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Something strange just popped up in the Gulf of Mexico: a hurricane. Well, not so much Hurricane Isaias, which storm-watchers expect to make landfall as a Category 2 somewhere between the coast of Mississippi and the Florida Panhandle late Friday, causing widespread destruction. It’s more the timing of it: This is the first Atlantic hurricane of the season, which began all the way back in June. That smashes the previous record in the satellite era for the latest first hurricane of a season, September 11. 

“This is pretty astounding, really, to break a record by just about a month,” said Brian McNoldy, a senior research associate who studies hurricanes at the University of Miami.

So what’s with the extraordinary delay? El Niño, of all things. 

Even though that band of warm water is on the other side of the Americas in the Pacific, it messes with two of the fundamental ingredients for making hurricanes in the Atlantic: wind and humidity. To spawn a tropical cyclone, you need warm water, which provides energy, as well as high humidity and winds moving in a consistent direction. (Hurricanes have been getting more intense lately because climate change is rapidly warming the oceans, creating high-octane fuel.) While the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico have been plenty warm, providing huge pools of fuel, El Niño has been messing with weather patterns, creating dry, sinking air. It also provides wind shear — air moving at different directions and speeds as you gain altitude — which hurricanes really hate. 

Hence the exceptionally quiet Atlantic hurricane season this year.

So why did Isaias finally break through in October? While it is indeed fighting wind shear in the Gulf, atmospheric conditions aren’t as bad for it as they are farther east. “It’s forming in one of the few places that a storm can occur in the Atlantic right now, because of the very strong El Niño that’s taking shape and imposing very strong vertical shear across the deep tropics,” McNoldy said. “The Gulf has a small window of opportunity for a storm to form, and it did.”

The Gulf is also running several degrees warmer than usual, at least at the surface, where Isaias is drawing its energy. Interestingly enough, though, the “ocean heat content,” a measurement of the thermal energy down through the depths, there is nearing a record low. “So that warmth is really only skin deep,” McNoldy said.

This sets up a weird dynamic for Isaias. Hurricanes are such violent storms that they churn up deeper waters: If that liquid is warm like the surface, that means more fuel. But if it’s cooler, that’s anathema to a hurricane. This effect is so pronounced that scientists can use satellites to trace the paths of hurricanes, just by detecting the trails of cold water they leave behind. 

While the Atlantic hurricane season has been exceptionally quiet, in the eastern Pacific has been very busy as seven have formed, five of them being major. (It’s hosted 18 named storms so far, five more than usual.) Hawai’i has suffered particularly badly this summer, with hurricanes Lala and Nolo bringing torrential rain. Right now, Hurricane Rachel is taking aim at Baja Mexico and Southern California, where it could spawn dangerous surf and winds this weekend. 

Meanwhile, the Gulf Coast is bracing for Isaias — a storm that may have arrived very late, but, with ferocious winds and a potential storm surge of up to 7 feet, is no less a threat for life and property.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Hurricane Isaias is a typical storm — but it’s also ‘astounding’ on Oct 8, 2026.

Governor Newsom recently vetoed SB 872, the Delta Levees and Canal Subsidence Fund, missing a critical opportunity to protect the state’s water resources and Delta communities..

The Governor’s veto message pointed to more than $170 million allocated for repairing levees, aqueducts, canals and other projects, calling SB 872 “unnecessary”, but the state’s own data emphasizes the gaps in funding urgently needed to protect the Delta estuary.

Morgen Snyder, Director of Policy and Programs at Restore the Delta, told CBS News, “The funding in the budget, while incredible and much needed, is sort of a drop in the bucket compared to what overall repairs are needed.”

In a CalMatters piece, Rachel Becker highlights the estimated $3.3 billion cost needed to repair the 1,100 miles of federal and non-federal levees. According to the Delta Stewardship Council, without these improvements, “$22 billion in assets and over $5 billion in annual economic activity” are at risk of flooding by 2085.

The bill would have also funded necessary land subsidence repairs to the State Water Project. CalMatters cites a state report that found subsidence could cut water deliveries by almost 90% in the next 17 years, while the California Department of Water Resources estimates that fixing the damage to the State Water Project’s infrastructure could cost nearly $4 billion.

Coverage in the Lodi News similarly highlights how the Governor’s veto represents yet another example of prioritizing the Delta Conveyance Project over preventing emergencies and protecting Delta ecosystems and communities. 

SB 872 garnered unanimous support in the Legislature, bringing together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups, and water interests to protect critical water infrastructure. 

As Restore the Delta’s Executive Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said, “Not only did Governor Newsom veto a much needed bill to bring Delta levees to the necessary standards to deal with climate change, he vetoed funding for fixing existing conveyance for the State Water Project.” 

News Roundup:

• Newsom vetoes Delta levees bill as El Niño winter looms. CalMatters.
• Newsom vetoes bill aimed at funding Sacramento-San Joaquin delta levee repairs, water infrastructure. CBS News. 
• Levees, vetoed legislation and what comes next: Newsom rejects funding bill as both sides debate best path forward. The Lodi News.  
• Newsom vetoes bill intended to shore up Delta levees. The Lodi News.
• Newsom rejects long-range water solution for Delta, aqueduct. The Manteca Bulletin.
• Newsom vetoes Delta levees bill as El Niño winter looms. News from the States.
• As El Niño approaches, Newsom vetos bill aimed at protecting California levees from flooding. Planetizen News.
• Gov. Newsom Vetoes Important California Water Bill, Despite Unanimous Passage by Legislature. California Globe.
• Solano-supported Delta levee repair legislation vetoed. The Daily Republic.
• Newsom vetoes historic Delta levees bill as El Niño winter looms. The Stockton Record.

From October 12-18, 2026, the World Bank and IMF will hold their Annual Meetings in Thailand. Assembly of the Poor will mobilize to demonstrate that their policy prescriptions have inflicted severe harm on our people from the past to the present, and threaten our future.

The post Development Without the Poor: The Footprint of the World Bank and IMF in Thailand appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

Gov. Maura Healey ordered home energy relief for low- and middle-income households, to be funded by alternative compliance payments — the fees electricity suppliers pay when they fall short of mandated clean energy targets.

Corporations that have benefited from the Trump administration’s cancellation of federal enforcement actions have given $210.5 million in contributions and pledges to MAGA Inc., and other Trump-aligned Super PACs, according to a new investigation by Public Citizen.

The finding comes as Public Citizen’s new analysis documents the Trump administration’s cancellation of 212 federal enforcement actions involving 205 corporations, including 80 investigations, 67 dismissed enforcement lawsuits and 54 canceled accountability measures involving alleged corporate misconduct.

Among the largest contributors, including corporations, executives, and investors are as follows:

• Elon Musk, whose companies Tesla and SpaceX benefited from at least eight canceled enforcement actions, pledged to spend $100 million to help elect Republicans in the 2026 midterms, largely through America PAC which he controls, and gave $5 million to MAGA Inc.. Both Tesla and SpaceX benefited from four canceled actions each.

• Crypto.com, which profited from the Securities and Exchange Commissions’ (SEC) cancellation of an investigation into allegations that the crypto platform traded unregistered securities, gave $35 million to MAGA Inc., and another $2 million to Keep America Great, both Trump-aligned Super PACs.

• Gemini, similarly profited from a dropped SEC investigation into allegations of trading unregistered securities, gave $20 million to MAGA Inc. Its co-founders, Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, personally gave an additional $10 million each to MAGA Inc.
• Andreessen Horowitz, along with co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, gave $12 million to MAGA Inc.. Nine corporations that benefit from canceled actions are a part of the firm’s investment portfolio.

“Corporations and ultra-wealthy executives with enormous financial interests before the federal government are pouring extraordinary sums into the president’s political operation,” said Robert Weissman, Public Citizen co-president. “Once the check is cashed, the administration is pulling back enforcement actions meant to punish corporate misconduct. It’s a great deal for the corporate wrongdoers – at the expense of their victims and the American people.”

“The potential is limitless when companies and the wealthy people behind them can give millions of dollars to Trump-aligned political groups,” said Rick Claypool, a research director for Public Citizen and author of the report. “The scale of these contributions raises fundamental questions about what corporations are expecting when they invest heavily in a political operation, especially when it involves the President of the United States.”

Public Citizen’s Corporate Enforcement Tracker is an online resource for watchdogging the Trump administration’s cancellation of federal enforcement actions brought against corporations prior to President Trump’s second term.

In response to the outcome of the pre-COP summit in Fiji, Oxfam Climate Policy Lead Nafkote Dabi said:

“These talks were an underwhelming precursor to the summit in Türkiye next month. The absence of leaders from the richest and most polluting countries sends a dangerous signal that the global commitment to tackling the climate crisis is wavering.

“While rich governments fail to take responsibility for climate action, the world faces an onslaught of climate disasters. Devastating heatwaves in Europe claimed thousands of lives this summer, while a lethal combination of El Niño and existing climate breakdown leaves millions of people facing hunger across the Horn of Africa and Latin America.

Leaders cannot spend another COP sidestepping their climate commitments. At COP31, rich governments must increase their climate finance commitments and hold the richest polluters accountable.”

Oxfam Australia’s Policy and Advocacy Lead Josie Lee said:

“For Australian leaders to leave the pre-COP talks without a single substantial funding pledge, merely repackaging previously committed funding, is irresponsible, and falls short of the bold leadership it promised. Australia spends ten times more on fossil fuels subsidies than it does supporting its neighbors to act on climate change.

“We cannot claim to be a responsible regional partner while continuing to prioritize support for coal oil and gas over adequate climate finance. Oxfam Australia is calling on the Government to demonstrate real solidarity with its Pacific neighbors, by putting money on the table and taking responsibility for our share of the climate crisis.”

Executive Director of Oxfam in the Pacific Eunice Wotene said:

“Our hope for hosting pre-COP in the Pacific was that leaders of historically polluting countries would see for themselves the losses and damages with which we are grappling and take decisive action. We urge leaders to take these observations onward to COP31 to ensure the richest countries, corporations and individuals are held accountable for their disproportionate role in the climate crisis.”

Social Security Works Executive Director Alex Lawson had the following response to the news that Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton discussed cuts to Social Security in private conversations in Washington, as revealed in leaked audio published by the Texas Tribune:

“It's disgusting that Ken Paxton is laughing while planning to cut Social Security benefits for everyone in this country, including the nearly 5 million Texans who rely on Social Security and the 1.3 million Texans who Social Security keeps out of poverty.

“This is a sick man who thinks it’s a joke to push over a million Texans into poverty by stealing their hard-earned benefits. This is a man who should not be allowed anywhere near the levers of power, since clearly he thinks working people are a joke to be laughed at with the billionaire donors he works for.”

The Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) is inviting proposals from consultants or teams to examine how African seed systems are financed and strengthen the evidence on the economic benefits of farmer managed seed systems and agroecology.

Building on AFSA’s existing research, the study will map public, private and philanthropic funding, identify who benefits, and assess how finance could better support farmers. It will examine yields, production costs, household income and profitability, alongside wider outcomes for climate resilience, nutrition, biodiversity and livelihoods.

The assignment will combine desk research and remote interviews with 8–10 proposed case studies, including at least four newly documented cases developed with AFSA members and other networks. Findings will inform practical recommendations for donors, development finance institutions and philanthropic foundations, with clear recognition of evidence gaps and trade-offs.

The proposed duration is 14 weeks from contract signature. Applicants should demonstrate expertise in African agriculture, seed systems or agroecology, financial analysis and evidence synthesis, alongside strong English writing skills and capacity for French-language engagement.

To apply, submit a technical proposal, itemised budget, CVs, two relevant research or writing samples, and references from comparable assignments.

Deadline: 30 October 2026
Email: afsa@afsafrica.org
Subject line: Proposal for African seed systems and financial flows study

Read the full terms of reference.

Food Systems for the Future (FSF) Institute wants to make grocery retail work for all communities. According to the organization’s Founder and CEO Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, municipally-supported grocery stores may be part of the solution to the food affordability crisis.

Publicly-owned or -supported grocery stores are designed to lower the cost of groceries, helping to make them more affordable for communities. The approach has attracted growing attention following the announcement of New York City’s plan to open a publicly-supported grocery store in each borough. States from Kansas to Illinois have also explored the solution, but success has varied, with some businesses struggling to break even. 

“What happens if the economics don’t work before the store opens?” Cousin asks, arguing that some areas have overlooked or failed to focus on establishing a sustainable framework. “If you insert subsidies, but you don’t insert the operational capacity that is necessary…the stores close.”

In Atlanta, Georgia, however, Cousin sees a model that seems to be working. Azalea Fresh Market is not municipally-owned; rather the store is publicly supported and independently operated. 

The local government provided the capital needed to construct the store along with guarantees for low-interest operating capital to stock the shelves and hire employees. They also identified a strong operator that knows how to run a successful grocery store and has a relationship with the community. “That has potential for longevity,” Cousin tells Food Tank. 

Grocery prices in the United States are up by nearly 33 percent compared to 2019, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At the same time, healthcare, transportation, and housing costs are rising while millions of households have lost access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. 

It’s not just low-income families who are struggling, says Cousin, who sees more people making difficult choices about what to put in their shopping cart. “We also have economically distressed households that are what we often call the working poor and up to middle-income households…who are now beginning to feel the pinch of affordability.” 

Government-supported food retailers may not be a silver bullet to solve this, but they are “part of the answer,” Cousin explains. 

FSF Institute recently held its second Grocery Retail for All Summit to bring together leaders from across sectors to identify practical, scalable solutions already working in communities across the country. Cousin believes that it’s important to build a “platform of information” so that retailers, nonprofits, and governments “are not constantly reinventing the wheel.” Needs may be context-specific, she says, but lessons can be adapted to create retail models that endure. 

Ultimately, Cousin tells Food Tank, “it’s not the opening of the grocery store that should be celebrated. It’s the resilience and longevity of the operation of that grocery store.” 

Listen to the full conversation with Ertharin Cousin on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about the growing food crisis, alternative models of food retail, and legislative solutions for food access.

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

The post Opening a Grocery Store Is Only the Beginning: Making Food Retail Work for Communities appeared first on Food Tank.

The protections that have allowed hundreds of thousands of people fleeing natural and sociopolitical catastrophes to build lives in the U.S. are being stripped away. 

Immigration enforcement spending has more than tripled since 2003, and Congress has now committed roughly $240 billion to ICE and the Border Patrol. Temporary Protected Status — once a lifeline for hundreds of thousands fleeing disaster and political violence — is being dismantled: refugees from Honduras, Venezuela, Syria, Yemen, South Sudan, and Haiti have all lost protections since a Supreme Court ruling this summer.

But many coworkers, congregations, and neighbors are showing up for each other. States across the country have passed laws banning ICE face-coverings and requiring agents to show visible identification. Communities are organizing to block new detention facilities before they open. In this issue, we highlight some of the organizers, researchers, and neighbors turning that refusal into action. 

This is a time of escalating fear for immigrant communities. They are being demonized and are under assault, as large-scale, heavy-handed enforcement has been unleashed on them, and our noblest traditions of welcome and inclusion are being discarded. And yet, despite these deliberate attempts to isolate and separate us, immigrants and non-immigrants alike have often been stepping up together to protect rights, build alliances, and fight for a better future for all of us. In this conversation, leading activists talk about what these movements of resistance and solidarity mean for broader efforts to protect democracy. With: Cristina Jiménez Moreta, formerly of United We Dream; Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance; Shaw San Liu of the Chinese Progressive Association; and Manuel Pastor of USC’s Equity Research Institute.

The Wealth of Welcome: What Communities Across America Are Already Teaching Us (USC Equity Research Institute)
In a new brief, sociologist Manuel Pastor and researcher Thai V. Le trace how immigration enforcement spending has more than tripled since 2003 — from $9.2 billion to $29.2 billion in 2024 — with Congress committing another $240 billion combined through the 2025 One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the 2026 Secure America Act. Their findings challenge the narratives used to justify this buildup, offering a clear-eyed, evidence-based case for an approach rooted in welcome rather than enforcement.

From Fear to Power: A Conversation with Cristina Jiménez Moreta
Silence doesn’t protect us — community does. That’s the hard-won lesson Cristina Jiménez Moreta carries from a childhood spent hiding an undocumented status, through becoming a founding member of United We Dream and helping win DACA in 2012. In this conversation, she talks about fear, strategy, and what it takes to build a movement that outlasts any one administration.

Louisiana Residents Are Resisting Plans to Build an ICE Jail on Contaminated Site (Truthout)
In central Louisiana, ICE is moving to open a 528-bed detention facility for immigrant women, infants, and children on the site of a former Air Force base with groundwater contaminated by toxic “forever chemicals.” Mothers, pastors, veterans, and civil rights attorneys have banded together to fight it, packing board meetings and organizing in the streets. Among them: Daniel Nakamura, whose parents were both interned in WWII concentration camps as U.S. citizens, who now drives two hours each way to stand against what he calls the same trickery happening again.

• Support the organizations leading this fight. United We Dream, Haitian Bridge Alliance, and the Chinese Progressive Association — all represented by the leaders featured in this issue — are on the front lines of immigrant rights work nationwide. Consider making a donation or following their campaigns to know when and how to show up.
  
• Join the fight against detention expansion, wherever you are. The Louisiana jail featured in this issue isn’t an isolated case — it’s part of a nationwide wave of new ICE facilities. Detention Watch Network’s Communities Not Cages campaign coordinates opposition to detention expansion across the country and can connect you to organizing happening near you, even if that’s not Louisiana. Sign their petition and sign up for updates.
  
• Solidarity Guide for Defending Immigrant Communities. Check out this guide from the National Immigration Law Center.

The post The Pulse – 9/25/26: Immigration Enforcement Has Tripled. Communities Are Fighting Back. appeared first on Bioneers.

This week on Talking Headways we are sharing Part 1 of our conversation with Reece Martin of The Transit Brief in Toronto at the Mpact Transit + Community Conference. We discuss China’s transit expansion, the politics and impacts of fare policy, construction costs around the globe, the US’s existential crisis and the material benefits of progress.

Avid listeners know the drill: Press play on the audio player embedded below, read an AI-generated transcript here, or digest the edited excerpt at the end of this post.

Reece Martin: The US is clearly in a civilizational struggle with China — and it’s like, hey, they’re building all this stuff, and you can’t build even highways? Even if you think that the right thing for the US to do is just build more car infrastructure, you can’t even do that.

The state is geriatric. It’s run by geriatrics. It’s an existential problem. You wanna build defense infrastructure. You wanna build transportation infrastructure, energy infrastructure — and you just can’t because of all of this proceduralism and various other problems, right?

The things that would let you build more subways, would let you build more housing, and would let you do all these other things. And I think it would make the United States a better place, a more dynamic place, right? And it’s good for the economy, right? I’m reading a fantastic book, I recommend everyone goes and reads it. It’s called Order Without Design, by Alain Bertaud.

He’s French. My French pronunciation, despite being Canadian, is horrendous. It’s great. But it’s also quite interesting because urban issues are very progressive-coded, and he’s like a total market fundamentalist, and it’s great. We impose so many constraints on ourselves, and if you actually didn’t, you would probably get better, more dynamic cities.

Cities are what creates great dynamic economies. And you look at a place like New York in the early 20th century — that’s the dream, right? They’re building a ton of infrastructure, building a ton of housing. The city was growing. It was getting denser.

It was getting more dynamic, like what Chinese cities are experiencing now, right? It’s the same thing. It’s a state-led process, whereas in the US and in London as well, this was actually run by private companies initially. And to some extent, New York subway expansion was kinda killed by the city getting involved and then kind of building all of these redundant parallel lines to the private operators.

You need to create that dynamism that lets cities grow. Look at Austin or Atlanta. They would be better cities if they had great transit systems because it would create competition. Even if you’re a driver — it’s like, well, if the roads are too busy, if they’re not improving, then I’ll just get on the train.

But because that doesn’t exist, your whole city just suffers as a result. And so I think that something that is healthy in Ontario and in Canada more broadly is that transit and transportation, while it’s still politically contentious, nobody disagrees that you need to build this stuff.

Jeff Wood: My wife’s Chinese. We’ve been going back every year. I usually spend about a month there, and it’s just eye-opening to go and see what’s happening in Shenzhen or even Hong Kong or even in northern cities.

Her city is the main city in a province, and it’s a small city compared to Beijing and Shanghai, but it has two new subway lines. And just seeing that and how the people are responding to that.

I interviewed Olivia Plotnick, who is an American from Oregon living in China. She’s been living there for the last 10 years. She’s a brand specialist, and she did this trip where she went to 30 cities in three months using high-speed rail. And I asked her: “Well, what do people think about this?” And she said, “I talked to the cab drivers, and they think it’s amazing.”

All the high-speed rail, all the infrastructure, they can see things happening. They can see more customers. And on her side, where she talks about brands and new brands, the second tier of Chinese cities, there’s a competition between these brands that are starting up because of all the infrastructure that’s happening.

And there’s a discussion about not only building the infrastructure, but about how we can make our regions better because of the infrastructure we’ve already built. How can we create better biotech investment? Well, let’s create a cluster of cities outside of Shanghai that you already connected with subways and with high-speed rail that enhance the ability of people to share information and share ideas to get more patents, those types of things.

And I feel like we’re having that discussion a little bit in the private sector. The folks that are investing in technology are doing things, but it’s not kind of the same way as thinking about how you can connect all these places so that new discussions about technology and investment and all those things can happen.

It’s really frustrating to go and see what they’ve done there and what we’re doing here, and what we’re wasting money on in the United States. And I shouldn’t say here because we’re in Canada. But in the United States, we’re still spending so much money on road expansion and the highway system, and it’s already built out.

It’s completely not valuable anymore to spend more money on it because it’s built out. You need to shift over to something else, like high-speed rail, that’s actually going to connect places and create that vitality and that collision of ideas that we really need.

Reece Martin: I think there’s two things that are pretty interesting. I’m actually a tech guy. I did computer science at university, so I’m not super-cynical about tech, even if AI is a little concerning. You have to sometimes reflect that most of the new technology developed in my life, in terms of the value extracted.

There’s a lot of good biotech. It’s great that we can cure a bunch of cancers that we previously couldn’t. So I don’t wanna be too negative. But if you look at consumer technology and software, which is a huge part of the economy, a lot of this stuff is useful, but a lot of it is actually just net-negative on people’s quality of life.

Like Instagram — the world would probably be better without it, right? There’s a lot of things like that. So you just sort of wonder. You look at China, right? They’ve spent all this money and effort building something. If you live in Portland, and you could go to Seattle for the afternoon, that is gonna make your life better in a way that Instagram is not gonna make your life better. It’s gonna let you live in the real world.

Jeff Wood: Yeah, the tourism there has exploded. People can go to different parts of the country and see some of their sights and ancient sites.

Reece Martin: And that’s good. Imagine if it were easier and cheaper to travel from California to Nevada or California to Arizona. Even politically, these things help people not be crazy because they would interact more with people with different views and from different places. And I think there’s been a real focus on this: How do we extract more money out of people for the latest iPhone? And not: How can we materially improve living standards?

I can see some of this as a Canadian because when I grew up in Vancouver, the SkyTrain system was 40 percent as big as it is today. The city looked totally different. It’s covered in high-rises now. There’s this all-new SkyTrain. There’s new highways and bridges.

The same is true in Toronto and Montréal. If you look at the population of Canada when I was born, it was probably in the high 20 millions. We’re now at 40 million. It would as if the US was at 500 million people, if it had experienced that kind of growth.

There’s housing costs, which are really difficult here. I don’t want to frame it as entirely positive. But you just recognize that positive progress is possible. When I was growing up, you couldn’t just take the train to the airport in Vancouver and then take into the city from Toronto’s airport. Now you can.

Next year it’ll be Montréal. This constant sense of progress and more options, more accessibility, more people that you can meet every year. When people don’t have that experience of living in a society that has so much forward progress and momentum, I think they underrate how valuable it is.

Even if you are a cab driver and you’re a bit worried about what you’re gonna do — well, so much is happening. I’m gonna figure it out, right? It’s a positive for all of society.

Major work by regional planners is focused on flexible access to existing transmission. Some say greater emphasis on advanced transmission technologies can quickly and cost-effectively create room for new large loads.

This is Volume #31 of the Leading from the Feminine newsletter, a vibrant resource in the flourishing world of leading from the heart, hands and spirit.
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Earlier this month, the UN Environment Programme’s Limiting Overshoot report acknowledged what is becoming increasingly clear: global temperatures are likely to cross the 1.5°C threshold within the next few years. How high temperatures rise, how long they remain elevated, and how quickly we can bring them back down depends on the choices we make now. 

The report gives scientific language to what we’re already witnessing in our own local landscapes and ecosystems. In the high desert stretches of Northern New Mexico, where winter was once steeped in white, snow accumulates in only the slightest of dusting. Warming temperatures cause flowers to bloom weeks ahead of historical schedules, leading to increased food shortages, starvation, and failed breeding for many pollinators, such as hummingbirds. 

As journalist Aarohi Sheth writes: “Climate touches everything and everyone.” Large and small.

Climate fatigue is real. It’s easy to feel desensitized, disengaged, and powerless as we navigate information overload and overlapping stressors from the macro to the micro. Like the hummingbird, an animal with the largest heart-to-body ratio of any species in the world, some days it seems like we’re the ones walking around with oversized hearts. So how do we stay rooted, focused, and engaged? 

The good news: we can lean into the joyous responsibility to act from where we already are and what is imminently possible. As Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, Executive Director of Home Planet Fund, puts it: “I focus on the day-to-day, like what can I do today; what can I do now; what can I do sitting in relationship.” These daily practices can be seen across the globe as women-led movements steer collaborative, culturally-informed actions on the ground from within local communities. That spirit, despite the fatigue, was visible throughout NYC’s recent Climate Week, which brought over 100,000 people together across more than 1,000 events, from global policy and finance to grassroots and community-led action.

In this issue of Leading From The Feminine, we’re listening to women who are building climate solutions through relationship — to land, water, community, culture, and one another — from the wetlands of Bolivia to the grasslands of Tanzania and the glacial watersheds of Central Asia. These are just a handful of the many women-led organizations on the frontlines of climate work, showing up not only during Climate Week, but for the other 357 days of the year.

Although they receive less than 1% of climate funding, women-led climate justice grassroots projects are generating cascading benefits, from greater gender and economic equity and less gender violence to improved biodiversity and ecosystems’ health. Simultaneously, the centrality to many Indigenous peoples’ cultures of traditional relationships to place and to honoring all of life as sacred are a tremendous resource in strengthening efforts to protect and renew biodiversity and water resources.

We invite you to listen to this excerpt of a panel conversation from the Bioneers 2026 Conference, which explores what these two vastly under-resourced constituencies have to offer in the quest to co-create regenerative landscapes and futures. With Dilafruz Khonikboyeva, Executive Director of Home Planet Fund; Osprey Orielle Lake, founder and Executive Director of Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network (WECAN); and Zainab Salbi, co-founder of Daughters for Earth.

Daughters for the Earth is a fund and global movement supporting women-led solutions to restore nature. Listen to their special four-part podcast series, The Hidden Economics of Remarkable Women.

Home Planet Fund supports Indigenous People working on the frontlines of the climate and biodiversity crisis around the world. Read their 2025 Impact Report and learn how you can support their work. 

Women’s Earth and Climate Action Network is a solutions-based climate justice organization established to engage and unite women worldwide in policy advocacy, on-the-ground projects, trainings, and movement building for social and ecological justice. Join their Women For Forests campaign and make a public comment by October 6th to save the Tongass Rainforest of Alaska.

Listen: Eriel Tchekwie Deranger featured on For the Wild podcast

Host Ayana Young in conversation with Eriel Tchekwie Deranger (Athabasca Chippewan First Nation), President of Indigenous Climate Action, about the ongoing Indigenous Tar Sands Campaign and more.

Read: Collective Power: The struggle for protection for land and environmental defenders 

The investigative organization Global Witness reports that in 2025, at least 124 people were murdered defending lands and waters from destruction. Serious threats, intimidation, and smear campaigns also continue, according to the ALLIED network of human rights monitors. 

Watch: The Climate Emergency Mixtape

Sollisai Sistahs, Tamil Nadu’s first all-women rap crew, use hip-hop as a voice for resistance, identity and change. Their music celebrates culture, sisterhood and community while challenging social norms.

The post LFF #31: Radical Collaboration and Collective Power: Women’s Climate Leadership appeared first on Bioneers.

The renewal of the mandate helps preserve a vital institutional space within the United Nations for the defence and promotion of peasants’ rights.

The post Another Victory at the UN: The Mandate of the Working Group on the Rights of Peasants Has Been Renewed by a Large Majority! appeared first on La Via Campesina - EN.

The post Millions Face Punishing Heating Bills. They Shouldn’t Be Left Behind. appeared first on ACEEE | American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.

In North America, data centers are boosting the long-term investment case for energy storage and renewables as gas turbine backlogs and rising fuel volatility drive up peaking costs, according to a Thursday note from Wood Mackenzie.

Slow Food NYC will bring together New York City food businesses, producers, chefs, and community members on October 19 for SnailFest 2026. The annual event celebrates its Snail of Approval awardees and their work to advance good, clean, and fair food.

The event, which takes place at Eataly SoHo, includes a cocktail reception and a seasonal multi-course dinner. The evening will support Slow Food NYC’s efforts to build a more sustainable and equitable local food system through education, advocacy, and community engagement.

“Slow Food NYC exists because good, clean, and fair food doesn’t happen by accident. It takes real people, showing up every day, making hard choices about how they source and serve,” says Richa Mehra, Vice Chair of Slow Food NYC. “SnailFest is our chance to celebrate our Snail of Approval awardees who do this work every day and bring them together in one room with our larger community. The energy at last year’s inaugural event was so special, and we’re excited to build on that this year!”

The Snail of Approval program recognizes New York City restaurants, bars, retailers, food producers, and other food and beverage businesses that demonstrate a commitment to Slow Food’s principles. Awardees are evaluated on practices around sourcing, environmental impact, cultural connection, community involvement, staff support, and business values.

Awardees include businesses such as Brooklyn Packers, Café Paulette & Petite Paulette, Eataly, Farm to People, GrowNYC, Matriark Foods, Norwich Meadows Farm, Oko Farms, Osteria 57, Roscioli, and The Meat Hook, among dozens of other New York City food businesses.

SnailFest 2026 will take place from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Eataly SoHo in Manhattan. Tickets can be purchased here, and include food, drinks, and access to the silent auction.

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Photo courtesy of Anne Preble, Unsplash

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