Climate change communications & cognition

Associations between Climate Extremes Indicators and Changes in Subjective Well-Being in China, Xu et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103133

Backlash, Borders, and Bunkers: Critical Approaches for Research on Antidemocratic Politics and Climate Change Communication, Morris, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2025.2607041

Beyond awareness: navigating the attitude-behavior gap in climate action among urban Egyptian youth, Ead et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1806407

Change in flood and climate risk perceptions after the 2021 flood in Germany: A panel study, Ulrich & Kause, Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103129

Climate change on television reaches the engaged but misses distant audiences, Hoppe et al., Refubium (Universitätsbibliothek der Freien Universität Berlin) Open Access pmh:oai:refubium.fu-berlin.de:fub188/52246

Climate obstruction in unlikely contexts: de-thematization, scare frames, and strategic differentiation in Germany, August et al., Environmental Politics Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2026.2644016

Complexities of climate change education in conflict-settings: the case of Birzeit University, Palestine, Jallad & Mukhtarova, Figshare Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.31375946.v1

Discourses of climate delay promoting fossil fuel extraction in Uruguay, Dorronsoro, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2632372

Emotional responses to state repression predict collective climate action intentions, Davies-Rommetveit et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41558-026-02570-8

Exploring the Association Between Emotions and Policy Support Across Diverse Audience Segments of Climate Change, Thaker & Bhargav, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2025.2590037

How climate justice beliefs motivate youth climate action: Distinct longitudinal emotional pathways and qualitative evidence from a climate-vulnerable and non-Western context, Tabligan et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103126

Ideology, environmental attitudes, and perceived pace of transition: explaining public acceptance of fossil fuel phase-out in Spain, Pérez-Sindín, Environmental Sociology Open Access pdf 10.1080/23251042.2026.2627449

Intraparty polarization on climate change in Republican Party discourse, 1987–2016, Bryant, Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2026.2701573

Oil exploration in the Amazon Basin: narratives of disinformation and climate obstruction, Kuzuyabu & Fernandes, Global Environmental Change 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2026.103148

Perceived state capture and corruption regarding climate change: Links to mobilisation, perceptions, and climate action intentions, Zinn et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102937

Professional Engagement With Climate Change Among Five Communities of Practice in Virginia, USA: An Exploratory Study, Myers et al., Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1002/cli2.70029

Renewable energy discourses of fossil fuel companies: obstruction and delay of climate action, Desai et al., Energy Sustainability and Society Open Access pdf 10.1186/s13705-026-00565-z

The role of information source in climate beliefs, behavioral commitments, and policy preferences, Goldwert & Vlasceanu, Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2025.102896

United we stand, divided we fall: social differences in climate efficacy and beliefs among young people in Flanders, Pauwels et al., Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2025.2592166

When algorithms decide the climate: AI, disinformation, and the crisis of environmental truth in the Anthropocene, Vidal, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000799

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Do People Respond to the Climate Impact of their Behavior? The Effect of Carbon Footprint Information on Grocery Purchases, Environmental and Resource Economics, 10.1007/s10640-024-00873-y 36 cites.

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Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

A coupled LSTM model for predicting blue carbon and fishery dynamics in tropical coastal wetlands under climate change, Zhang et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-59981-y

A modelling system for identification of maize ideotypes, optimal sowing dates and nitrogen fertilization under climate change – PREPCLIM-v1, Caian et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-627-2026

Bridging smallholder farmers to climate information: the role of agricultural advisors in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, Ncoyini-Manciya & Manciya, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1746574

Carbon sequestration potential of mixed garden land use in the Gombong tropical Karst landscape of Central Java, Indonesia, Agniy et al., Discover Sustainability Open Access 10.1007/s43621-026-02894-7

Climate change, disease dynamics, and breeding responses in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) production in Tanzania: a systematic review (2005–2025), Daud et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1763987

Confidence and uncertainty: Small-scale, direct-marketing vegetable farmers’ relationship with climate change adaptation and mitigation, Webb et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000647

Confidence and uncertainty: Small-scale, direct-marketing vegetable farmers’ relationship with climate change adaptation and mitigation, Webb et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000647

Contrasting Warming Responses of Crops Harvested for Aboveground and Belowground Organs: A Global-Meta Analysis, Ys et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70996

Dual pressures of climate change and wildfire hazard on wine-growing potential in California, Hiraga & Matsumoto, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1838268

Elevated CO2 and warming intensify plant reliance on soil nitrogen reserves despite intensive fertilization, Zhu et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-75147-w

Impact of forestry carbon sink policies on farmers’ willingness to utilize idle forest land: evidence from Fujian province, China, Tan et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1718836

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of fisherfolk in Ghana toward climate change: A cross-sectional study, Labik et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000813

Living with drought: climate change perceptions, adaptation, and mitigation among farmers in rural Bangladesh, Mahedi et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1744133

Meta-modelling of carbon fluxes from crop and grassland multi-model outputs, Hollós et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-4385-2026

Mineral Stabilization Slows Losses of Peatland Carbon Following Long-Term Drainage for Agriculture, Faulkner et al., Apollo (University of Cambridge) Open Access pmh:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/405882

Pastoral resilience under threat: impacts of climate change, invasive plant species, and traditional ecological knowledge erosion in the Kashmir Himalayas, Sheergojri et al., Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Open Access 10.1016/j.cosust.2026.101620

Reduced exposure diminishes compound extreme climate risk for rice, yet yield losses intensify across Southeast Asia, Chen et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111353

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Probabilistic analysis of drought impact on wheat yield and climate change implications, Weather and Climate Extremes, 10.1016/j.wace.2024.100708 33 cites.

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Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

A depth-duration-frequency model for analysis of extreme precipitation events, with application to past and projected future climates in Ireland, O’Brien et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100862

Beyond Annual Averages: Multi-Scale Rainfall Variability, Drought Indicators, and Seasonal Shifts Under a Changing Climate, Wang et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70330

Beyond the 100-year flood: probabilistic flood hazard assessment for King and Pierce Counties under future climate scenarios, Nederhoff et al., Natural hazards and earth system sciences Open Access 10.5194/nhess-26-3231-2026

Contrasting Changes in Rainy Season Length, Rainfall Frequency, and Intensity across Eastern Africa, Kisembe et al., White Rose Research Online (University of Leeds, The University of Sheffield, University of York) pmh:oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:236346

Digital transformation in climate change management: tools for managing droughts, floods, and frost in South America: a systematic review, Arana-Ruedas et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2026.1765251

Emerging dryland flooding, Bai et al., Earth-Science Reviews 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105612

From stationary to non-stationary: Characterizing extreme precipitation behavior in an arid environment, Nikoo, Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.109212

Future flood risk concentration for residents near small rivers across the USA, Jiang et al., Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-026-01896-7

Glacier changes and their impact on water resources in the qilian mountains, China between 1970 and 2020, Cao et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/feart.2026.1708150

Glacier Retreat Amplifies Interannual Variability in Watershed Runoff, Organic Carbon and Nutrient Yields, Holt et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119026

Insights from Climate Tipping Point Science for the Forthcoming IPCC Seventh Assessment Report and Reflections for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, Stocker et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-26-0119.1

Regional Changes in Precipitation Concentration, Seasonality and Intermittency in China, Xiao-meng et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70199

Seasonal characteristics and trends in precipitation partitioning in the Arctic, Cast et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-2127-2026

Synergistic effects of precipitation and phase changes intensify future rain-on-snow events in the Tianshan and Pamir regions, Central Asia, Yang et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2025.100833

The opposite trends in precipitation total and extremes during two rain-seasons across Ethiopia, the Water Tower of Africa, Yate & Ren, Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2025.100813

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Modeling nonstationary intensity-duration-frequency curves for urban areas of India under changing climate, Urban Climate, 10.1016/j.uclim.2024.102065 11 cites.

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Climate change economics

Climate Change Projected to Worsen Global Economic Inequality Due To Lost Worker Productivity, Tan et al., GeoHealth Open Access 10.1029/2026gh001815

G-2 and the climate crisis: How global exports to China and the U.S. drive carbon emissions, 2000–2022, Goh & Jorgenson, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000774

Public spending on health care, education, and sanitation is linked to lower deforestation in the Peruvian Amazon: new empirical support for the climate debt framework, Ravikumar & Zhu, Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103089

Returning European Union carbon border adjustment revenues to specific products increases global welfare and reduces emissions, Zhang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03357-7

The effects of low-carbon transitions on labour productivity: analysing UK electricity, heat, and mobility with a techno-economic simulation model, Mercure et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2025.2522836

TOWARDS RESILIENT AND INCLUSIVE CLIMATE COMPATIBLE DEVELOPMENT: A PARTICIPATORY, MIXED-METHOD SCENARIOS APPROACH FOR ZAMBIA, Hughes et al., Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103072

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Land matters: how Indigenous land restitution can inform loss and damage policy and chart a path toward an otherwise climate justice, Climate and Development, 10.1080/17565529.2024.2378027 11 cites.

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Climate change mitigation public policy research

Air travel and carbon emissions: global evidence and a UK policy evaluation, Wang, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2633440

Beyond geography, destiny, and politics: Exploring policy styles for industrial decarbonisation in Norway, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, Iskandarova et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104563

Big dilemmas, little time: intergenerational climate justice and public support for deep decarbonisation, Citi & Im, Environmental Politics Open Access 10.1080/09644016.2026.2633837

Carbon emissions and subjective well-being in Blue Zone Ikaria and Athens, Greece, Radke et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1669144

Carbon taxes and climate action: Lessons from Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina, Muzzi & Pereda, Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115191

Climate policy feasibility across Europe relies on the conditional middle, Smith et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02562-8

Climate response to Nature Future scenarios in a regional Earth System Model, Sieber et al., Repository for Publications and Research Data (ETH Zurich) Open Access pmh:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/800243

Co-benefit premiums can enhance nature-based climate solutions, Hochard et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02690-1

Commodifying carbon between reconciliation, policies and market schemes: a case study from British Columbia, Canada, Brill & Dürr, Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2025.2609396

Global renewable hydrogen certification: Frameworks, gaps, and policies, Hussain & Syron, Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115212

Legitimizing wind energy in Brazil: power coalitions, discourse lock-in and transition dynamics, Pulice et al., Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2026.2626624

National climate action can ameliorate, perpetuate, or exacerbate international air pollution inequalities, Nawaz & Henze, Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-68827-0

Perspectives on Social and Justice Issues in Climate Policy – Comparing the Just Transitions, Sustainable Welfare and Eco-Social Policy Literatures, Büchs et al., Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews Climate Change Open Access pdf 10.1002/wcc.70041

Practical implementation of artificial intelligence for climate change mitigation in cities – priorities, collaborations and challenges, Hintz et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2025.104498

The ship has sailed: On the risk of undermining the legitimacy of EU Climate Policy through the implementation of EU ETS 2, Zapletalová, Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115221

Unleashing storage by driving electric: A pathway to affordable, secure and clean energy, Palsule et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115138

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Substantial differences in source contributions to carbon emissions and health damage necessitate balanced synergistic control plans in China, Nature Communications, 10.1038/s41467-024-50327-8 44 cites.

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Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

A climate-environmental quality screening framework for climate mitigation and adaptation portfolios: a review and action roadmap, Jew & Jiang, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1870126

Adapting and validating a subjective resilience scale to explore individual climate resilience: gendered evidence from Bhutan, Laos and Nepal, MacArthur et al., Open MIND Open Access pmh:10.6084/m9.figshare.31403852

Broadening climate migration research across impacts, adaptation and mitigation, Cattaneo et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02545-1

Climate-adaptive urban drainage modeling: Assessing future flood hazards in Algiers, Algeria, Lameche et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102843

Development and piloting of the rural water supply climate-resilience monitoring tool (RWS-CRMT), Daniel et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2582560

Energy sovereignty and climate adaptation: A community model for empowering maya women in Ixil, Yucatan, Vega-Camarena et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104345

Energy transitions, clean fuel access and urbanization: a multi-level assessment of climate risk, Yang et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2560489

Exploring intergenerational knowledge transfer within Inuvialuit families: connecting wellbeing, food security, and climate resiliency, Prieto et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1694926

Numerical simulation on the thermal stability of highway embankments in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau under different climate warming rates, Xia et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/feart.2026.1886025

Overcoming local-scale climate change adaptation implementation lag, Rose et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000998

Prefiguring multispecies justice: how communities are challenging and transfiguring care, labour, and belonging in the midst of climate catastrophe, Sturman et al., Environmental Politics Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2025.2467527

Risk Without Values: Including Indigenous Perspectives in Climate Risk Assessments, Scadden et al., Risk Analysis Open Access 10.1111/risa.70309

Supporting migration as a response to climate risk: precarity, adaptive capacity, and well-being dimensions, Tebboth et al., Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Open Access 10.1016/j.cosust.2026.101682

The climate-electricity nexus in the GCC: How rising temperatures drive electricity demand across Gulf states, Mikayilov et al., Energy Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115490

The role of international law in governing climate-induced migration: normative gaps and policy innovations, Wen, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2701077

Transformational adaptation from the bottom-up: arts, alternative imaginaries, and everyday forms of resistance, Cass & Tasnim, Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2025.2522450

Urban parks as nature-based infrastructure for climate resilient tropical cities: Insights from cooling, carbon, and culture, Wiwoho et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102790

Urban water affordability crisis exacerbated by climate change, Skerker et al., Nature Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41893-026-01890-z

Values, rules, and knowledge: Understanding and enabling land use change decisions as adaptation to climate change, Cradock-Henry et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104309

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Defining and conceptualizing equity and justice in climate adaptation, Global Environmental Change, 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2024.102885 61 cites.

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Climate change impacts on human health

Addressing Climate-Related Mental Health Challenges Among Children, Youth, and People Living With Disabilities: A Population Mental Health Commentary, Abadi et al., GeoHealth Open Access 10.1029/2025gh001597

Analysis of Multiple Measures of Heat Stress on Morbidity and Mortality in Louisiana, Thompson et al., Weather Climate and Society 10.1175/wcas-d-25-0060.1

BIM-PDCA framework for low-carbon hospital operation in hot-summer, warm-winter regions, Rao et al., Energy Sustainable Development/Energy for sustainable development Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2026.101952

Climate shocks, not just warming, threaten malaria control efforts in Africa, Messina & Carrel, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00491-2

Impact of urbanization and global warming on sea-breeze, heat stress and cooling demand over greater Houston area, Tewari et al., Atmospheric Research 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108889

Projections of Heat Stress and its Impact on Labour Capacity in North America, Li et al., Figshare Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.31650458.v1

Public health and wellbeing under compounding climate hazards: the scale of harm is larger than we can currently see, Leppold, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability Open Access 10.1016/j.cosust.2026.101680

Understanding Mosquito Vector Invasion Pathways: Synergistic Effects of Human Mobility, Climate and Natural Dispersal, Pardo-Araujo et al., Ecology Letters Open Access 10.1111/ele.70317

Urbanization processes widen global divergence in extreme temperature variability, Qiao et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-75457-z

Valuing wildfire smoke–related mortality benefits from climate mitigation, Qiu et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2533772123

Where heat adaptation is needed most - An open-source approach to developing a transferable heat risk index for urban planning, Rupp et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2025.102769

Wildfire smoke increases assaults: evidence from Seattle, Kircheis, Environmental Research Letters Open Access 10.1088/1748-9326/ae436c

‘Water is a good thing, but when it destroys it is not good’: The influence of changing weather patterns on access to antenatal care services in Western Kenya - A qualitative study, Matanda et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000882

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Soil Moisture-Temperature Coupling Increases Population Exposure to Future Heatwaves, Earth s Future, 10.1029/2024ef004697 12 cites.

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Climate change & geopolitics

Climate change, extractivist infrastructure and environmental conflicts at the Northern Sea-Polar Silk Road intersection, Hana?ek et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104600

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Strategies for promoting climate change transparency and inclusive growth through south-south climate change cooperation, Environment Development and Sustainability, 10.1007/s10668-024-05198-w 4 cites.

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Climate change impacts on human culture

Environmental impact of athletes’ diets: greenhouse gas emissions, water footprint, and sustainability awareness, Acar et al., Environmental Science and Pollution Research 10.1007/s11356-026-37459-8

Other

An analysis of energy efficiency of various ships sailing in the European Economic Area waters, Chou et al., Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Open Access pdf 10.1057/s41599-026-08173-0

Conflicts of Interest, Funding Support, and Author Affiliation in Peer-Reviewed Research on the Relationship between Climate Change and Geophysical Characteristics of Hurricanes, Weinkle et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-24-0260.1

Earth's Infrared Background: A Physics-Based Null Hypothesis for the Global-Scale Subannual Variability of Outgoing Longwave Radiation, Shamir & Gerber, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl123697

Role of the Atmospheric Circulation in the Observed Warming Over Europe Using a Neural Network, Cariou et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl121861

The Populationist Climate Futures Industry: NGO SF Capital, Eco-emotions and Speculative Ecofascism, Iossifidis, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2025.2601613

Translating urban climate research into practice: Practitioner evidence from Hong Kong on formats, barriers and adoption, Lee & Ng, Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102850

Volcanoes and wildfires contributed to increased stratospheric humidification, [authors did not process], Nature Open Access 10.1038/d41586-026-02011-8

When models outrun politics: Biofuels as a stress test for scenario plausibility, Hedenus, Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104840

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Gender diversity and climate disclosure: a tcfd perspective, Environment Development and Sustainability, 10.1007/s10668-024-05203-2 9 cites.

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Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

As we breach 1.5 °C, we must replace temperature limits with clean-energy targets, Quagraine et al., Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00246-z

US climate actions must continue, despite setbacks, Widawsky, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00660-3

Vulnerability of marine megafauna to global at-sea anthropogenic threats, VanCompernolle et al., Conservation Biology 10.1111/cobi.70147

We need a global assessment of avoidable climate-change risks, Stott et al., Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00544-6

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Aquatic deoxygenation as a planetary boundary and key regulator of Earth system stability, Nature Ecology & Evolution, 10.1038/s41559-024-02448-y 45 cites.

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Book reviews

Apocalyptic authoritarianism: climate crisis, media, and power, Poberezhskaya, Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2026.2629722

Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Draft Strategic Energy Assessment 2026-2032, Public Service Commission of Wisconsin

The biennial Strategic Energy Assessment (SEA) provides information to evaluate Wisconsin’s current and future electricity supply. The SEA provides this evaluation in the context of four primary goals maintained by Wisconsin electricity providers and the Commission including adequate electric supply that maintains sufficient total power to meet customers’ total electric demand (i.e. resource adequacy); reliable electric supply that provides all customers access to electricity at all times, avoiding outages whenever possible; affordable electric supply that offers adequate and reliable energy at the lowest feasible cost for customers; and environmentally responsible electric supply that minimizes the negative effects of electric generation on the natural environment.

Cheaper. Cleaner. Unstoppable. Clean technologies that are delivering for the climate, James Haselip and Lakshmi Bhamidipati, United Nations Environment Program

At a time when climate risks are intensifying, this policy briefs highlights a powerful and hopeful shift: many clean solutions are no longer niche—they are becoming the new normal. Across energy, transport, buildings and food systems, “positive tipping points” are emerging. As costs fall, technologies scale, and public support grows, adoption is accelerating in self reinforcing ways. Solar power, electric mobility, and sustainable cooling are proving that climate action can be economically competitive, socially beneficial and globally scalable. This report shows that the transition is not only possible—it is already underway. With the right policies, investments and partnerships, we can amplify these positive tipping points, unlock cascading benefits, and deliver a future that is more resilient, equitable and sustainable.

Battery Geopolitics: Balancing Industrial Power in the Race to Store Energy, Milo McBride, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

The United States and Europe will provide the essential playing field for diversification because they have the largest battery markets outside of China. However, much of the current capacity is tied to incumbent nickel-cobalt supply lines, and it is important that the prospective capacity is developed as new battery chemistries, which could prevent technology lock-in and abate mineral supply risks in the long term. Policymakers should wield market access as a pragmatic tool for resilience and broader diversification; for example, partnering with Chinese firms for anode materials where few alternative producers exist while ensuring that other Asian players in battery cells continue to grow and innovate. If the United States and Europe are committed to scaling domestic battery companies and indigenizing midstream materials, this will require coordinated support measures ranging from trade barriers and local-content rules to targeted subsidies that help cover operating costs during scaling as well as a clear agenda to support factory efficiency. Efforts to bring new battery cells or materials to market might benefit from joint ventures with companies capable of delivering gigawatt-hour scale, which start-ups are currently struggling to achieve.

Taming Data Center Turmoil: Hyperscalers Push Electricity Markets to Their Limits, Climate Cabinet Education

Over the past century, states have built and finely tuned a regulatory apparatus to manage the power sector. These frameworks were designed for a world of gradual, predictable load growth. Today, hyperscale data centers are breaking the system. They are upending every assumption those frameworks depend on, faster than regulators can respond. More than 300 bills were introduced across 30 states in the first six weeks of 2026, underscoring the recognition that the existing guidelines are being overwhelmed, as well as the struggle to keep pace with hyperscale demand. A system best equipped to manage tidal flows is facing a tsunami. This unprecedented situation is occurring because hyperscalers are causing multiple conditions to converge, creating challenges no regulatory framework was designed to manage simultaneously including facilities large enough that a single exit can fundamentally alter project financials and who pays for them; 5–10 year contracts for infrastructure built to last 30 years, creating years of uncertainty after contracts expire; dedicated assets with little or no alternative use; hyperscale developer-supplied electricity demand forecasts, shaped by a financial interest in approval and, thus, far from impartial; and pressure to build new natural gas systems, locking in decades of climate pollution.

Taming Data Center Turmoil: The Rise of the Hyperscalers, Climate Cabinet Education

For most of the past century, electricity demand grew predictably. Utilities could plan for gradual increases across homes, offices, and factories with high confidence. Traditional growth was steady, measured in single-digit annual percentages, and closely linked to local economies. Hyperscale energy loads (data centers, cloud facilities), however, are rewriting this rulebook. A single facility can consume as much power as 100,000 homes, and clusters of centers can add multiple gigawatts of concentrated, rapid, and globally mobile demand within just a few years. Unlike traditional industries, these facilities can appear almost overnight, challenging the slow, predictable pace of electricity planning.

Climate Change in the American Mind: Beliefs & Attitudes, Spring 2026, Leiserowitz et al., Yale University and George Mason University

Americans who think global warming is happening outnumber those who think it is not by a ratio of more than 4 to 1 (68% versus 16%). By a margin of more than 2 to 1, Americans are more likely to think global warming is mostly human-caused (59%) than to think it is mostly caused by natural changes in the environment (27%). 66% of Americans say they are at least “somewhat worried” about global warming, including 29% who say they are “very worried.” 59% of Americans think global warming is affecting weather in the United States, including 35% who think weather is being affected “a lot.” 13% of Americans have considered moving to avoid the impacts of global warming.

One Year Since the One Big Beautiful Bill: An Economic Impact Analysis Of America’s Clean Economy, BW Research Partnership, Economy and Environment

The authors detail the far-reaching economic effects of clean energy investments cancelled by the private sector since the federal government began its attempts to slow or halt the growth of clean energy beginning in January 2025. The author's modeling shows that since January 1, 2025, large-scale clean energy manufacturing and generation projects canceled in the wake of this shift in US energy policy have cost the future US economy 468,000 jobs, including more than 343,000 permanent jobs and 125,000 construction jobs; $55 billion in lost GDP growth annually from cancelled manufacturing plants and other operations, in addition to $91 billion lost from cancelled construction work; $12 billion foregone in annual tax revenue for federal, state, and local governments, in addition to nearly $20 billion in lost tax revenues just from construction activities; and $31 billion in lost annual wages for permanent workers.

National Transmission Needs Study (Draft), Office of Electricity, Department of Energy

The needs study provides a comprehensive assessment of current and future transmission needs within and across geographic regions of the U.S. The definition of electric transmission need used in this study includes the existence of present or expected electric transmission capacity constraints or congestion in a geographic area. Geographic areas where a transmission need exists would benefit from an upgraded, uprated, or new transmission facility—including alternative solutions—to improve the reliability and resilience of the power system; alleviate transmission congestion and unscheduled flows; alleviate power transfer capacity limits between neighboring regions; deliver cost-effective generation to meet demand; and/or meet projected future generation, electricity demand, or reliability requirements. The needs study includes an analysis of transmission system operational data (informed by publicly available information) and a review of more than 120 recently published reports. The purpose of this study is not to prescribe particular solutions to issues faced by the nation’s power sector, but rather to assess need in order for industry and the public to suggest the best possible solutions for addressing them in a timely manner. There is a pressing need for additional transmission infrastructure due to load growth. Increasing interregional transmission is increasingly recognized for its multifold benefits to consumers. Many regional entities are approving their largest transmission portfolios.

Military climate strategies: Are they just greenwash?, Stuart Parkinson, Scientists for Global Responsibility

The author examines the carbon reduction plans for the militaries of 26 nations, mainly from Europe and North America. The findings give much cause for concern. They show that most military emissions within these 26 nations are not covered by any specific targets, most of the targets that do exist are unambitious, and most of the emission reduction achieved to date has relied on civilian action (especially decarbonization of national electricity grids), temporary reductions in military activity, or military base closure programs. Worse, the emission reduction that has occurred now looks like it will be overwhelmed due to massive rises in military spending.

Energy Superabundance: Unlocking Prosperity in the West initiative, Western Governors Association

In a year-long initiative featuring four workshops hosted by Utah Governor Cox, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, and Idaho Governor Brad Little industry experts, thought leaders, and policymakers examined various challenges and opportunities for achieving energy superabundance across the region through expanded and improved energy production, transmission, and storage. The authors highlight key issues explored during the workshops and present federal policy recommendations developed from those discussions to help plan, finance, develop, and deploy energy projects across the West.

Levelized Cost of Energy, Lazard

Renewables remain the lowest cost new-build generation; all generation faces increasing cost pressure. Unprecedented demand reinforces the need for diverse generation and thoughtful acceleration of permitting/approval processes. There is an increasing competitiveness of existing generation. Storage costs have increased reversing recent declines.

A Significant Moment in the Colorado River Water Supply Crisis, Schmidt et al., Getches-Wilkinson Center, University of Colorado, Boulder

On Sunday, July 12, the surface of Lake Powell was 3524.32 feet above sea level, and the surface of Lake Mead was at 1042.77 ft.7 These elevations equated to 5,505,869 and 7,169,640 acre feet (af), respectively, of live storage in the two reservoirs. The combined total live storage of these reservoirs was 12,675,509 af. The last time the combined total live storage in Lake Powell and Lake Mead was this small was May 23, 1957, during construction of Glen Canyon Dam when the entire amount of 12,668,000 af was stored in Lake Mead. These two reservoirs are the largest in the United States and hold slightly less than 60% of total amount of water presently stored in the Basin. Every day going forward, until runoff from the 2026-2027 winter snowpack begins next spring, a new record low will likely be set. This is a significant moment in the evolving Colorado River water supply crisis.

GST in NDCs. How the first Global Stocktake is reflected in the NDCs, Beuermann et al., German Environment Agency

The authors evaluate the extent to which the mitigation-related outcomes of the first Global Stocktake (GST) of the Paris Agreement have been integrated into subsequent Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The authors examine whether Parties are explicitly referencing the GST as a guiding framework or are merely aligning with its thematic area, e.g. renewable energy, fossil fuel transition. The findings suggest that the GST has signaled priority areas, yet the extent of the integration of GST outcomes into national planning processes greatly varies.

Rush. Global Scramble for Minerals Wages War on People and Planet, Frédéric Mousseau and Andy Currie, The Oakland Institute

As governments and corporations scramble to secure critical minerals, the authors expose the forces fueling today’s unprecedented mining boom. They dismantle the dominant narrative that massive amounts of minerals are needed for the energy transition, revealing instead a potent convergence of political, military, and corporate interests racing to control the resources that underpin modern warfare and artificial intelligence. To justify a massive scale up of mineral extraction, governments, corporations, and international financial institutions like the World Bank, frame critical minerals as indispensable to the green transition and as a pathway to prosperity for the Global South. However, the authors document that more than 70 percent of critical mineral demand today comes from industries unrelated to the energy transition, including the automotive, aerospace, military, communications, and technology sectors. Rapid growth in artificial intelligence, data centers, surveillance technologies, and military spending is expected to increase this demand massively. About New Research

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Mohamed Adow is the founder and director of Power Shift Africa.

At London Climate Action Week, electrification moved from the margins of climate policy to the centre of the road to COP31. The launch of the Electrify Now campaign gave fresh momentum to a target floated at the Bonn climate talks: by 2035, electricity should provide 35% of the world’s final energy consumption, up from just over 20% today.

That makes electrification one of the defining tests for this year’s climate summit in Türkiye. If COP31 is to be more than another exercise in negotiating text, it must show how the world can replace fossil fuels in transport, heating, industry and everyday life with clean electricity.

For Africa, this agenda presents both an extraordinary opportunity and an immense challenge.

For decades, the continent has been viewed primarily through the lens of energy poverty. More than 600 million Africans still lack access to electricity. Yet that very deficit also means many African countries are not locked into ageing fossil-fuel infrastructure in the way industrialised economies are. They have the chance to build cleaner energy systems from the outset.

• Jul 10, 2026 News Iran war fuel shocks threaten Africa’s clean cooking push, IEA says Disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz have hit supplies of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), seen as a cleaner cooking alternative to charcoal and wood Read more
• Jun 9, 2026 Politics COP31 leaders unveil global targets, with spotlight on electrification Co-hosts Türkiye and Australia want countries to sign on to global targets in three of their priority areas for this year’s COP climate negotiations Read more
• Jun 24, 2026 News EU, UK lead push for electrification as “powerful weapon” against fossil fuels A group of dozens of countries seeks to build momentum for a COP31 pledge to electrify 35% of global energy use by 2035 as an alternative to fossil fuels Read more

The case for electrification is compelling. Transport, industry and heating account for much of the world’s fossil-fuel consumption. Replacing combustion engines with electric vehicles, diesel generators with renewable power and fossil-fuel heating with electric alternatives is one of the fastest ways to cut emissions while improving energy security. Electric technologies are also far more efficient, and renewable electricity is now the cheapest source of new power across much of the world.

Africa also possesses one of the greatest renewable energy endowments on Earth. The continent possesses some of the world’s best solar resources. Vast wind corridors stretch across North, East and Southern Africa. Geothermal energy is already powering much of Kenya’s electricity system. Hydropower resources remain significant in several regions.

But potential is not the same as progress.

The biggest obstacle is not a lack of sunshine or wind. It is a shortage of investment.

Financial barriers

African countries pay some of the highest borrowing costs in the world despite contributing the least to climate change. Projects that would be commercially viable elsewhere become prohibitively expensive because of high interest rates and perceptions of financial risk. Until the cost of capital falls, many countries will struggle to build the renewable power stations, transmission lines and battery storage needed to electrify their economies.

The electricity itself is another challenge. It is difficult to persuade people to buy electric vehicles or industries to electrify production if power supplies remain unreliable. Many national grids require major investment to expand access, improve reliability and accommodate growing volumes of renewable energy. In rural areas, decentralised solar and battery systems will often provide the quickest route to universal electricity access, but they too require finance and supportive policy frameworks.

Industrial policy matters just as much.

Africa is rich in many of the minerals needed for batteries and clean technologies, yet too often it exports raw materials and imports finished products. If electrification simply creates new markets for imported batteries, electric vehicles and solar equipment, much of the economic opportunity will be lost. The transition should also become a strategy for building African manufacturing, creating skilled jobs and capturing more value from the continent’s own resources.

There are encouraging signs. Ethiopia has pushed aggressively to promote electric mobility while seeking to reduce its dependence on imported oil. Kenya has become a global leader in geothermal electricity and is seeing rapid growth in electric motorcycles. Morocco is building an industrial base around renewable energy and battery supply chains.

Electrification is happening

These examples show that electrification is no longer a distant prospect. But they also remain outliers rather than the norm. For most African countries, unreliable grids, high borrowing costs and limited access to finance still stand in the way of a much broader transformation. That is precisely why the emerging electrification agenda matters.

If the world wants electricity to account for 35% of final energy demand by 2035, then success cannot be measured simply by announcing a global target. It must be measured by whether developing countries have the finance, technology and policy support to make that transition possible.

For Africa, electrification is not only about reducing emissions. It is about determining what kind of development path the world’s youngest and fastest-growing continent will follow.

More than a billion people live in Africa today. By mid-century, that number will be closer to 2.5 billion. This is a continent on the cusp of sweeping economic transformation, with cities expanding, industries growing and hundreds of millions of people rightly demanding the energy, mobility and prosperity long enjoyed elsewhere.

Campaigners oppose Dangote’s planned Kenya refinery over climate and ecological risks

That development will require vast amounts of power. The question is whether it will be delivered through the old fossil-fuel model of imported oil, gas infrastructure and polluting combustion, or through clean electricity generated from Africa’s own renewable resources.

This matters for Africa. But it also matters for the world. A global transition to electrification cannot succeed if a continent of this scale is locked into a new generation of fossil-fuel dependence. Nor can it be just if Africa is told to decarbonise without being given the finance and technology to build something better.

The choice facing COP31 is therefore not simply whether electrification will happen. It is whether Africa is helped to become an electro-state continent, powering its development through clean electricity, or pushed by neglect into repeating the fossil-fuel pathway that has already destabilised the climate.

For the age of electrification to be a success, COP31 needs to ensure Africa is equipped to shape and accelerate it. If Africa is left behind, the global energy transition will fall behind with it.

The post Africa can lead the Age of Electrification appeared first on Climate Home News.

Porpoises and puffins impacted by bottom trawlers Channel News brendan 16th July 2026 Teaser Media

Industrial landscapes are living reminders of how centuries of fossil-fuel development reshaped Earth’s systems. As the Anthropocene unfolds, that legacy continues to shape our future. Historian Sabine Höhler argues that bridging the divide between human and Earth history is essential to understanding where we are and at what cost.

Has the much‑discussed energy transition actually begun? So far, the answer is no. With only brief dips in crisis years, global fossil fuel use has risen every year since 1983. The newly released 2025 data confirm: humanity burned more of every major energy source in 2025 than ever before.

Modern paints contain toxic chemicals that linger in our homes and bodies, while traditional lime-based whitewash offers a low-energy, low-tox alternative that brightens buildings, protects surfaces and can even ‘sweeten’ acidic soils to boost fertility.

No reform can transform the WTO into an institution that serves the people. The time has come to build a new system that prioritizes dignity, sovereignty, and the well-being of all peoples.

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