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Since the beginning of the year, demonstrations and strikes have continued across Syria. Demands range from increased political participation and democratic rights1One example is the two sit-ins organized by the “April 17 Gathering” in Damascus in April and June, under the banner “Rights and Dignity.” Their demands included: a commitment from the transitional authorities to fulfill their duties and exercise their powers in conducting the transition process; working towards a genuine political transition based on an inclusive national dialogue leading to elections; activating the transitional justice process and bringing perpetrators of crimes to justice; rejecting the perpetuation of the Assad regime and the rehabilitation of its figures; broadening political participation through free elections to local councils and trade unions; strengthening the role of political parties and rejecting the monopolization of power by any one entity or faction; establishing good governance based on competence, integrity, and transparency; ending the chaos surrounding appointments and the distribution of power; combating corruption; criminalizing sectarian speech; and guaranteeing an independent, transparent, and fair judicial system.to condemnation of the actions and violations committed by Israeli occupation forces in the Quneitra region, and the right to education in Suwayda.2A campaign was launched in May 2026 in the Suwayda Governorate to guarantee the right of thousands of students to take their secondary school leaving exams in the governorate, in a safe and stable environment. The authorities in Damascus have so far opposed this, demanding that students travel to Damascus to take their exams.

Journalist Zeina Shahla documented nearly eighty demonstrations across the country between February and April, most of them motivated by social and economic grievances.3From Zeina Shahla’s article: “Over the past three months, we have documented nearly 80 vigils of protest, averaging one per day, in Damascus and its surrounding countryside, as well as in Aleppo, Deir ez-Zor, Raqqa, Idlib, Latakia, Hasakah, Quneitra, Daraa, Hama, and Homs. These vigils were organized by students, taxi drivers, organ transplant recipients, families of missing persons, street vendors, residents of devastated areas awaiting reconstruction, lawyers, teachers, and traders from certain markets. Furthermore, some vigils brought together different segments of society around common demands: the cancellation of the electricity price hike, improved living conditions, respect for the rule of law, the resolution of security issues, the fight against corruption, and the commemoration of key moments in the Syrian revolution and war.” Furthermore, the governorate of Suwayda, in particular, has been the scene of frequent vigils following the massacres of last July, with demands such as the right to self-determination, the return of displaced persons, and the revelation of the fate of the disappeared. The newspaper Kassioun subsequently recorded 34 rallies and demonstrations in 21 locations across several Syrian governorates, cities, towns, and universities between May 18 and 24, 2026. Protests are still ongoing at the time of writing.

Since the beginning of 2026, discontent with socio-economic problems has intensified. Polling in different areas of Syria has been showing growing dissatisfaction regarding socio-economic issues. According to the website Syria in Transition:

Yet by April the mood had changed (towards the ruling authorities). The most serious deterioration was in attitudes toward the economy and the state’s capacity to manage it. Only 13 percent of respondents now believed the government was doing enough to tackle soaring energy and food prices, while 66 percent said its efforts were insufficient.

This has been reflected as well with rising labor strikes and protests denouncing worsening working and living conditions.

Syrian ruling authorities have deepened a political-economic orientation favoring a commercial model focused on short-term profit, to the detriment of Syria’s productive sectors. This economic orientation was already at play during the former Assad’s regime. The majority of the investment projects offered by Damascus to foreign investors demonstrate this pattern, and so does the nature of the investment promises made to Syria since December 2024 into tourism, real estate, and financial services. Most of these promises, however, still await their implementation.

Meanwhile, no protection has been provided to national production, particularly manufacturing industry and agriculture, against foreign competitive products. Quite the opposite. Accelerated trade liberalization is threatening their existence even more. In late January 2025, Damascus reduced customs duties on more than 260 Turkish products. Syria’s trade deficit with Turkey reached an all-time high of $3.26 billion in 2025, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute. This represents an 86.5 percent rise in comparison to 2024, when the deficit stood at $1.74 billion.

No protection has been provided to national production, particularly manufacturing industry and agriculture, against foreign competitive products. Quite the opposite.

At the same time, Syrian officials announced on several occasions since their arrival to power their willingness to start the process of privatization of state assets, or at least to encourage a public-private partnership model to manage them. This includes essential services such as education and health. More recently, rumors of potential privatizations of state-owned banks have also emerged.

The Syrian ministry of finance has also drafted a new tax system that should come into force at the beginning of 2027, which will probably diminish the state’s financial capacities and revenues even further. Indeed, with a unified and non-categorical tax structure, and a similar corporate tax applied equally across all business entities, regardless of their size, this weakens the ability to expand the revenue base and is fundamentally unequal.4There will be no tax to pay for agriculture, bank deposit returns, and stock trading. A 2 percent rate will apply to supplies and services by non-residents. There will be a 10 percent rate in the health, technology, education, and industrial sectors, while other sectors—including trade and services—will pay 15 percent. Income tax will only kick in after the first Syrian pound (SYP) 60mn—around $5,310. Thereafter, there will be a 6 percent rate for the first SYP 5mn ($442.5) and 8 percent over SYP 5mn ($442.5). Exemptions are envisaged on transfers of company shares, revaluation of fixed assets, returns and interest on bank deposits, local exports of goods and services, the agricultural sector and its associations, children’s medical expenses, education, rent, and interest on housing loans. For corporate donations to good causes, there will be a special tax deduction. At the same time, a sales tax has been introduced, which could serve as a precursor to a VAT, at a 5 percent rate on essential goods. Similarly, the new investment law enacted by presidential decree in June 2026 provides large concessions to investors, such as permanent exemption from income taxes for agricultural and educational projects, reductions of up to 80 percent of income taxes in export-oriented and priority industrial sectors, and wide customs exemptions. In addition, full ownership rights are allowed for foreign investors, as well as renewable residence permits, and unrestricted profit repatriation.

Syria’s new tax system and investment law reflect the ruling authorities’ prioritization of investment from large foreign companies and high-net-worth individuals, as well as promoting dynamic consumption, rather than strengthening the country’s productive capacities.

This dynamic is also reflected in the reliance on foreign capital and assistance, as well as local businessmen, to promote Syrian reconstruction and economic recovery through foreign donations or donation campaigns, such as the Syrian Development Fund and other initiatives for specific regions and cities.

Accompanying these policies favoring economic liberalization and interests of big capital, the ruling authorities have promulgated a series of decisions and measures boosting dynamics of concentration of power in the Syrian economy.

Strikes and popular protests

The protests have mobilized various segments of society, including transport workers, laborers, farmers, teachers, students, lawyers, and bakers, reflecting growing discontent across the country with the continued erosion of purchasing power and the deterioration of public services. They also targeted corruption, nepotism, and a lack of transparency and participation in decision-making processes.

The protests erupted in mid-May, initially in Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, and Daraa, and then spread to other parts of the country, after the Syrian Ministry of Economy and Industry set the price of a ton of wheat for the 2026 harvest at 4,600,000 Syrian pounds (approximately $333.30 at the unofficial exchange rate of May 27). This decision sparked widespread discontent among farmers, as the cost of producing a ton of wheat currently fluctuates between $340 and over $530. Following these protests, interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued Legislative Decree No. 120 of 2026, granting a subsidy of 900,000 Syrian pounds (SYP) per ton of wheat delivered by farmers to the Syrian Grain Company. Thanks to this increase, the price of a ton of wheat reached approximately (SYP) 5,500,000, a price still lower than the protesters’ demands.

Other demonstrations took place during the same period, notably in the Hasakah Governorate against the reduction of diesel fuel allowances for agricultural projects, and in the Tarhin region, a rural area near Aleppo, where owners and employees of oil refineries protested the decision to permanently close them. The demonstrators also demanded fair compensation to guarantee a minimum standard of living, emphasizing that thousands of families depend on this sector as their primary source of income.

In June, strikes broke out at the privately owned Zanobia Ceramics company5Zanobia is a private company specializing in the manufacture of ceramics, granite and construction materials. It owns two industrial complexes: one in Al-Kisweh, a southern suburb of Damascus which houses many factories, and the other in the industrial zone of Adra, on the outskirts of Damascus.and at the Madar Detergent Company’s facilities and factories in the Kisweh region, near Damascus, employing 4,000 and 4,500 people respectively. The demonstrators demanded higher wages and better working conditions. After a week-long strike, the workers of the Zanobia company obtained satisfaction on several of their main demands, including an increase in their wages (which includes a rise of SYP 500,000, in addition to SYP 200,000 of cost-of-living allowance, for a total of SYP 700,000 (equivalent to $51.20 at the end of June)) and guarantees in terms of health coverage, including health insurance, the presence of a doctor in the factory, the provision of an ambulance and safety equipment at work.

Workers at the Bab al-Hawa border crossing in northern Idlib protested in late June against the administration’s imposition of a 24-hour shift system and unfair working conditions. Despite the administration’s threats of mass layoffs and replacements to break the strike, the workers—some with 14 years of service—maintained their demands for a more flexible work schedule. According to the website Al-Hal Net, the administration has already hired new employees, but about 90 percent of them resigned immediately, unable to continue due to the grueling working conditions and endless hours.

The city of Qamishli also witnessed several days of protests in late June, denouncing rising prices and poor living conditions, as well as power outages caused by fuel shortages. For example, protesters staged a sit-in to demonstrate against the rising price of diesel, demanding the reversal of this decision and an improvement in their living conditions, as the region experiences soaring prices for goods and services, along with increased transportation and production costs. Dozens of retirees held a sit-in outside the city’s Social Security office, at the invitation of the Retirees’ Group, to demand the expedited payment of their monthly pensions and an end to the delays and postponements affecting their entitlements. Following these mobilizations by retirees, the Retirees’ Group was officially announced at the end of June, with the aim of defending retirees’ rights to a decent standard of living, particularly by resolving issues related to their salaries and payment delays.

These sit-ins and demonstrations are taking place against a backdrop of runaway inflation plaguing the Syrian Jazira region (northeast Syria), with rising transportation and agricultural production costs, alongside a rise in commodity prices—as well as persistent complaints about deteriorating services and frequent power outages. For example, in mid-June, social unrest erupted in the Raqqa Governorate due to wage delays and their continued status as “irregular” workers—lacking legal protections and job security. These protests led to further strikes that affected the sanitation sector in several areas of the governorate.

Unfair dismissals and persistent austerity measures

Meanwhile, dismissals continued in several ministries throughout 2026, sparking further protests. In mid-June, laid-off workers from the General Cotton Yard Company in Idlib staged a sit-in to demand justice and their reinstatement.

The Syrian government has still not established clear, legal, and precise standards and procedures for dismissals or suspensions, fueling accusations of arbitrary dismissals. The human rights organization “Syrians for Truth and Justice” has expressed that it is deeply concerned about the compliance of these procedures with the legal safeguards stipulated in the Unified Fundamental Law for Workers No. 50 of 2004 (Articles 132 to 139). Furthermore, in June 2026, the organization published a report describing cases of arbitrary dismissals and forced transfers based on “sectarian, political, or gender backgrounds, or to criteria related to the individual’s stance on the Syrian uprising (in 2011), or regional and social affiliation” raising serious concerns about the use of the state restructuring process as a tool for exclusion and the reshaping of the public sector on unprofessional grounds.

Damascus authorities have continued to reduce the number of subsidized loaves of bread they distribute.

More recently, the government also increased salaries for specific jobs, generally in the higher strata of the administration or in positions considered as more “prestigious,” while the overwhelming majority of employees did not benefit from similar measures. Furthermore, salary disparities persist within the same ministries for similar jobs, with employees, often previously affiliated with the group Hay’at Tahrir Sham6This is the new name of Jabhat al-Nusra, which was founded as an al-Qaeda affiliate in 2012. The group took its current name when it dis-affiliated from al-Qaeda in 2017. Its leader, Ahmed al-Sharaa, became Syria’s president after leading a coalition of rebel forces to bring down the Assad regime in late 2024. or allied with it, appointed by the new authorities receiving higher salaries (often in US dollars).

Damascus authorities have continued to reduce the number of subsidized loaves of bread they distribute, from ten to eight per household daily, while maintaining the price at SYP 4,000. The ministry set the weight of a loaf of bread at 1,000 grams, down from 1,050 grams previously. As a reminder, in December 2024, the price of subsidized bread was SYP 400 (for 1,100 grams). These measures have exacerbated food insecurity among the most vulnerable populations.

Opposition to luxury real estate projects and population displacement

At the same time, several protests have erupted against real estate projects that have led to the displacement of local populations and the loss or erosion of their property rights. In Homs, inhabitants of the Qarabis neighborhood successfully pressured the Kuwait-based al-Omran Real Estate Development Company to cancel the element of its “Boulevard of Victory” plan affecting the neighbourhood, which would have threatened their properties and displaced them from their homes. In the beginning of May 2026, a protest was held in Damascus by the residents affected by Decree 66 of 2012 from the Mezzeh, Kfar Souseh, and Basateen al-Razi neighborhoods. This reflects the ongoing social and legal tensions surrounding major urban development projects, most notably the Marota City project. At the same time, in the Aleppo countryside, the inhabitants of Jabal Aqil demonstrated against the seizure of their land by the Turkish military base.

That same month, a demonstration took place in northern Raqqa to protest the local authorities’ plan to demolish housing north of the railway line, under the pretext of “reconstruction and investment.” This situation is all the more concerning given the rumors circulating about Saudi investment and the construction of housing by a Chinese company on the land. Official statements claim that the land is “state property,” a claim disputed by residents, who assert they possess official deeds of transfer and other legal documentation. During the demonstration, protesters chanted slogans demanding the resignation of the governor, who has refused to cancel the reconstruction plan affecting approximately 3,000 families, most of whom are low-income and living in poverty. They reaffirmed their determination to find a just solution that guarantees their housing rights and puts an end to the evictions and demolitions.

The country continues to suffer a deep housing and infrastructure shortfall … which frustrate[s] … the prospects for both internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to return.

Overall, these real estate projects often aim to serve an elite class able to afford new and expensive housing projects and accumulate capital, rather than building housing schemes and infrastructures seeking to fulfill the interests of large segments of the population—who now suffer worsening living conditions and low purchasing power in the face of very high rents and expensive property prices. For example, one of the most emblematic real estate projects is “Yaafour 963,” launched by Overseas Investment Group, owned by Syrian-Emirati businessman Muwaffaq al-Qaddah, where apartments are offered starting at $300,000. Similarly, the “Abyat Hills” project, launched by the Saudi Abyat Real Estate Investment and Development Company in the Damascus suburbs of Qudsi and al-Bajaa, is estimated at over $2 billion and plans to build 22,000 homes in secure residences with modern amenities.

Moreover, the country continues to suffer a deep housing and infrastructure shortfall that threatens the processes of stabilization and recovery—which frustrate the  expectations for safe and dignified living conditions and the prospects for both internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees to return. According to the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP), “one-third of the country’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, while critical infrastructure, including roads, water networks, electricity, and sanitation systems, remains largely non-functional.”

The cost of living continues to rise

The growing anger of the population reflects the disastrous economic situation in the country.

The poverty rate in Syria fluctuates between 80 and 90 percent, and 16 million people are in need of emergency aid to survive. This is in a country of about 26 million. More than 7 million people face severe food insecurity. Furthermore, due to a significant funding shortfall, the United Nations World Food Program announced in mid-May 2026 that it would scale back its operations in Syria by halving its emergency food assistance, from 1.3 million to 650,000 people, and ending its national bread subsidy program, which supported millions of people daily.

This is a context of a labor market very much disrupted, and high unemployment, particularly among the youth in a context of a lack of economic opportunities. While there are no clear rates for the size of unemployment in Syria, estimates ranges from 14 percent at the World Bank in 2025 to 60 percent according to the Syrian Minister of Economy and Industry, Nidal al-Shaar. In addition, 83 percent of the Syrian labor market is reported to be informal, meaning a lack of social security and legal protection, leaving millions of workers vulnerable to exploitation or sudden income loss. The returns of Syrians, both refugees and IDPs to their original regions, have also further strained the labor market, which lacks the capacity to absorb them. The International Organisation of Migration in May 2025 also underlined that the “lack of economic opportunities and essential services pose the greatest challenge for Syrians returning to their communities.”

What the Syrian people lack is not just job opportunities, but jobs that allow them to live with dignity and meet their daily needs.

The rise in prices of key commodities and services has also contributed to increasing inflation, pushing the cost of living higher still for Syrians. While the authorities raised public-sector salaries and pensions by 200 percent in July 2025, and by a further 50 percent in March 2026—bringing the minimum wage to SYP 1,256,000 per month (approximately $96.6 at the end of June according to the black exchange rate of SYP 13,000)—this remains far from enough to guarantee dignified living conditions. According to the Syrian Center for Policy Research, “the abject poverty line for a household reached 3.34 million per month in April 2026 (approximately $252 according to the black exchange rate of SYP 13,250 at the end of April), while the lower poverty line reached SYP 5.26 million ($397), and the upper poverty line reached SYP 7.26 million (548$).” Large segments of society rely on remittances from relatives abroad amounting to around $4 billion annually, according to estimates from earlier this year.

From this perspective, what the Syrian people lack is not just job opportunities, but jobs that allow them to live with dignity and meet their daily needs. In this context, reducing subsidies and increasing the prices of basic necessities will only worsen the situation and negate the effect of wage increases.

Limitations of protest movements

The protest movements and attempts at worker self-organization are positive developments, especially after years of war and dictatorship. For example, workers at the Zanobia factory established a strike committee, composed of four members elected by the strikers to negotiate on their behalf.

Despite the positive aspects of these demonstrations, their impact remains limited. First, these protests remain geographically confined, lacking coordination between regions, with the partial exception of demonstrations related to wheat prices. There is no close cooperation between workers in the same sector—for example, between public school teachers demonstrating in different governorates. This allows the authorities in Damascus to manage each movement separately and limit its influence on the political landscape.

Second, the protest movements lack political channels and means of expression, primarily due to the absence of political parties or mass political networks capable of relaying their demands and calls to action. Furthermore, with the exception of a few left-wing parties that observe these demonstrations without playing an influential role, political actors and civil society actors are not giving them the attention they deserve.

It is essential to build and rebuild grassroots organizations—from trade unions to feminist and women’s rights organizations, including local associations, progressive political parties, and national structures.

In this context, it is important to emphasize that worker self-organization and the struggle for democratic, independent, and mass unions—in order to foster coordination between workers and unions autonomous from the government—are essential for improving the living and working conditions of the population and, more broadly, for defending democratic rights.

Furthermore, it is essential to build and rebuild grassroots organizations—from trade unions to feminist and women’s rights organizations, including local associations, progressive political parties, and national structures—in order to unify them.

The collective and democratic organization of the working and popular classes is also the best way to confront and oppose the sectarian and ethnic tensions that continue to impact society. These tensions are often encouraged or fueled, or at least not radically addressed, by the central government and/or its political allies to divert attention from the social, economic, and political problems affecting the population. For example, recent demonstrations demanding justice for Assad-era crimes in Syria coincided with an escalation of attacks by civilian groups and incitement to sectarian hatred between June 13 and 17, 2026. Syrian authorities have so far failed to establish a mechanism to promote a comprehensive transitional justice process that would bring to justice all individuals and groups involved in war crimes. Such an approach could have played a crucial role in curbing reprisals and mitigating the escalation of sectarian and ethnic tensions.

Conclusion

Whatever political force came to power after Assad’s fall, it inherited a multitude of political, social, and economic challenges. However, the policies of the current Syrian authorities have exacerbated these difficulties instead of resolving them. Economically, the approach of the new ruling class has failed to improve the living conditions of a large segment of the population and has negatively impacted the recovery of the economy’s productive sectors.

The increasing number of demonstrations since the beginning of the year, fueled by deteriorating living and working conditions as well as socio-economic problems, demonstrates the shortcomings of current economic policies and could serve as a warning to Damascus.

Any successful economic recovery and reconstruction process must be based on a comprehensive and democratic political transition that empowers the various sectors of society—political parties, social actors such as trade unions, professional associations, the Farmers’ Union, human rights and feminist organizations, local associations, and so on. – the means to participate in decision-making processes, including in the economic sphere. This would create the necessary conditions for integrating their collective interests and establishing the political stability essential for the sustainability of these policies. Therefore, free and transparent elections must be organized within trade unions, professional associations, and agricultural federations so that these sectors can choose their representatives and defend the interests of their members.

Finally, the processes of capital accumulation and distribution, as well as economic policies, should be the subject of collective debate within society, and not the prerogative of a small elite in power.

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The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals today rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to re-detain Georgetown scholar Dr. Badar Khan Suri and affirmed a lower court order that required the government to release him on bail as his case proceeded. The court also rejected the government’s request to move the case from Virginia to Texas.

“[In] our view,” the court wrote, “denying judicial review of detention claims like Suri’s misreads Congress’ statutes and undermines the protections guaranteed all persons on American soil by the writ of habeas corpus.”

The court later expanded: “[An] unbroken line of caselaw also accords with common sense: if a noncitizen is challenging their detention pending removal, then waiting for their removal proceedings does them no good. They have already been detained, allegedly in violation of the Constitution. This ‘absurd’ reading of the INA would make such detention claims ‘effectively unreviewable,’ and the Supreme Court has repeatedly refused to embrace it.”

In March 2025, ICE arrested and detained Dr. Suri, a lawful visa holder from India whose wife is a U.S. citizen, outside his Virginia home in retaliation for his associations and speech in support of Palestinian rights. Dr. Suri was detained for nearly six weeks over a thousand miles away from his wife and children at an infamous private detention center in Texas known for its human rights abuses. A federal judge ordered his release from detention in May 2025 while his case continued in federal court.

“Today reaffirms my faith that an independent judiciary remains the truest guardian of liberty, due process, and the rule of law. I am profoundly grateful to the judges who upheld these constitutional principles and gave my case the careful, deliberate consideration it deserved,” said Dr. Badar Khan Suri. “I remain, as ever, committed to the pursuit of justice through lawful and peaceful means. We should remember that a democracy without an accessible writ of habeas corpus is a democracy in name only; as the honorable court so aptly observed, the scope of habeas corpus ‘must not be subject to manipulation by those whose power it is designed to restrain.’ I am proud of those who fought for me, and I am proud of every moment of life. Be courageous and stand for justice. Free Palestine.”

On appeal, the Trump administration argued that federal district courts don’t have the authority to review the constitutionality of Dr. Suri’s detention until the Department of Justice-controlled immigration process, which can take months or even years, is completed. The administration also argued that because it quickly swept Dr. Suri out of Virginia without notice to his family or lawyers, the Virginia court does not have jurisdiction to hear his petition, and that it should be handled by a court in Texas, where it chose to take him.

Today, a panel of judges from the Fourth Circuit rejected both arguments 2-1, finding that federal courts must be able to review constitutional claims stemming from immigration detention, and that his case should stay in Virginia.

“We are elated that Dr. Suri will remain free with his family and we are grateful that the court has seen through the government's brazen attempts to silence pro-Palestine speech,” said Noor Zafar, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s Immigrants’ Rights Project. “The federal government cannot do an end run around the First Amendment by locking people up for their speech and denying them their day in court. Immigration laws cannot be abused to silence dissent, and we are grateful that today, justice prevailed.”

This ruling is the third opinion from a federal court of appeals addressing the question of whether the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) bars immediate federal court review of a noncitizen’s claim of unlawful detention in retaliation for their speech. In January, the Third Circuit ruled against Mahmoud Khalil, holding that the INA does bar such claims. And just two days ago, the Second Circuit ruled against Mohsen Mahdawi, agreeing with the Third Circuit’s analysis. Addressing the Khalil v. Trump decision, the Fourth Circuit was clear: “We disagree.”

“We are gratified that the court recognized the basic principle that the government cannot escape judicial review of their patently unconstitutional actions — here, arresting Dr. Khan Suri, transferring him far away from his family and community, and detaining and attempting to deport him for nothing more than his associations and constitutionally protected advocacy for Palestinian rights,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Similar to the cases of Mr. Khalil, Mr. Mahdawi, and other students, Dr. Suri was arrested in retaliation for his speech in support of Palestinian rights. He was additionally targeted because of his U.S. citizen wife’s speech, her Palestinian origins, and her familial ties. On social media, Dr. Suri criticized U.S. support of Israel’s assault on Gaza, motivated by the time he spent volunteering in Gaza and fear for his wife’s family members who still lived there with no way to flee during the war. The administration has falsely argued that Dr. Suri’s presence in the United States “compromised a compelling foreign policy interest” and therefore, under a rarely used section of the INA, it had the right to deport him. Dr. Suri’s immigration court proceedings remain ongoing.

“ICE abducted Dr. Khan Suri from his home in Virginia before moving him among five different ICE facilities across three states in a shameless attempt to find a court that would be friendlier to his unlawful detention,” said ACLU-VA Legal Director Eden Heilman. “We are elated that the Fourth Circuit saw through the Trump administration’s blatant attempt to bend the law to their will and rejected their bid to re-detain our client thousands of miles away from his family in Virginia. The First Amendment protects all of us — regardless of citizenship — and we will continue to fight for his constitutional rights.”

Dr. Suri is represented in his federal lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Virginia, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and Van Der Hout LLP.

For more information, see the case page. The opinion can be read here.

This press release is available here and here.

Arrival of biggest and lowest cost turbines, a new competitor and some government contracts is stirring life into Australia's wind energy industry.

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The ICE murders of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas, and Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero in Biddeford, Maine, have reignited public rage against the ongoing state violence against the most vulnerable in the U.S. and the global working class. Both Araujo and Guerrero were shot dead by ICE agents on the streets where they lived. Street protests against their killings have been the largest since the Minneapolis uprising against the murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. These protests have renewed calls for “ICE OUT” of U.S. cities and communities.

The shootings and protests are a reflection of the deep unpopularity of the Trump regime and its policies — Trump continues to poll at under 40 percent. They are also a reminder about broader public outrage at MAGA administration attacks on U.S. workers: the spiraling war against Iran, which has driven up fuel prices and the cost of food and daily goods; the ongoing deportations of people in the U.S. and intimidation of immigrant communities; the assault on LGBTQI+ rights; and the repression of political dissidents, from the conviction and outrageous sentencing of the Prairieland protesters in Texas, to the trial of the “Minnesota 15” in Minneapolis, to federal charges brought against Palestinian activists at the University of Michigan.

State repression and its opposition are all signs of an ongoing crisis in U.S. politics and a shaky capitalist economy. The Trump administration seeks to stitch up its weakening legitimacy through brute force, the weaponization of the legal system, and ever-increasing efforts to undermine further democratic rights. These attacks, including on our fundamental rights to organize and protest, require urgent, broad, and coordinated defense.

Trump’s single-minded focus on weakening voting rights and his administration’s assailing of democratic process proceed apace with new efforts to intimidate and discredit election processes (as in Georgia). Rumors of ICE agents at polling places in November are well within the ideological and tactical bandwidth of the current administration. While no one can predict the outcome of the next round of U.S. elections, it is a certainty they will take place in an atmosphere of increased intimidation, especially for the most vulnerable in U.S. society. The efforts to weaken the already limited democracy in the U.S. should be of supreme concern for all working people, already embattled oppressed communities, and therefore the Left as a whole.

These conditions speak to the urgency of mass organizing. The Minneapolis rebellion last January, when more than 100,000 marched and thousands stayed home from work, showed us that mass resistance can serve as a brake on the worst tendencies of the capitalist system. They expressed the power of working-class organizing and the capacity of ordinary people to defend themselves against these forces of repression mobilized against them.

The United Left Platform, an alliance of six revolutionary socialist groups in the United States (International Marxist Humanist Organization, Socialist Horizon, Solidarity, Speak Out Socialists, Tempest Collective, and Workers Voice) calls on people of conscience everywhere to join the wide protests against the current regime. We also call on people to join a political organization committed to ending human immiseration. None of us can afford to stand on the sidelines as MAGA continues its deadly assault on the lives of workers, immigrants, the oppressed, and the most vulnerable. Our capacity to defeat Trump and to build an alternative to deeper crisis and further misery lies only in solidarity and collective struggle.

The United Left Platform will be holding public speakouts and meetings at the Socialism 2026 conference in Chicago September 4-7th. Learn more about our work at www.unitedleftplatform.net/.

Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”
Featured Image credit: Ronaldo Salgado, Joan Sebastián Durán Guerrero; modified by Tempest.

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On Sunday, July 19, we lost our kind, brilliant friend and colleague, Richard Heinberg. 

Today, 250 organizations and groups from across the country urge leaders of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to reject industry-led efforts to weaken the Toxic Substances Control Act, America’s primary chemical safety law, and encourage Congress to hear from the people, workers, and communities whose health would be most affected.

In the letter sent to EPW Committee Chair Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and to Ranking Member Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), organizations representing public health professionals, scientists, consumer advocates, environmental justice leaders, community organizations, environmental advocates, and impacted communities wrote that Congress has not yet publicly heard testimony in hearings from the people who would bear the greatest consequences of weakening the law.

Those voices include veterans, workers, families, and frontline communities facing cancer, Parkinson's disease, and other illnesses linked to toxic chemical exposures, as well as states on the front lines of managing contamination, cleanup, and rising health costs.

“Strong chemical safety reviews protect families from hazardous chemicals before they reach the market,” said Melanie Benesh, vice president of government affairs at the Environmental Working Group.

“Weakening TSCA doesn't cut red tape. It makes it easier for toxic chemicals to end up in our homes, our drinking water, and our bodies,” Benesh said.

The letter also highlights TSCA’s broad public health benefits since Congress overwhelmingly voted to modernize the law in 2016, including actions to address toxic chemicals such as asbestos, methylene chloride, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, carbon tetrachloride and other harmful substances found in homes, schools, workplaces, consumer products, drinking water and communities across the country.

“We urge the Committee to ensure that any proposed legislation to revise TSCA receives full and careful review and input from all interested parties,” the letter states.

“The vast majority of Americans across party lines support more protections from toxic chemical exposure and more accountability from corporate polluters. For an issue of this magnitude and importance, we urge you to not rush to mark up a bill that has not been seen by the public nor received a hearing with opportunity for testimony or comment from all interested stakeholders,” the organizations wrote.

“Congress should not make changes to our nation's chemical safety law to placate the chemical industry," said Liz Hitchcock, federal policy director at Toxic-Free Future. "Americans need stronger protections from toxic chemicals, not weaker ones. Lawmakers must hear from the health professionals, veterans, workers, state leaders, and communities that would be most affected—not just the companies that profit from these chemicals.”

The sign-on letter was organized by the Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals, a national coalition of more than 85 organizations and networks united around one principle: put people’s health first. Together, Alliance members are working to defend TSCA against efforts to weaken it and preserve strong federal public health protections from toxic chemicals.

About the Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals

The Alliance for Health and Safe Chemicals is a national coalition of more than 85 organizations and networks united around the principle: put people’s health first. The Alliance fights for national protections to prevent harm from toxic chemicals that contribute to cancer, infertility, learning disabilities, and other health challenges. We work for justice and health for all, wherever you live, work, and play.

Greenpeace International strongly condemns the International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council’s decision to extend The Metals Company subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources Inc’s (NORI) exploration contract, even though NORI has been supporting the pursuit of unlawful deep sea mining via US unilateralism.[1]

It is public that NORI will be making payments to the government of Naoero (Nauru) if The Metals Company USA engages in unilateral mining.[2] Attention in the remaining days of the ISA Council now turns to the next steps in the global inquiry into companies supporting unilateral mining.

Louisa Casson, campaigner at Greenpeace International, said:

“Granting an extension sets a dangerous precedent for both the deep sea and the rule of law. This decision risks showing that companies can use aggressive lawsuits to avoid consequences. It also calls into serious question the regulator’s ability to enforce basic compliance under its existing rules and makes the case for an immediate moratorium on deep sea mining more urgent than ever.”

Last Saturday, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) explicitly refused to suspend the ongoing inquiry into potential non-compliance by contractors, after TMC’s subsidiaries sued the ISA. Instead, the ITLOS decision focused on ensuring the inquiry follows due process.[3][4][5]

Greenpeace International now demands that governments at the ISA Council establish a clear and robust timeline for concluding the inquiry, to enable governments to act if non-compliance is confirmed. Through these ITLOS legal proceedings, NORI and Tonga Offshore Mining Limited (TOML), another wholly owned The Metals Company subsidiary, have identified themselves as “requiring specific attention to possible non‑compliance” in the inquiry process.

Louisa Casson added:

“The political responsibility now falls squarely on governments to step up their game to set a clear direction that unlawful deep sea mining will not be tolerated, and fend off a corporate group that deploys strategic litigation to evade scrutiny. This inquiry cannot become a toothless box-checking exercise. The ISA must execute it with absolute rigour, establish a firm timeline without delay, and stand firm against corporate intimidation. Additionally, States must take immediate responsibility and act against any company or national connected to unilateral mining, to disrupt and limit unlawful deep sea mining supply chains. At the ISA, governments must enact a moratorium to protect our ocean and multilateralism from this dangerous industry."

In July 2025, governments of the ISA Council unanimously decided to investigate potential contractual breaches in light of TMC USA’s highly controversial applications to gain unilateral permission for deep sea mining from the Trump administration, including in the same areas where NORI and TOML hold ISA exploration contracts. At the March 2026 meeting, the ISA Council called for the inquiry to include publicly available information.

Multiple legal experts argue that States Parties to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) have both an opportunity and an obligation to take action against companies and nationals under their control to prevent their participation in unilateral, unlawful deep sea mining. This is notably the case of Swiss-Dutch offshore giant Allseas, which has signed an agreement to provide TMC USA the technology and infrastructure needed to proceed with unlawful mining, as shown by a legal opinion commissioned by Greenpeace Netherlands.[6]

ENDS

Notes:

1. ISA Council decision, adopted 20 July 2026: https://isa.org.jm/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/ISBA_31_C_L.9-Draft-decision-of-the-Council-of-the-ISA-relating-to-an-application-for-extension-of-the-contract-for-exploration-for-PMN-with-Nauru-Ocean-Resources-Inc-fv-AUV.pdf

2. Following TMC USA’s first application under US national regulations, NORI revised its agreement with its sponsoring state, Naoero (formerly known as Nauru). The new clauses inserted into the contract provide for additional payments from NORI to Naoero if mining by a TMC subsidiary in the international seabed begins under unilateral authorisation from the US government. This establishes a financial mechanism explicitly predicated on the commencement of unlawful mining in the Area. Consequently, if TMC USA mines the international seabed, NORI will pay Naoero. These updated agreements indicate that NORI willingly anticipated and prepared to accommodate unlawful mining activities – an issue the ISA membership must act upon. See Sponsorship agreement, revised 29 May 2025, between The Republic of Naoero and Nauru Ocean Resources Inc, available here: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1798562/000110465925056465/tm2516970d1_ex10-1.htm

3. The ITLOS Seabed Disputes Chamber did not rule on whether the ISA violated NORI’s rights, nor did it order a contract extension. It merely directed that both the compliance inquiry and decisions over extensions of ISA contracts proceed separately under standard due process rules. https://www.itlos.org/fileadmin/itlos/documents/cases/34/Provisional_Measures/Order_180726/C34_Order_18.07.2026_orig.pdf

4. A Greenpeace International compilation of the events that led to the ITLOS proceedings, as well as the network of companies connected to The Metals Company's activities, is available: “Corporate capture of the deep sea. A call for action to protect the commons against unlawful deep sea mining" (July 2026) https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-international-stateless/2026/07/1ae0383d-corporate-capture-of-the-deep-sea-itlos-unclos-isa-tmc.pdf.

5. Compilation of public information evidencing breaches of contract by NORI and TOML available from Greenpeace International: “Inquiry on potential breaches by ISA contractors" (March 2026) https://isa.org.jm/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Briefing_by_Greenpeace-2_March_2026.pdf

6. See legal opinions, for example: https://www.greenpeace.org/static/planet4-netherlands-stateless/2026/06/3d8ed6b1-greenpeace-legal_opinion_-nollkaemper_fin-260605.pdf

https://deep-sea-conservation.org/resources/new-legal-opinion-confirms-that-states-and-the-international-seabed-authority-must-act-against-unilateral-deep-sea-mining-undertaken-outside-the-isa-framework/

https://www.ejiltalk.org/untouchable-metals-how-the-obligations-of-unclos-states-parties-limit-the-commercial-viability-of-unilateral-deep-sea-mining/

https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-latest-trump-threat-to-international-law-unilaterally-mining-the-area/

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is intensifying his war on bikes with a new missive to Congress asking legislators to eliminate federal grants for bike infrastructure.

In a letter to Republican and Democratic senators who lead the committees that will determine the fate of the stalled surface transportation reauthorization bill, Duffy asked the legislators to “Prioritize Motor Vehicle Travel Over Bicycle Lanes.”

The paragraph that follows the request is a companion piece to U.S. DOT’s recent erasure of long-established federal advice that bike lanes and road diets are street safety tools, a screed on how narrowing roads for bikes gives “preferential treatment of the few bicycle travelers over the many motor vehicles,” slows down traffic, makes it harder for people in wheelchairs to get around and slows down emergency response time (which is actually slowed down by putting more and more vehicles in the way of ambulances and fire trucks).

Duffy’s letter specifically asks that the Senate’s version of the surface transportation bill essentially end federal funding for bike lanes and make it easier for municipalities to remove them.

Recommended ‘Big Brother’ At U.S. DOT: Bike Lanes Aren’t Just ‘DEI,’ They’re Also Unsafe Gersh Kuntzman July 17, 2026

“We urge Congress to restrict competitive and formula grant funding for bicycle lanes and other bicycle infrastructure that reduce travel throughput [sic] for motor vehicles and support removal of existing bike lanes that contribute to congestion,” the secretary wrote.

If such language was added to the bill, it would represent a threat to efforts to install more traffic-calming bike lanes and encourage cycling across the country. Veteran planners criticized the inclusion of it along with the litany of anti-bike lane carping that Duffy included in the letter.

“This is brain dead, zombie ideology masquerading as national transportation policy,” said Jon Orcutt, a former top official with the New York City Department of Transportation under then-Mayor Mike Bloomberg, a Republican, and Mayor Bill de Blasio, a Democrat.

Cities can get federal funding for bike lane projects from the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality improvement program or from National Highway Safety grants. But Duffy’s choice to include this language could also simply be political messaging for a base that hates bike lanes, since the House version of the transportation bill that made it out of committee did not include any language trying to end federal funding for bike lanes.

“It’s weird he’s sending this letter now, it seems like it’s red meat for the base. The Republicans have already thrown down what they want in the bill in the House,” said Orcutt.

The further Duffy tries to pull this bill into ultra-conservative waters, the harder it may be for he and the White House to get it passed. The current surface transportation law expires on Sept. 30, and if a new bill is not signed into law by then lawmakers would have to pass an extension of the previous surface transportation law. According to multiple reports, the Senate has not begun work on its own version of the bill, and Congress is rapidly approaching its August recess.

Senate Democrats will likely seek to block the Republican-led effort to pass a new infrastructure bill, since polling indicates that the Democrats may take back the House — and maybe the Senate? — in this year’s midterm elections.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should ban direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs, Public Citizen said today in a petition filed with the agency. Banning DTC ads would align U.S. policy with international best practices, protect the public from misleading and harmful drug promotion, and promote rational, evidence-based prescribing.

“DTC ads often mislead consumers because they are designed to persuade rather than to inform or educate patients,” said Nina Zeldes, PhD, health researcher for Public Citizen and lead author of the petition. “These ads typically employ emotional manipulation techniques and visual distractions to highlight information about a drug’s benefits while minimizing its risks. When DTC ads work, they do so by interfering with the doctor-patient relationship – persuading physicians to prescribe medications they otherwise would not have prescribed.”

A large body of peer-reviewed evidence demonstrates that DTC ads:

• Misleadingly present the benefits and risks of medications, distorting patients’ understanding of drug safety and effectiveness;
• Use favorable and selective imagery to manipulate consumers’ emotions;
• Contribute to the overdiagnosis of disease and overprescription of medications;
• Erode the patient-physician relationship;
• Promote low-value medications and medications with uncertain benefits and harms; and
• Harm the economy and the health care system.

Because DTC advertising is often misleading and because prohibiting it would advance a substantial government interest, a ban would comply with the First Amendment, according to the petition. Greater enforcement of existing regulations, with uncertain effectiveness, is not an adequate substitute for a new rulemaking. Warning letters simply react to violations that have already occurred; they do not constitute a proactive approach to remedy the harms of DTC advertising.

“The harms of DTC ads outweigh any supposed benefits,” said Robert Steinbrook, MD, Health Research Group director at Public Citizen and an author of the petition. “Now is the time to advance public health by banning these ads.”

Nearly all other developed nations, including Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and those of the European Union, have long prohibited DTC advertising for prescription drugs that include medical claims. Only two developed countries, the U.S. and New Zealand, allow unfettered DTC advertising of prescription medications. There is no evidence that consumers in countries that ban DTC advertisements suffer any adverse health effects.

By TANIA ZIVKOVICH

Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya remains in prison in the hell of Israeli detention since his arrest in late 2024. He is on the verge of death from beatings, torture, and starvation. He has never been charged with a crime, like the thousands of others who languish in prison. But in the twisted mind of the Israeli occupation forces, he is a dangerous criminal. His real crime—he’s a doctor, a highly respected and beloved pediatrician, director of Kamal Adwan Children’s Hospital in Gaza.

That really says it all. To the sado-fascist Netanyahu regime, health care workers, aid workers, and educators are all high on their list of enemies to be destroyed. They are often killed in targeted assassinations and frequently bombed at home with their families in the Israeli AI assassination program “Where’s Daddy.”

Dr. Abu Safiya was taken in a raid on his hospital. His family was among many others, sheltering on hospital grounds. Shortly before his arrest, his young son Ibrahim was killed there in an Israeli airstrike. The doctor had also suffered serious leg injuries and been previously arrested, along with staff and patients. That time, all were taken outside, stripped naked, bound, and beaten. He was released as the others were taken away. At the time of the raid when he was arrested he was offered the option of remaining at the hospital. But he refused, saying I am standing with my detained colleagues. When the soldiers brought him to the military vehicle to take him away, he shook hands with the driver. Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya is the embodiment of our highest human ideals—courage, compassion, steadfastness. He is a true Gazan doctor. His lawyer (the doctor was denied legal visits for much of his incarceration) reports that as of his recent visit, Dr. Abu Safiya is approaching death. His entire body, including his face, is covered with bruises. He reports being beaten with a hammer. He has lost perhaps a third of his body weight. He is suffering terribly.

There is an escalated international effort to secure his release. Please, let’s join in by contacting our Congress people and urging them to do whatever they can. Being that Joe Biden and most of his Democratic colleagues are hugely responsible for the Genocide they supported in Gaza, it’s the least they can do. Like the Republicans, many Democrats (I believe that includes a few of our New Mexico Congress people) are on the dole from the Israel lobby. Biden was the number one recipient of AIPAC contributions while in Congress (trackAIPAC.com.) The phone numbers of our NM delegation are: Senator Martin Heinrich 202-224-5521, Senator Ben Ray Lujan 202-224-6621, Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez 202-225-6190, Representative Melanie Stansbury 202-225-6316, and Representative Gabe Vasquez 202-225-2365.

It may be that a million phone calls cannot save the life of the beloved pediatrician, but they might. Calling campaigns can be very effective if enough people participate. Our calls will be reaching the hearts and minds of the staffers, mostly young people who are interested in government careers. And they do influence our Congress people, as evidenced by the large Democratic vote in favor of the recent Resolution to block annual funding of $3.3 billion in military aid to Israel. This Resolution was put forward by a lone Republican, Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky. Sadly, it was defeated.

When I call our Congress people, I ask if they know of Dr. Abu Safiya (most don’t), and tell them I have been following his case on DemocracyNow.org with Amy Goodman and I urge them to check it out.

When most people think of Gaza, of course, they think of the horrible ongoing Genocide in the “Gaza strip” where hundreds of thousands have been brutally killed, maimed, and buried under the rubble. Over 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli occupation forces since the sham ceasefire of October, 2025. But the “strip” is an Israeli creation. It’s a 25 by 5 mile open-air fenced-in concentration camp. This is where Israel dumped Palestinian refugees from other areas of Palestine that the ever-expanding Zionist state has been conquering and occupying since 1948. Seventy percent of the Gaza population is comprised of these refugees. The “strip,” with its population of 2.3 million, was one of the most densely populated areas on planet earth and approaching uninhabitability.

Now the Israelis are hard at work building a serious separation wall right through Gaza. This will imprison the surviving Gaza population into approximately half of the original Gaza strip while continuing to limit the amount of food, water, medicine, and building materials, etc. that they allow to enter. Gazans are condemned to live in the rubble of their former homes while the bodies of their loved ones decay deep beneath.

Originally Gaza was the largest district in historic Palestine with over 100 towns and villages. It was a fertile and abundant land with numerous freshwater springs, filled with olive and orange groves and fruits of all kinds and a beautiful seacoast that it was safe to fish from. Peace and cooperation existed between Muslims, Jews, and Christians, all of whom opposed the colonial takeover by the British-backed European Zionists.

In closing I want to share a very moving interview with Dr. Abu Safiya that Amy Goodman broadcast on Democracy Now before his arrest:

1. HUSSAMABU SAFIYA: [translated] I always say the situation requires one to stand by our people’s side and not run away from it. Gaza is our homeland, our mother, our beloved, and everything to us. Gaza deserves all of this steadfastness and deserves all of the sacrifices. It is not just about Gaza, but we deserve to be a people that deserves freedom just like every other people on Earth. I think the occupation wants us to get out and for us to ask them to get us out, so they can publicly say that the healthcare system is the one asking to leave and that it wasn’t them who asked us to, but we are aware of that. But we will not leave, God willing, from this place, as I said, for as long as there are humanitarian services to be provided to our people in the northern Gaza Strip.

Please do whatever you can and never forget Gaza. Thank you. Free all of Palestine now.

Addendum: While you have your Senators on the phone, please dissuade them from voting for the NDAA, National Defense Authorization Act. Section 219, which was added to the House bill at the last minute. It combines or “integrates” the Israeli military with the U.S. military, compromising U.S. sovereignty. The bill awards $1.5 trillion to the Defense Department, a 60 percent increase. The bill has now moved to the Senate and it is section1217 called the FUTURES act in the Senate.

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THE SHELL LEAKS FILES Archive Reference: SLF-2007-006 The Language of Crisis: When Internal Words Revealed Corporate Reality

Archive Status: Documentary Record
Evidence Standard: Authenticated internal Shell documents, contemporaneous reporting, court records and publicly available archival material.

Document Summary

Large organisations often reveal as much through their internal language as through their public statements. During the period following Shell’s reserves recategorisation crisis and subsequent governance reforms, numerous internal communications entered the public domain through litigation, whistleblowers, regulatory processes and media investigations.

Taken individually, many of these documents appear routine. Read collectively, they provide insight into how one of the world’s largest energy companies discussed risk, reputation, governance and internal management during a period of exceptional corporate pressure.

This instalment examines recurring themes in that documentary record rather than focusing on a single leaked document.

Historical Background

Between 2004 and the end of the decade, Shell experienced one of the most scrutinised periods in its modern history.

The company faced regulatory investigations, shareholder litigation, governance reform, operational incidents, political challenges and increasing public attention to environmental and social issues.

During the same period, internal correspondence surfaced through a variety of legitimate channels, including court proceedings, regulatory disclosures and journalistic investigations.

These documents remain valuable not because they contain dramatic revelations on every page, but because they capture how senior management and employees communicated while responding to sustained external scrutiny.

Documentary Evidence

The documentary record repeatedly demonstrates several consistent characteristics.

Internal correspondence frequently addressed:

• reputational risk;
• governance and compliance;
• legal exposure;
• operational safety;
• stakeholder management;
• communications strategy;
• document handling and disclosure obligations.

Many communications were practical rather than dramatic. They discussed meetings, legal advice, operational decisions and responses to unfolding events.

Others illustrate the pressures facing management during periods of crisis, particularly where legal, commercial and reputational considerations overlapped.

The historical significance lies not in isolated quotations but in the cumulative picture created by hundreds of contemporaneous documents.

Historical Analysis

One recurring feature of the archive is the difference in tone between internal and external communication.

Public statements naturally sought to reassure investors, regulators and customers.

Internal correspondence, by contrast, often reflected uncertainty, disagreement, concern or urgency as employees worked through complex problems.

This distinction is neither unusual nor unique to Shell.

Virtually every large organisation communicates differently internally than it does externally.

What makes the Shell archive historically significant is the extent to which internal communications from this period have entered the public domain, allowing historians, journalists and researchers to compare internal discussion with subsequent public reporting.

That comparison has become part of the historical record.

Commentary

It is tempting to search leaked documents for a single “smoking gun.”

Historical archives rarely work that way.

Instead, significance usually emerges through accumulation.

One memorandum may appear unremarkable.

One email may seem routine.

One legal document may reveal little in isolation.

Hundreds of documents, viewed together over many years, can reveal organisational culture, priorities and decision-making processes that no single document could demonstrate on its own.

That is why preserving the integrity and context of the documentary record matters.

The purpose of The Shell Leaks Files is not to sensationalise individual documents but to assemble them into an evidence-based historical archive that allows readers to draw informed conclusions from the record as a whole.

Related Archive Files

• SLF-2007-004 — Panic Inbox: When Internal Emails Became Part of the Historical Record
• SLF-2007-005 — Internal Laundry: When a Corporate Metaphor Became Part of Shell’s Documentary History

Archivist’s Note

This instalment analyses recurring themes visible across authenticated documents already in the public domain. It does not seek to infer motives beyond what the documentary record reasonably supports.

Where interpretation is offered, it is presented as commentary rather than established fact.

About The Shell Leaks Files

The Shell Leaks Files is a documentary archive examining authenticated Shell documents, court records, regulatory material and contemporaneous reporting. The series seeks to preserve historical context while maintaining a clear distinction between documentary evidence and editorial analysis.

Next Archive File

SLF-2007-007 — “From Inbox to Courtroom: When Internal Emails Became Public Evidence.”

The next instalment examines how internal corporate communications crossed the boundary from private correspondence to evidence in litigation, regulatory proceedings and public investigations, and how that transformation altered their historical significance.

THE SHELL LEAKS FILES: 23 JULY 2026 was first posted on July 23, 2026 at 8:01 pm.
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Open access notables

Record-low 2025 and 2026 ice extents restore Arctic winter sea-ice decline, Chan et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Recent analyses have suggested that the decadal rate of Arctic winter sea-ice extent decline weakened in the early 2020s, with 20-y trends becoming statistically insignificant. Here we show from more up-to-date observations that the exceptionally low 2025 and 2026 ice extent winters reversed this picture, with sea-ice extent during the growth and peak phases returning to record lows and 20-y decline trends becoming significant again. Further analysis of CMIP6 model analogues shows that the observed 2025 decline was unusual but physically plausible under comparable Arctic warming, and is more consistent with ongoing winter sea ice reduction than with a return to values seen in the early 2020s.

As the planet heats, public doubt grows: The social structure behind rising climate change scepticism in Germany, Gies & Deutschmann, Global Environmental Change

In 2024, global heating exceeded 1.5 °C for the first time. Paradoxically, as the climate crisis becomes ever more evident, climate change scepticism (CCS) has recently grown (rather than declined) in Germany, a high-emissions country with enormous responsibility. Past research has not systematically studied which social groups and characteristics are behind this shift. We address this gap by examining the social structure of rising CCS in Germany, taking its multidimensionality into account. Drawing on GESIS Panel data that is representative of the German adult population, we detect a strong and consistent increase across a comprehensive set of 14 CCS indicators between 2022 and 2023. We find that this rise in scepticism is not driven by a small and ‘loud’ minority but rather constitutes a mass phenomenon: on average across all items, CCS increased among 59% of respondents, and for 93% of respondents at least one indicator rose. Regression models reveal a complex picture with socio-structural effects depending on the dimension of CCS, but right-wing political orientation, government distrust, and hierarchical worldviews are most consistently associated with increases in CCS. Overall, political attitudes – which are flexible and have shifted substantially in recent years – relate far more strongly to rising CCS than stable socio-structural factors like income or gender. These findings demonstrate an urgent need to restore trust in political institutions and to foster inclusive, participatory climate dialogue to secure broad public support for the transition towards a carbon-neutral society.

Climate Obstruction in the Digital Far-Right: Mapping the Climate Countermovement in German-, Danish-, and Swedish-Speaking Digital Information Environments, Henriksen et al., Environmental Communication

This article examines how climate obstruction narratives circulate in far-right digital information environments in Austria, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden. We analyzed 41 million social media posts published across multiple social media platforms from 2019 to 2022. Using multilingual text classification and actor–source mapping, we identified which posts contained climate obstruction narratives, which actors produced them, and which sources they cited. The results revealed three configurations. In the German-speaking environment (Germany and Austria), obstruction is mainly driven by far-right citizen accounts embedded in a hyperpartisan media ecosystem. In Sweden, far-right grassroots actors coexist with climate-focused organizations that bridge mainstream and alternative sources. In Denmark, obstruction is comparatively mainstream-embedded and anchored in organizations and citizen groups drawing on legacy news. The article discusses how national media systems, political fields, and far-right actor constellations make certain forms of obstruction communicatively viable and thereby shape the digital climate countermovement.

Mapping climate change coverage: Causes, consequences, and solutions in German news media, 2010–2024, Dablander et al., Energy Research & Social Science

The media shapes how political leaders and the public understand the causes, impacts, and solutions to climate change. Here, we provide the most extensive analysis to date of how German news media report on climate change between 2010 and 2024. We develop and validate a methodology based on large language models to analyze the contents of over 50,000 articles from seven major newspapers across the political spectrum. We found that aspects relating to causes, impacts, and mitigation were all covered substantially more often than aspects relating to adaptation. While most articles identified climate change as human-caused, coverage about causes was dominated by fossil fuels, with agriculture, overconsumption, carbon inequality, and economic growth rarely mentioned. Left-leaning outlets more frequently reported that climate change is human-caused, highlighted fossil fuels as a cause, emphasized the need to reduce their use, and discussed systemic and social drivers more often. Coverage patterns have remained largely stable over time, except for growing attention to net-zero targets and carbon taxes. Our findings highlight opportunities for more comprehensive climate journalism to better support public understanding and policy debate by reflecting the scientific consensus and the full range of societal transformations needed to address climate change.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts, National Research Council, The National Academies Press

Decades of data and research indicate that human-caused climate change is altering the frequency and intensity of several types of extreme events, such as heat waves and extreme rainfall events. Even as those trends become clearer, extreme event attribution (EEA) seeks to assess the degree to which climate change contributed to any specific event. EEA studies provide information that can be useful for public understanding, planning and risk management, policy and legal contexts, and scientific research. The authors evaluate the state of EEA science, updating a National Academies report published in 2016. The authors also assess the emerging field of extreme event impact attribution (EEIA). The number of EEA studies has grown substantially over the past decade as scientific tools, observational datasets, and methods have advanced, enabling attribution studies to be completed within days of an event. However, challenges remain, including limited model capabilities for small-scale regional events, representation of key atmospheric processes, and attribution of compounding, cascading, and record-breaking events. The authors examine these advances and remaining challenges and provide recommendations for strengthening attribution science, improving collaboration with local experts and stakeholders, and advancing research, data, and modeling capabilities worldwide.

Early Warnings: Government Knowledge of Climate Change and Legal Responsibility for Climate Harm, Lindsay Fenlock and Nikki Reisch, Center for International Environmental Law

The authors examine publicly available government records, scientific evidence, and historical archives to document when major emitting States became aware of the causes and foreseeable consequences of climate change. They demonstrate that many governments understood the risks decades earlier than they have claimed, strengthening the evidentiary foundation for climate litigation, human rights, and climate advocacy, and the implementation of the International Court of Justice climate advisory opinion. By tracing the history of government knowledge, the report provides a critical resource for advancing climate accountability and ensuring that high-emitting States are held responsible for failing to prevent the climate crisis. 284 articles in 105 journals by 2495 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

A 21-Year Global Daytime Satellite Climatology of Cirrus Cloud Cover and Its Links to Upper-Tropospheric Conditions and Aviation Over Europe and the North Atlantic, Huu et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70506

A Reconciled Satellite Record Reveals a Negative Low Cloud Feedback Over the Past 47 Years, Cesana & Arouf, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl124158

Distinct Characteristics of Contiguous Heatwaves Across Terrestrial, Marine, and Coastal Environments, Bekris et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118531

Explaining the Equatorial Pacific Thermocline Response to Climate Change With a Model Hierarchy, Luongo et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023559

Heating the land cools the eastern and equatorial Pacific, Günther et al., Science Advances Open Access pdf 10.1126/sciadv.aeb7004

How Clear-Sky Spectral Overlap Shapes Radiation in Cloudy Atmospheres, Czarnecki & Pincus, Journal of Climate pdf 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0589.1

Marine Heatwave Imprints on Salinity in the Northwest Atlantic, Stamper et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl124293

Nordic overturning increases as AMOC weakens in response to global warming, Roewer et al., Ocean science Open Access pdf 10.5194/os-22-1195-2026

On the Utility of the Transient Climate Response, Jeevanjee et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121354

Post-1990s Warming of Circumpolar Deep Water Off West Antarctica and Its Drivers, Damini et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023856

Projected Arctic Ocean Warming Accompanied by a Restructuring of the Overturning at the Fram Strait and the Barents Sea Opening, Oldenburg et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0735.1

The remarkable inefficiency of stratocumulus, Hernandez et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-9337-2026

Trans-basin linkages prolong Northwestern Pacific marine heatwaves through a circumglobal wave pattern, Zhao & Yu, Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adz4647

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Climate and Tropospheric Oxidizing Capacity, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 10.1146/annurev-earth-032320-090307 21 cites.

buffer/PWSE

Observations of climate change, effects

Climate Warming Intensifies Cascading Risks Along the Heatwave-Drought-Wildfire Hazard Chain in Northeast Asia, Liu et al., International Journal of Climatology 10.1002/joc.70507

Decadal Shifts Towards Higher Riverine Silicon Relative to Nitrogen and Phosphorus Across High Latitudes, Carey et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access 10.1029/2025gb008926

Distribution characteristics of newly formed glacial lakes across High Mountain Asia during 2000–2020, YIN et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.accre.2026.07.007

Drought, heatwave, and fires: The impact on air quality during São Paulo's record-breaking fire season in 2024, Silva et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.103045

Frequent, Intense and Prolonged Human-Perceived Heat Waves Over the Arabian Peninsula in Recent Decades, Ullah et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70510

Increasing Tropical Cyclone Activity Over the North China Plain, Liu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2026jd046567

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2025: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence, Forster et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-3889-2026

Indicators of Global Climate Change 2025: annual update of key indicators of the state of the climate system and human influence, Forster et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-3889-2026

Precipitation Over the Contiguous United States Is Coming From Farther Away Than in the Past, Aerenson et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122565

Record-low 2025 and 2026 ice extents restore Arctic winter sea-ice decline, Chan et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2614134123

Time series forecasting of climate variables in three selected major cities in Nigeria, Ibrahim et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.103014

Warming Trends in Basin-Scale Heatwaves Across Ethiopia: An Observational Analysis Using Crossing Theory, Gebremariam et al., International Journal of Climatology pdf 10.1002/joc.70477

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Impact of an unprecedented marine heatwave on extremely hot summer over Northern Japan in 2023, Scientific Reports, 10.1038/s41598-024-65291-y 41 cites.

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Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

A four-decade global Lagrangian air-parcel trajectory dataset for atmospheric moisture and heat analysis, Deman et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-4593-2026

Attribution of 2022 and 2023 extreme heat in China using conditional and unconditional frameworks, Zhang et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100937

CoCO2-MOSAIC 1.0: a global mosaic of regional, gridded, fossil and biofuel CO2 emission inventories, Urraca et al., TNO Repository Open Access pdf pmh:oai:oai-pmh.tno.nl:58273

FORMS: Forest Multiple Source height, wood volume, and biomass maps in France at 10 to 30 m resolution based on Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and GEDI data with a deep learning approach, Schwartz et al., HAL (Le Centre pour la Communication Scientifique Directe) Open Access pmh:oai:HAL:hal-04499509v1

Modeling air temperature from snow-buried sensors to refine multi-decadal warming trends in Great Basin National Park, NV, USA, Mazan et al., Theoretical and Applied Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1007/s00704-026-06436-z

Multidecadal reconstruction of terrestrial water storage changes by combining pre-GRACE satellite observations and climate data, Hacker et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-1747-2026

PolyU2025 SLA: a global 0.25°  ×  0.25° monthly sea-level anomaly dataset (1993–2024) determined from satellite altimetry for sea-level and climate change research, Yuan et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-4155-2026

Robustness of Radiative Kernel Methods in Reproducing Arctic Outgoing Longwave Radiation Variability, Liu & Jin, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd046213

Satellite estimation of global air sea CO2 flux from 2000 to 2020, Ji et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-026-51215-5

Sensitivity of marine heatwaves metrics to SST products, focusing on the Tropical Pacific, Chevillard et al., Ocean science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-1213-2026

Temporal Heterogeneity of In Situ Ocean Observing Capacity Could Cause an Artificial Intensification of Extreme Warm Water Events Globally, Wang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl123043

Wikimpacts 1.0: a new global climate impact database based on automated information extraction from Wikipedia, Li et al., Natural hazards and earth system sciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/nhess-26-2609-2026

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
ClimaMeter: contextualizing extreme weather in a changing climate, Weather and Climate Dynamics, 10.5194/wcd-5-959-2024 39 cites.

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Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

Assessing projected changes in meteorological drought severity and frequency under future climate scenarios: Insights from CMIP5 Models in Eastern Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, Rubangakene et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000944

Enhanced ENSO-driven potential predictability over the Euro-Atlantic under greenhouse warming, Santuy et al., npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Open Access 10.1038/s41612-026-01482-w

Enhanced response of extreme compound events to cumulative CO2 emissions, Li et al., Nature 10.1038/s41586-026-10544-1

Future Shifts in Severe Storm Environments Revealed through Profile-Based Clustering, Hua, Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.20469719

Heterogeneous future Arctic Ocean primary productivity changes projected in CMIP6, Champiot-Bayard et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-23-4735-2026

Impact of Continental Configuration on the Climate Response to Greenhouse-Gas Forcing in an Idealized GCM, Bonan et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl120128

Irreversible climate changes driven by degree-years of temperature overshoot, Dickau et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03761-z

Responses of the Tropical Easterly Jet to Different Global Warming Patterns and Implications for Future Tropical Cyclone Activity, Zhan et al., Advances in Atmospheric Sciences 10.1007/s00376-026-5865-3

Small Tropical Islands Also Exposed to Extreme Humid Heat by the End of the Century, Bald et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122466

Spatiotemporal variation and future projections of air freezing and thawing indices in China–Mongolia–Russia under CMIP6 warming scenarios, JIANG et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.accre.2026.07.009

The Destination Earth digital twin for climate change adaptation, Doblas-Reyes et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-2821-2026

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Asymmetries in the Southern Ocean contribution to global heat and carbon uptake, Nature Climate Change, 10.1038/s41558-024-02066-3 23 cites.

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Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

Application and Evaluation of a Novel Python-Based Ensemble Data Assimilation Framework NEDAS in Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), Liu et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres pdf 10.1029/2025jd045622

Climate models with moderate climate sensitivity best simulate the magnitude of Earth's energy imbalance, Bimpiri et al., Earth System Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/esd-17-877-2026

CMIP7 data request: Earth system priorities and opportunities, McPartland et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-2849-2026

CMIP7 data request: ocean and sea ice priorities and opportunities, Fox-Kemper et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-6043-2026

Contribution of physical latent knowledge to the emulation of an atmospheric physics model: a study based on the LMDZ Atmospheric General Circulation Model, Crossouard et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-5907-2026

Developing Guidelines for working with Multi-Model Ensembles in CMIP, Katzenberger et al., Earth System Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/esd-17-495-2026

Ecosystem climate sensitivities drive the divergence in aerosol-induced carbon uptake across CMIP6 models, Zhang et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-5363-2026

EXSoDOS 1.0: downscaling of weather extremes shifts for ensemble climate projections using ground-based measurements, reanalysis and stochastic modelling, Wouters et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-5805-2026

Future Global Warming Constrained by Observed AMOC Strength, Hao et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118802

Global climate modeling with improved precipitation characteristics by learning physics (GRIST-MPS v1.0) from global storm-resolving modeling, Wang et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-5553-2026

Hacking Kilometer-Scale Models: A Participative Model for Climate Information, Gettelman et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 10.1175/bams-d-25-0183.1

North Atlantic influence reconciling model-observation discrepancy in the tropical Pacific warming pattern, Lin & Watanabe, Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-73763-0

Past, present, and future arctic radiative states simulated by Polar-WRF, Bertossa et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-3653-2026

Stratospheric Subtropical Transport Barriers in CESM1-WACCM and Observations: Climatology, Variability, and Trends, Ivaniha et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd045069

The coupled Southern Ocean–Sea ice–Ice shelf Model (SOSIM v1.0): configuration and evaluation, Liu et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-2985-2026

The Influence of Tropopause Temperature Biases on Climate Model Simulations of Tropical Cyclones, Mahoney et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl120545

The Radiative Forcing Model Intercomparison Project (RFMIP2.0) for CMIP7, Kramer et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-4447-2026

The Scenario Model Intercomparison Project for CMIP7 (ScenarioMIP-CMIP7), Vuuren et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-2627-2026

Winter Arctic polynyas in CMIP6 models, Heuzé et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-3643-2026

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Comparison of three reanalysis-driven regional climate models over New Zealand: Climatology and extreme events, International Journal of Climatology, 10.1002/joc.8578 11 cites.

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Cryosphere & climate change

An improved 15-year record of ice sheet elevation from CryoSat-2 radar altimetry, Huang et al., Remote Sensing of Environment 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115561

Brief communication: Temperature-driven shrinkage of a disappearing Himalayan glacier, Fujita & Kayastha, cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-4005-2026

Climate change induces rapid growth of dead ice in Asian glaciers, Wang et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.008

Increased Frequency, Duration, and Area of Winter Polynyas North of Greenland in a Warming Climate, Shu et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121125

Increasing Winter Storminess in the Southern Ross Sea, Antarctica, and Its Impact on Land-Fast Sea-Ice, Radlwimmer et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl123090

Learning to melt: Emulating Greenland surface melt from a polar RCM with machine learning, Schlager et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-3313-2026

Mass changes of the Antarctic Peninsula ice sheet and peripheral glaciers, 2007–2021, Bernat et al., cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-3025-2026

Observation-constrained explainable reconstruction of Antarctic sea ice snow depth reveals strong regional asymmetry during 1993–2021, Cao et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.accre.2026.07.008

Record-low 2025 and 2026 ice extents restore Arctic winter sea-ice decline, Chan et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2614134123

The Greenland GNSS Network (GNET): geodetic grade GNSS measurements of Greenland's 3D bedrock displacement from 1995–2025, Solgaard et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-5117-2026

Three Decades of Glacial Changes on the Western Antarctic Peninsula Revealed by Historical Aerial and High-Resolution Satellite Imagery, Thota et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122660

Unveiling the Role of Sea-Ice Loss in Early-20th-Century Arctic Warming, Li et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl121178

Wintertime evolution of landfast ice stability in Alaska from InSAR, Einhorn & Mahoney, cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-20-3683-2026

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Stability of Ice Shelves and Ice Cliffs in a Changing Climate, Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences, 10.1146/annurev-earth-040522-122817 38 cites.

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Sea level & climate change

PolyU2025 SLA: a global 0.25°  ×  0.25° monthly sea-level anomaly dataset (1993–2024) determined from satellite altimetry for sea-level and climate change research, Yuan et al., Earth system science data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-4155-2026

Quantifying UK coastal flood exposure under future sea-level rise to 2300, Palmer et al., Explore Bristol Research pmh:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:openaire_cris_publications/62032aef-becd-4ddc-a902-ff39b2c8a275

Sea level rise and fall north of Greenland reorganize Arctic freshwater export to North Atlantic, Wang et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-75610-8

The economically optimal mix and timing of coastal adaptation in Europe to 2150, Völz et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-74042-8

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Implications of Variability and Trends in Coastal Extreme Water Levels, Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2024gl108864 14 cites.

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Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

Climate-extreme-driven genesis of a cretaceous dinosaur Lagerstätte, Fanti et al., Global and Planetary Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105589

Continental-scale fern savannah wildfires during end-Triassic greenhouse warming, Hollaar et al., Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) Open Access pmh:oai:nottingham-repository.worktribe.com:66232704

Dynamic Deglacial Evolution of Interior Seaways and Ice Streams in the Weddell Sea Embayment, Bollen et al., Paleoceanography and Paleoclimatology Open Access 10.1029/2026pa005438

Ice core nitrogen isotopes archive dramatic changes in West Antarctic Ice Sheet thinning, King et al., Climate of the past Open Access pdf 10.5194/cp-22-1291-2026

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
The 4.2 ka BP event in western Anatolia: Tracing the impact of climatic change, The Holocene, 10.1177/09596836241259774 4 cites.

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Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Adaptational lag at high elevations depends on life stage in a California wildflower, Quarles et al., Journal of Ecology pdf 10.1111/1365-2745.70379

Additive Dominance and Context-Dependent Nonlinearities in Soil Greenhouse Gas Responses to Concurrent Global Change, Ding et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2026gb009164

Biogeography of Stress: Graded and Threshold Phenological Responses in European Beech-Dominated Forests Under Disruptive Heatwaves, Cesaretti et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70986

Body Size Decline in an Endangered Bat Is Associated With Climate Change at a Continental Scale but Varies by Phenophase and Region, Zuben et al., Global Change Biology Open Access 10.1111/gcb.70983

Climate change is likely to negatively affect a marine apex predator (Steno bredanensis, Cetacea) and its prey on the coast of Brazil, Ferreira et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108065

Climate Crisis in the Mediterranean Hotspot: Conservation Challenges for Endangered Salamanders in Southern Türkiye, Ananymous, Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.19074814

Climate physical risks, ecological resilience, and spatial spillovers: evidence from China, He et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1879596

Climate-driven distribution dynamics of the teak defoliator Hyblaea puera under current and future climate scenarios, Mahanta et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1843989

Climate-induced forest destabilization and shrub stabilization in Africa, Cheng et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105627

Climate-Driven Changes in Resources Shift Reproductive Season and Effort of Insectivorous Montane Bird Species, Whelan & Garfinkel, Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.71013

Climatic stress and species interactions shape tree vitality decline in Iberian pine species, Aguirre et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111333

Current and future thermal habitat suitability of the European clam Ruditapes decussatus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Mediterranean coastal lagoons, Palmas et al., Marine Environmental Research Open Access 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108139

Differential responses of trees to heatwaves in a desert-oasis ecotone: the role of isohydric/anisohydric stomatal regulation, Huang et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111362

Diurnal cycles of cloud and rainfall over North-East Queensland during the coral bleaching season, Chapman et al., Weather and Climate Dynamics Open Access pdf 10.5194/wcd-7-1265-2026

Effects of ocean acidification on radular tooth material properties in Littorina littorea (Gastropoda, Mollusca), Krings et al., Marine Environmental Research Open Access 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108096

Global analysis suggests nitrogen deposition as an underestimated driver of vegetation greening, Trepel et al., Ecography Open Access 10.1002/ecog.08631

Here Comes the Heat: Urban Warming Increases Abundance but Compromises Fitness in the Common Woodlouse, Jame et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73654

Intact coastal nursery rearing amid climate-driven phenological shifts in threatened salmon, Munsch et al., Conservation Biology Open Access 10.1111/cobi.70355

Long-Term Population Monitoring Reveals Changes in Mesocarnivore Occupancy in Response to Severe Drought, Tucker et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.73960

Mass flowering of the seagrass Posidonia oceanica after 2022 record-breaking marine heatwaves, a Pan-Mediterranean study, Astruch et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03631-8

Masting Breakdown in European Beech Reduces Fitness Benefits of Masting, Partly Explained by Climate Change, Jantzen et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73809

Metabolic trade-offs shape acute thermal responses in the marine predator Rapana venosa, Xu et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108249

No apparent impact of moderate temperature increase on growth and fecundity in the sea star Asterias rubens, Bourg & Keraudran, Marine Environmental Research Open Access 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108072

Ocean acidification influence on Cymodocea nodosa seedling development, Crobu et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108272

Past Acropora mortality on the Great Barrier Reef linked to climate variability and anthropogenic impacts, Clark et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03800-9

Projecting seasonal and future thermal suitability of the invasive and commercially valuable Manila clam Ruditapes philippinarum (A. Adams and Reeve, 1850) in a warming Mediterranean sea, Chiappi et al., Marine Environmental Research Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108263

Range-edge asymmetry in growth responses of English yew to climate warming: Stronger responses near the northern limit, Camarero et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111354

Seabird range contraction and dispersal under climate change, Avaria-Llautureo et al., Nature Climate Change Open Access 10.1038/s41558-026-02655-4

Shifts in climate-growth relationships of Pinus kwangtungensis in a warming subtropical forest of China, Yu et al., Dendrochronologia 10.1016/j.dendro.2026.126574

Shifts in growth phenology of Tsuga dumosa in the central Himalayas under climate warming, Rai et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111307

Temporal Autocorrelation Increases Temperature-Driven Extinction Risk by Clustering Stressful Conditions, Robey et al., Ecology Letters pdf 10.1111/ele.70441

The North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre and Phytoplankton Bloom Under Potential Future Climate Scenarios, Oliver et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023561

Water-use strategy shift mediates C4 plant response to altered precipitation seasonality, Zhou et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105616

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Whole-genome duplication in an algal symbiont bolsters coral heat tolerance, bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 10.1101/2022.04.10.487810 28 cites.

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GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

A Top-Down View of Global and Regional Carbon Budgets From an Ensemble of Atmospheric Inversions, Woude et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access 10.1029/2025gb008779

Abiotic CO2 cycling in a desert soil: Linking surface fluxes and subsurface dynamics across seasons, Bekin et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111250

Adapter-enhanced CLIP for railway brake shoe anomaly detection, Shehzad et al., Complex & Intelligent Systems Open Access 10.1007/s40747-026-02377-2

Addition of brackish water to tundra soils does not inhibit methane production: implications for Arctic coastal methane production, Roy-Lafontaine et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-3777-2026

Airborne Observations Reveal Underestimated Riverine Methane Emissions Across the Amazon, Ort et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122310

Anthropogenic perturbations to atmospheric methane reflected in Greenland firn air clumped isotope measurements, Sivan et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aeb2203

Body mass index, sedentary lifestyle, and HbA1c predict cardiac autonomic neuropathy in type 2 diabetes, Haji et al., Cardiovascular Diabetology – Endocrinology Reports Open Access 10.1186/s40842-026-00308-1

Briefing Chat: Sweet! Elusive sugar molecules found in space, Thompson & Howe, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-02263-4

Capturing the Global Variability of Marine Particulate Organic Carbon Flux: A Hierarchical Bayesian Approach, Edwards et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl123203

Carbon input manipulation significantly alters soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes across stand ages in boreal birch forests of China, Gao et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111212

Comparative effects of A-site ionic radius and disorder on structure, magnetism, and transport in perovskite La0.8Sr0.1A0.1MnO3 (A=Ca, Sr, Ba), Zhang et al., Journal of Materials Science Materials in Electronics 10.1007/s10854-026-18036-8

Disease landscape–guided design of neutrophil-specific reporters for early and accurate pneumonia detection in vivo and in urine, Li et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aeb4417

Divergent long-term trends in vegetation carbon turnover between mature and young forests, Ren et al., Journal of Ecology 10.1111/1365-2745.70396

Dynamical analysis of a discrete reaction-diffusion-convection predator-prey model based on coupled map lattices, Du & Han, Journal of Applied Mathematics and Computing 10.1007/s12190-026-02860-6

Effects of hummock-hollow microtopography on CO2 and CH4 emissions from sedge peatlands in the Changbai Mountains, Northeast China, Li et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111220

Environmental controls and temporal trends of CO2 and CH4 emissions in a former cultivated peatland under rewetting, Pullens et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111363

Evaluation of a Decade of Methane Observations From a Tower Network in Indianapolis, Indiana, Barkley et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2026jd046734

Fatigue Properties of WAAM-Fabricated 2209 Duplex Stainless Steel Evaluated by Temperature Measurement and Heat Source Reconstruction, Viola et al., Experimental Mechanics 10.1007/s11340-026-01354-7

Filtering of Second Order Generalized Stochastic Processes Corrupted by Additive Noise, Wahlberg, Journal of Fourier Analysis and Applications Open Access 10.1007/s00041-026-10282-y

Geochemistry of CO2-rich gas emissions in the Carpathians: Multiscale geological sources and implications for orogenic degassing, Kis et al., Earth-Science Reviews Open Access 10.1016/j.earscirev.2026.105528

GHGPSE-Net: a method towards spaceborne automated extraction of greenhouse-gas point sources using point-object-detection deep neural network, Pang et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access pdf 10.5194/gmd-19-1683-2026

Global burden and temporal trends of colorectal cancer in East Asia based on the global burden of disease 2023 study, Qin et al., Discover Oncology Open Access 10.1007/s12672-026-05561-5

Global warming makes nitrogen oxide abatement key to ozone pollution mitigation, Wang et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea4124

High-performance multijunction perovskite LEDs with reduced interconnection loss, Zhao et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-75756-5

Hybrid Neuro-Symbolic Models for Transparent and Adaptive Decision-Making in Dynamic Real-World Environments, Welekar et al., National Academy Science Letters 10.1007/s40009-026-02325-1

Incorporating observed fire severity in refined emissions estimates for boreal and temperate forest fires in the carbon budget model CBM-CFS3 v1.2, Thompson et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-3617-2026

Increasing Warming May Inhibit Land Carbon Uptake in Northern High Latitudes, Madani et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122135

Insights of climate-driven changes in CH4 and CO2 source contributions at European coastal observatories, Adame et al., Atmospheric Research Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.109076

Iron overload suppresses LKB1 and induces IL36G anti-tumor immunity in PDAC metastasis, Biancur et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adz8681

Leader as the “Glue” that holds the teams together: examining how identity leadership influences intra-team cooperation and inter-team knowledge sharing, Feng et al., Current Psychology 10.1007/s12144-026-09780-5

Livestock grazing, plant community and abiotic factors shape blue carbon stocks in Nordic coastal marshes, Richard et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-4583-2026

Methane and Ethane Emission Rates, Intensities, and Trends: Aircraft Mass Balance Insights Over the Denver-Julesburg Basin, Fall 2021, Daley et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd044370

Methane and Nitrous Oxide Reshape the Air-Water Greenhouse Gas Budget of a Tropical Estuarine Delta, Cotovicz et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2026jg009956

Methane oxidation in African and European rivers depends on stream size and wetland connectivity, Borges et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aeb8250

Microstructural Evolution and Acid Corrosion Mechanism of Laser-Clad FeCoNiCrx High-Entropy Alloy Coatings, Xiao et al., Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A 10.1007/s11661-026-08305-w

Neoadjuvant Chemoradiotherapy on Postoperative Complications of Rectal Cancer: A Retrospective Study Integrating MRI Radiomics and Deep Learning, Bu et al., Journal of Imaging Informatics in Medicine 10.1007/s10278-026-02137-1

Organic carbon oxidation state shapes fermentative methanogenic microbiomes and controls greenhouse gas fluxes, Hu et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-73281-z

Organic Matter Stoichiometry Regulates the Continental Shelf Carbon Pump Efficiency of the Northwest European Shelf Seas, Demir et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles Open Access 10.1029/2025gb008724

Peatlands Have the Potential to Emerge as Significant Contributors to Future Climate Warming, Chaudhary et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2025jg009540

Permafrost carbon release scales linearly with overshoot warming mediated by AMOC tipping, Steinert et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-73612-0

Physics-constrained machine-learning surrogates for the colebrook friction factor: monotonic gradient boosting, uncertainty quantification, and open benchmarking, Müftüo?lu, Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-026-62231-w

Plants are a powerful proxy for global tidal marsh methane fluxes, Wilson et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2530848123

PLATO on the footsteps of Kepler for transit timing, Maltagliati, Nature Astronomy 10.1038/s41550-026-02933-3

Projected future warming induces a long-term loss in global dissolved organic carbon pool, Tjiputra et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-026-03809-0

Quantifying facility-scale CO2 emissions using spaceborne hyperspectral imageries, Han et al., Remote Sensing of Environment 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115478

Rademacher-type exact formula and higher order Turán inequalities for cubic overpartitions, Agarwal et al., Research in Number Theory pdf 10.1007/s40993-026-00765-8

Rapid and sensitive NO2 detection using optimized flower-like ZnO nanorods synthesized via chemical bath deposition, Ambi et al., Journal of Materials Science Materials in Electronics 10.1007/s10854-026-18001-5

Reversed functional gradient in primate prefrontal cortex: Posterior dominance and frontopolar task-related deactivation, Watanabe et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aea1094

Revising the Magnitude and Trends of the Global Methane Soil Sink With Process-Based, Machine-Learning, and Atmospheric Inversion Modeling Approaches, Oh et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences Open Access 10.1029/2025jg009668

Rock weathering can counteract river CO2 emissions induced by permafrost thaw, Zhang et al., Nature Open Access 10.1038/s41586-026-10664-8

Satellite estimation of global air sea CO2 flux from 2000 to 2020, Ji et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-026-51215-5

Shoreline exposure controls teal carbon accumulation in boreal lakes, Dauner et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-3637-2026

Short-Term Effects of PM2.5 Exposure on Hematological and Biochemical Blood Indices in the Middle-Aged and Elderly, Dinh et al., Aerosol and Air Quality Research Open Access 10.1007/s44408-026-00131-4

Simultaneous measurements of translation rate and transcriptome uncovers linked regulation within an active bacterial cell population, Baumann et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adz1707

Soil Carbon Saturation Constrains Long-Term Sequestration Under Revegetation on China's Loess Plateau, Zhang et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef006739

The RhMPK3-RhLOB41-RhWRKY9 module orchestrates ethylene-induced petal abscission via dual control of ROS homeostasis in rose, Zhang et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adu6821

The spliceosome component SNRPC promotes glioma progression by sustaining mitochondrial function and TNFAIP2 signaling, Ma et al., Cell Death and Disease Open Access 10.1038/s41419-026-09065-6

Towards operational automated greenhouse gas plume detection and delineation, Bue et al., Remote Sensing of Environment Open Access 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115506

TundraFlux: A database of ecosystem respiration with biotic and abiotic metadata from Arctic and alpine tundra warming experiments, Schwieger et al., Earth system science data Open Access pdf 10.5194/essd-18-4965-2026

Understanding the resilient carbon cycle response to the 2014–2015 Blob event in the Gulf of Alaska using a regional ocean biogeochemical model, Abe et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-3871-2026

Urban CO2 and CH4 pilot atmospheric measurements in the Milan city area (Northern Italy), Cristofanelli et al., Atmospheric Environment Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2026.122124

Varicose projection astrocytes: Conserved reactive cells in brain pathology, Ciani et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.ady8204

When trust building looks like surveillance: Public polarization toward Chicago policing, Cheng & Liu, Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aeb7575

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Trends and Drivers of Terrestrial Sources and Sinks of Carbon Dioxide: An Overview of the TRENDY Project, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 10.1029/2024gb008102 121 cites.

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CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Contrasting first-year and tenth-year responses of soil CO2 efflux and soil carbon storage indicators to biochar addition in plantation forests, Yu et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1879259

Global quantification of the eco-hydrological co-benefits of soil carbon sequestration, Vanderkelen et al., Biogeosciences Open Access 10.5194/bg-23-3829-2026

Hydrogen bond network disruption enables efficient direct reactive capture of CO2 from flue gas, Liu et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-74647-z

Insights lost at points of vulnerability in UK policy evidence gathering on carbon dioxide removal, Hope & Vaughan, Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104412

Mapping CO2 Migration Pathways: Interactions With Geological Structures, Ashmore et al., Edinburgh Research Explorer Open Access pmh:oai:pure.ed.ac.uk:openaire/0386afc5-3b2c-436f-b35d-44a153274556

Naturalness catalyzes public support for carbon dioxide removal and low-carbon energy technologies, Coffin & Boven, Open MIND pmh:10.17605/osf.io/g37ku

Unobserved confounders cannot explain over-crediting in avoided deforestation carbon projects, Guizar-Coutiño et al., Nature Ecology & Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41559-026-03049-7

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Cost-effectiveness of natural forest regeneration and plantations for climate mitigation, Nature Climate Change, 10.1038/s41558-024-02068-1 75 cites.

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Decarbonization

A global feasibility gap in resilient island energy transitions, Huang et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-75606-4

Accuracy, robustness and comprehensibility – Challenges in bottom-up energy system models, Prina & Noussan, PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000890

Beyond lithium: how sodium-ion batteries could change the world, Castelvecchi, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-02150-y

Climate change reshapes resource adequacy risks and optimal renewable energy siting in wind and solar energy systems, Qiu et al., Nature Energy 10.1038/s41560-026-02109-3

Climatic Impacts of Large-Scale Wind Farms in Arid and Semi-Arid Region in China: A Case Study of the Huitengxile Wind Farm in Inner Mongolia, Su et al., Wind Energy Open Access 10.1002/we.70141

Energy transition in India and the race for renewable energy to outpace fossil fuels in carbon reduction, Noor et al., Discover Sustainability Open Access 10.1007/s43621-026-04129-1

Ensemble-based projections of future climate extremes and their implications for photovoltaic power potential in China, Ma et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.06.011

Optimized decarbonization pathway coupled with carbon trading mechanism for China's steel industry towards carbon neutrality, Sun et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115428

Stakeholder perspectives on decarbonizing Thailand's power sector: A SWOT-fuzzy AHP approach towards net zero, Altaf et al., Energy Sustainable Development/Energy for sustainable development 10.1016/j.esd.2026.102084

The trade route to renewables: Import as a catalyst for the diffusion of renewable energy technology, Rabbani & Quaiyyum, Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2026.115390

Toward net-zero water systems: mechanisms and challenges in low- and middle-income Asian countries, Ahmed et al., Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 10.1016/j.cosust.2026.101681

Urban decarbonization needs strategic reserves for critical materials, Allam et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03819-y

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Critical mineral mining in the energy transition: A systematic review of environmental, social, and governance risks and opportunities, Energy Research & Social Science, 10.1016/j.erss.2024.103672 85 cites.

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Geoengineering climate

Intended and unintended consequences of atmospheric methane oxidation enhancement, Horowitz, Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-9471-2026

Ocean alkalinity enhancement reduces silica ballasting during export due to amplified dissolution, Suessle et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-4691-2026

Reflecting on the politics and power dynamics of contested climate technologies, Fritz et al., Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104448

Black carbon

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Changes in the Direct Climate Effect of Black Carbon Aerosols in East Asia Under the “Dual Carbon” Goal of China, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 10.1029/2024jd040874 5 cites.

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Aerosols

Global Characterization of Stratospheric Sulfate Aerosols by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE), Bernath et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres Open Access 10.1029/2025jd046214

Rising dust pollution across Europe in a changing climate, Vasilakos et al., Nature Open Access 10.1038/s41586-026-10743-w

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Assessment of aerosol-cloud interactions over the Northern Indian Ocean, Atmospheric Research, 10.1016/j.atmosres.2024.107601 4 cites.

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Climate change communications & cognition

As the planet heats, public doubt grows: The social structure behind rising climate change scepticism in Germany, Gies & Deutschmann, Global Environmental Change Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2026.103202

Climate Change Advocacy in Libraries: Practices, Challenges and Future Research Directions, Oladokun et al., Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2026.2702627

Climate change concerns and perceived intergenerational mobility, Gugushvili & Präg, Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.103119

Climate Obstruction in the Digital Far-Right: Mapping the Climate Countermovement in German-, Danish-, and Swedish-Speaking Digital Information Environments, Henriksen et al., Environmental Communication Open Access 10.1080/17524032.2026.2701866

Confident judgments of (mis)information veracity are more, rather than less, accurate, Ak et al., PNAS Nexus Open Access 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgag186

Lagos Is Drowning: Media, Resistance, and Climate Coloniality in Flooding Narratives, Ogungbemi, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2026.2706163

Listening to climate change: sound, imagination and environmental sociology, Clark, Environmental Sociology Open Access 10.1080/23251042.2026.2704790

Mapping climate change coverage: Causes, consequences, and solutions in German news media, 2010–2024, Dablander et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104833

Medical students’ perspectives on climate change, climate-health education, and professional identity: a qualitative study, Loh et al., BMC Medical Education Open Access 10.1186/s12909-026-09775-7

Temporal horizons in US climate change news, Wozniak, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02716-8

The Digital Representation of Greta Thunberg in Internet Memes: Gender, Ideology, and Digital Violence, Lucena & Colacios, Environmental Communication 10.1080/17524032.2026.2701872

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Patterns of climate-change coping among late adolescents: Differences in emotions concerning the future, moral responsibility, and climate-change engagement, Climatic Change, 10.1007/s10584-024-03778-3 19 cites.

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Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Paphia undulata enhances sedimentary CH4 and N2O emissions via divergent microbial mechanisms, Zhong et al., Marine Environmental Research 10.1016/j.marenvres.2026.108103

Climate stressor projections inform adaptation needs in South Asian oilseed systems, Barik et al., npj Sustainable Agriculture Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44264-026-00170-9

Crop migration is not a viable long-term strategy for mitigating climate change impacts on winter wheat production in the North China Plain, GUO et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.07.006

Decoding Heat Tolerance in Rice: Physiological Mechanisms, Genetic Architecture, and Breeding Innovations, Saha et al., Plant Molecular Biology Reporter 10.1007/s11105-026-01743-1

Depicting the response of crop photosynthesis to elevated CO2: the unique role of sun-induced chlorophyll fluorescence, Ye et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111211

From perception to action: attitudes and climate change adaptation practices among smallholder farmers in Nakivale refugee settlement, Mohamed et al., Frontiers in Earth Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/feart.2026.1868338

Modeling short- and long-term climatic and non-climatic drivers of wheat yield in Somalia (1986–2019): Evidence from an ARDL approach, Osman et al., PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000804

Regional flooding enhances N2O and CH4 emissions from agricultural fields: Evidence from a single extreme event across the North China Plain, Ge et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111284

Simulating Agroecology Policy Options for the Resilience of Smallholder Food Security to Climate Shocks, Dagunga et al., Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access 10.1002/cli2.70055

Sizing blue carbon risks and benefits from bivalve aquaculture, Gentry et al., npj Ocean Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44183-026-00199-w

Tibetan Pasture Restoration Causes Additional Cooling by Reflecting Solar Radiation, Wang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Biogeosciences 10.1029/2025jg009479

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Land use modulates resistance of grasslands against future climate and inter-annual climate variability in a large field experiment, Global Change Biology, 10.1111/gcb.17418 29 cites.

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Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Exceptionally Warm Event in the Tropical South Atlantic in 2023–24: Physical Drivers and Impacts on South American Rainfall, Hounsou-Gbo et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Oceans Open Access 10.1029/2025jc023901

North American Winter Precipitation Extremes: Changes in Variability and Driving Mechanisms in a Warming Climate, Jeong et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2026ef008659

Precipitation Over the Contiguous United States Is Coming From Farther Away Than in the Past, Aerenson et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2026gl122565

Quantifying UK coastal flood exposure under future sea-level rise to 2300, Palmer et al., Explore Bristol Research pmh:oai:research-information.bris.ac.uk:openaire_cris_publications/62032aef-becd-4ddc-a902-ff39b2c8a275

Rethinking future flood hazard: Hourly data challenge daily flood projections in Alpine catchments, Astagneau et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aed6012

Spatial and Temporal Patterns of Extreme Hourly Rainfall in the Hawaiian Islands, Gayte et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access 10.1002/joc.70501

Uncertainty in California Winter Precipitation Linked to Future Projections of North Pacific Large-Scale Atmospheric Circulation, Choi et al., Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres pdf 10.1029/2025jd045669

Understanding changes in Iceland's streamflow dynamics in response to climate change, Helgason et al., Hydrology and earth system sciences Open Access 10.5194/hess-30-3979-2026

Unraveling daily dynamics of supraglacial lakes in response to hydrological pulses and anomalous climate signals, Song et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-75669-3

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
The increasing water stress projected for China could shift the agriculture and manufacturing industry geographically, Communications Earth & Environment, 10.1038/s43247-024-01560-y 49 cites.

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Climate change economics

Carbon pricing, economic resilience, and transport decarbonization: evidence from Finland, Msefula et al., Humanities and Social Sciences Communications Open Access 10.1057/s41599-026-08428-w

Climate-induced loss and damage in Nepal: attribution analysis and institutional readiness for international support, Dhakal et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1782991

How the money flows: analyzing international finance for climate change adaptation in Ethiopia, Kidane et al., Global Environmental Change Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2026.103201

Inequality in flood insurance arrangements to finance flood recovery under climate change, Tesselaar & Botzen, Climate Risk Management Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100850

Prioritizing the welfare of vulnerable nations promotes equitable achievement of Paris target, Biswas et al., npj Climate Action Open Access 10.1038/s44168-026-00385-z

Research on the impact of climate risk on corporate cost of debt financing, Yang et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2026.1763661

Statistical learning for climate-GDP panels: Data cleaning, flexible trend controls, and predictive validation, Schötz et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000962

Views of EU citizens on economic growth and implications for climate policy, Savin et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-73323-6

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Towards a more transformative approach to climate finance, Climate Policy, 10.1080/14693062.2024.2377730 27 cites.

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Climate change mitigation public policy research

Improvement of ambient air quality and the synergistic governance of CO2 and pollutant emissions in Shenyang, Zhao et al., Scientific Reports Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41598-026-50803-9

The impact of conventional policy instruments on climate change mitigation in China, Matutinovi? & Borozan, The Anthropocene Review 10.1177/20530196261464201

Waste and CO2, an intricate relationship. Metrics, policy and technology in the climate-framing of waste, Rocher, Environmental Science & Policy 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104443

“Mitigation + adaptation” climate policy synergy and urban ecological resilience: Evidence from China, Zhang & Dou, Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.103046

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Power supply disruptions deter electric vehicle adoption in cities in China, Nature Communications, 10.1038/s41467-024-50447-1 53 cites.

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Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

A battleground of climate change: Summer air temperatures in social housing, Pfautsch et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.103051

Assessing the vulnerability of livelihoods and ecosystems during the KwaZulu-Natal floods and their implications for climate resilience, Anekwe, Climate and Development Open Access 10.1080/17565529.2026.2696367

Economic optimization of climate adaptation for water security: an integrated water–energy nexus risk assessment framework, Ran et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1817765

Inequality in human development amplifies climate-related disaster risk, Teber et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-73873-9

Instrumentalizing ‘uninhabitability’ at a time of climate change: the case of Barbuda after Hurricane Irma, ???????? et al., Climate and Development 10.1080/17565529.2026.2696370

Maladaptation can contribute to aggregated, amplified, compounded, and cascading climate risks, Shah, Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 10.1016/j.cosust.2026.101689

Producing resilience: governance, social relations, and climate risk in coastal communities, Nurhayati et al., Environmental Sociology 10.1080/23251042.2026.2699296

Promises and pitfalls of climate adaptation tools across the Mediterranean, Koutroulis et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03795-3

Rethinking urban climate adaptation: A degrowth perspective for policy and practice, Acuña & Fernández-Baldor, Environmental Science & Policy Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104445

The Destination Earth digital twin for climate change adaptation, Doblas-Reyes et al., Geoscientific model development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-2821-2026

The national knowledge politics of monitoring and evaluating adaptation to climate change: processes of repair, theatrical performance and legitimacy, Adhikari & Fisher, Environmental Politics Open Access pdf 10.1080/09644016.2026.2700733

Women and climate adaptation in South Africa: a gender-responsive policy review, Baloyi et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1821218

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Weaving scientific and local knowledge on climate change impacts in coastal Kenya, Western Indian Ocean, Environmental Science & Policy, 10.1016/j.envsci.2024.103846 10 cites.

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Climate change impacts on human health

Assessing and Refining the Heat Index for Subdaily Heat Conditions, Liu, Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-25-0250.1

Climate change, hygiene, and health: A research roadmap for climate adaptation, Gerard et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000907

Environmental suitability of Coccidioides in the USA under climate change scenarios: a modelling study, Deshpande et al., The Lancet Planetary Health Open Access 10.1016/j.lanplh.2026.101481

Feeling the heat: Socio-spatial inequalities in indoor overheating and heat adaptation in Greater London, Assan, Energy Research & Social Science Open Access pdf 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104868

Global climate risks for outdoor sports under CMIP6 scenarios: A multi-indicator assessment based on WBGT, Heat Index, heavy rainfall, and heatwaves, Defrance & Lescure, PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000969

Local drivers in accelerating North American heat stress, Prein et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-72795-w

Mental health experiences amid climate change and sexual and reproductive health challenges: A scoping review focused on low-and middle-income countries, Vahedi et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000984

Recognizing the human health impacts of marine heatwaves, Falkenberg & Russell, Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-026-01892-x

The science of climate heat risks has a metric problem, Jay & Jahan, Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03804-5

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Indoor overheating: A review of vulnerabilities, causes, and strategies to prevent adverse human health outcomes during extreme heat events, Temperature, 10.1080/23328940.2024.2361223 87 cites.

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Climate change & geopolitics

Critical misalignments in climate pledges reveal imbalanced sustainable development pathways, Larosa et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-026-73564-5

Defragmenting Mangrove Law Towards Coherent Global Governance, Lorber & Cappa, Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73721

Other

AI-assisted longitudinal comparison of scenario knowledge representation in IPCC synthesis reports, Warin & Bisson, PLOS Climate Open Access pdf 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000965

Co-Producing Climate Services for California's Energy Sector, Freitas et al., Earth s Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef005959

Extreme Weather in the Southern Hemisphere in Early 2022, Vries et al., Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society Open Access 10.1175/bams-d-23-0141.1

From continental to street scales: climate change impacts on atmospheric composition over Europe and London, Doherty et al., Atmospheric chemistry and physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-26-10115-2026

Mercury mobilization and export from the Greenland Ice Sheet using an ice-to-ocean approach, Youssef et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-026-03818-z

Modelling the anthropocene: A brief and partial history, Turnbull, The Anthropocene Review Open Access 10.1177/20530196261472817

Resource consumption in global concrete production, Kane et al., Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-026-01858-z

The true impacts of the built environment, [authors did not process], Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-026-01910-y

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
How Has the Ferrel Cell Contributed to the Maintenance of Antarctic Sea Ice at Low Levels From 2016 to 2022?, Geophysical Research Letters, 10.1029/2024gl108801 2 cites.

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Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Missing Western Pacific moorings threaten weather and climate forecasting and research, Cravatte et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access 10.3389/fclim.2026.1861050

U.S. researchers express outrage over proposed changes to managing federal grants, Mervis, Science 10.1126/science.aek5959

‘Climate free fall’: why the biggest risk to our economies is yet to be recognized, Levermann, Nature Open Access pdf 10.1038/d41586-026-02154-8

Most cited from this section, published 2 years ago:
Science-based targets miss the mark, Communications Earth & Environment, 10.1038/s43247-024-01535-z 30 cites.

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

Early Warnings: Government Knowledge of Climate Change and Legal Responsibility for Climate Harm, Lindsay Fenlock and Nikki Reisch, Center for International Environmental Law

The authors examine publicly available government records, scientific evidence, and historical archives to document when major emitting States became aware of the causes and foreseeable consequences of climate change. They demonstrate that many governments understood the risks decades earlier than they have claimed, strengthening the evidentiary foundation for climate litigation, human rights, and climate advocacy, and the implementation of the International Court of Justice climate advisory opinion. By tracing the history of government knowledge, the report provides a critical resource for advancing climate accountability and ensuring that high-emitting States are held responsible for failing to prevent the climate crisis.

Bait and Switch. The Impacts of Trump Administration Policies at the Intersection of Clean Energy, Manufacturing, and Labor, BlueGreen Alliance

The authors found that largely due to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), 223 manufacturing, clean energy, and industrial projects are already facing cancellations and delays representing at least $82.8 billion in capital investment which could cost 111,765 jobs. Additionally, more than 3,034 manufacturing, clean energy, and industrial sites face tax restrictions due to OBBBA, putting at risk $695.2 billion in capital investment and 1,184,996 jobs.

Attribution of Extreme Weather and Climate Events and Their Impacts, National Research Council, The National Academies Press

Decades of data and research indicate that human-caused climate change is altering the frequency and intensity of several types of extreme events, such as heat waves and extreme rainfall events. Even as those trends become clearer, extreme event attribution (EEA) seeks to assess the degree to which climate change contributed to any specific event. EEA studies provide information that can be useful for public understanding, planning and risk management, policy and legal contexts, and scientific research. The authors evaluate the state of EEA science, updating a National Academies report published in 2016. The authors also assess the emerging field of extreme event impact attribution (EEIA). The number of EEA studies has grown substantially over the past decade as scientific tools, observational datasets, and methods have advanced, enabling attribution studies to be completed within days of an event. However, challenges remain, including limited model capabilities for small-scale regional events, representation of key atmospheric processes, and attribution of compounding, cascading, and record-breaking events. The authors examine these advances and remaining challenges and provide recommendations for strengthening attribution science, improving collaboration with local experts and stakeholders, and advancing research, data, and modeling capabilities worldwide.

Military Escalation in the Middle East: Cushioning the Global Shock, Molina et al., United Nations Development Program

The economic, fiscal and social impacts of the recent Middle East military escalation are expected to persist despite the June 18 Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States. Since April, many developing economies have sought to shield households and businesses from rising energy costs through subsidies, price caps, tax reductions and demand-management measures. While these policies have softened the immediate affect of higher prices, they have come at a significant fiscal cost. Without such interventions, poverty is projected to increase substantially. Under an adverse global growth scenario, an additional 17 million people could fall into poverty by upper-middle-income standards, rising to 45 million under a severe scenario. Global fossil fuel subsidies are projected to exceed $1 trillion in 2026 and could reach $1.43 trillion if oil prices rise to $110 per barrel. The effects of the shock differ across regions. Remittances have helped cushion affects in South Asia, fertilizer disruptions risk worsening food insecurity in Africa, and energy subsidies in East Asia have contained inflation while increasing fiscal exposure. These pressures come at a time when nearly half of the world’s poorest countries are already in or at high risk of debt distress. As debt service costs continue to rise and fiscal buffers are exhausted, many governments are being forced to divert resources away from health, education and infrastructure. Sustained multilateral support will be essential to help vulnerable countries manage the crisis and protect development gains.

Disproportionate Regulation of Residential Plug-in Solar, Stephen Smith and Amanda Arthur, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy

The authors examine the scientific and regulatory basis for the differential treatment of residential plug-in solar photovoltaic (PIPV) units and portable gas/diesel generators with respect to line-worker safety. The authors use documented fatality records from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), peer-reviewed electrical injury science, utility industry safety publications, applicable federal inverter safety standards, a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) funded national laboratory barrier analysis, and the emerging bipartisan legislative consensus in multiple states. They noted that A DOE-funded Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory study (2025) systematically catalogued the technical, interconnection, and regulatory barriers to plug-in solar adoption in the United States, confirming that interconnection requirements—not technical safety limitations—are the primary barrier to deployment.

Washington State Climate Action Plan, Washington State Departments of Commerce and Ecology

Washington already has a strong set of policies to advance climate action. However, the state can and must do more The Comprehensive Climate Action Plan (CCAP) is designed to meet this need and be a far-reaching, implementable, equitable, and thorough roadmap to ensure a sustainable future for the state. The CCAP identifies opportunities across all sectors of the economy to further reduce emissions and provide direct benefits to communities and businesses such as cleaner air, healthier communities, boosting the economy, and protecting vulnerable populations.

Retail Electricity Price Trends and Drivers: Data Update−2026 Edition, Wiser et al., Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Prices largely tacked inflation; all-sector average prices are only up 3% since 2019 in real dollars. Real prices are down in 29 states; A majority of states saw a decline in inflation-adjusted prices (2019-2025). Electricity burdens are lower that in 2019 in most regions; total bills as a fraction of income are near all-time lows.

The 2025 small island developing states report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: building resilience in the face of rising heat, Gordon-Strachan et al., The Lancet Global Health

In this second iteration of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) report, the authors present the findings of 28 indicators from five thematic areas: health hazards, exposures, and impacts; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement in health and climate change. General statements about SIDS were only made for indicators with data coverage of at least 70%, with the number of SIDS with available indicator data explicitly stated when this threshold was not met. The 2025 report includes a dedicated chapter on financing with a deep dive into international climate financing for SIDS.

A Majority of Voters Support Worker Protections Against Extreme Heat, Ayseli Karabekmez, Data for Progress

Rising global temperatures are causing more frequent and severe extreme heat, droughts, and flooding across the United States. Last week, a dangerous heat wave with temperatures of 103–105 degrees Fahrenheit prompted heat alerts across multiple states. As climate-driven extreme weather events become more common, a majority of Americans are connecting the dots between climate change and extreme weather like heat waves. Recent polling finds that a majority of voters (61%) believe that extreme weather events — like hurricanes, flash floods, droughts, and heat waves — have become more frequent over the past five years. This includes majorities of Democrats (72%) and Independents (63%). Republicans are more divided, with a plurality (46%) saying extreme weather events have become more frequent, and 42% saying the frequency has stayed the same. Perceptions of extreme weather also vary by age. Half of voters under 45 (50%) believe the number of extreme weather events has increased over the past five years, compared with 66% of voters over 45 – a 16-point difference.

Heat, health and increasing cost of living. A call for action, Mathilde Wilkens and Dennis Tänzler, Adelphi Global

The authors recommend embedding heat-health effects into UNFCCC processes, including the Global Goal on Adaptation indicators and the Belem Health Action Plan (BHAP); linking national adaptation plans to concrete social protection measures, including compensation for lost working time and state-supported insurance schemes; extending formal labor protections to cover heat-related losses, particularly for informal workers, and addressing the gender dimensions of heat vulnerability; and mobilizing adaptation finance specifically for health, with clear guidance on how funding can be deployed to protect living standards.

Grid Action Report – July 4th Heat Wave. How clean energy provides cost savings and boosts grid reliability during extreme heat, Will Taylor and Jamie Dickerson, Acadia Center

The authors provide a response to recent extreme weather events affecting energy systems and consumers in the Northeast. The region’s experience with last week’s heatwave again points to the power of a portfolio approach to deliver savings and resource adequacy: a combination of clean energy resources helped the region ride through a period of significant grid stress – periods which will only increase in frequency, duration, and cost under a changing climate. This portfolio of resources – including solar, energy efficiency, demand response, battery storage, interregional transmission, and on/offshore wind – will serve as the foundation for a less volatile, more affordable, and more secure energy system. For example, distributed solar drives major savings during heat wave. The authors estimate 6+ gigawatts (GW) of distributed solar saved New England ratepayers $130-149 million in wholesale electricity (energy) costs during the week of June 28 through July 4, 2026. Distributed solar output exceeded 25% of all demand on the grid at times and contributed more to the grid mix than the region’s nuclear fleet between 2PM and 7PM on the peak heatwave day of July 2.

Modernizing New Jersey’s Electric Utility Business Model, Patel et al., New Jersey Board of Public Utilities

Electricity bills in New Jersey have risen faster than most household essentials, which makes affordability the central concern of this study. Most of a typical bill (supply and transmission) is set in federal and regional markets with limited ability at the state level to influence those costs. Utility business-model reform that is regulated at the state level can act mainly on the distribution and programmatic portion of the bill, roughly a quarter of the bill, though some reforms may indirectly lower exposure to supply and transmission costs. The jurisdictional review and evidence show that no single reform or modernization option is a silver bullet. The most reliable near-term gains could come from “cost-discipline” measures available under existing state authority. More ambitious financing, incentive, and performance-based reforms could follow as data, baselines, and customer protections mature.

China's wind and solar mega-bases face a coal test, Yu et al., GEM

China is building more wind and utility-scale solar than the rest of the world combined, concentrated in northwestern and northern regions. Over 500 gigawatts (GW) of China's vast 1,360 GW of prospective utility-scale solar and wind capacity is already under construction. Six provinces and autonomous regions — Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, and Shaanxi — hold 714 GW, or more than half of China’s prospective wind and utility-scale solar pipeline. China’s wind and solar deployment has moved from an installation race to a system-integration test. China’s wind and solar mega-bases constitute the largest renewable-energy deployment project in the world, but grid bottlenecks and electricity market arrangements that limit system flexibility are preventing that capacity from being fully used. The result is rising curtailment: wind and solar output that could have been generated under prevailing weather conditions, but was instead reduced or withheld. The question is no longer whether China can build renewable capacity at scale, but whether it can transmit, store, price, and consume that power in ways that reduce coal use.

The Fraud of “Clean” Natural Gas. How Big Oil and Gas Created the Myth that Natural Gas is a Climate Solution, John et al., The Center for Climate Integrity

For decades, the oil and gas industry has perpetuated the fraud that natural gas is clean and a climate solution, despite knowing that it is a significant source of air pollution and a major contributor to climate change. The gas industry knew as early as 1907 that natural gas was a source of respiratory problems when burned indoors, and by the 1950s it knew that gas caused problems in outdoor air. Beginning in the 1960s, the oil and gas industry learned of another threat — emerging science showed that natural gas was a potentially significant contributor to methane in the atmosphere. As companies and their representatives closely monitored scientific developments on methane, the chemical name for natural gas, they also learned that it was a potent greenhouse gas and damaging for the climate, About New Research

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New additions at Renew Economy, new boss for CEFC; Tim Nelson lands key role at Snowy. Plus: Moves at FairWind, MGA Thermal, Zenith, Atmos, Arena and ClearVue.

The post Grid Connections 2026: Who’s going where and doing what in Australia’s green energy transition appeared first on Renew Economy.

The UK energy minister has suggested that lower-volume fracking does not have the same earthquake risk as hydraulic fracturing for shale gas.

Michael Shanks, who kept his post in the Burnham government reshuffle this week, said in a letter to East Yorkshire Council:

“there is no evidence that low-volume hydraulic fracturing has the same risks of induced seismicity as hydraulic fracturing for shale gas”.

Mr Shanks was replying to the council after members voted unanimously to oppose fracking in their county.

They resolved that the council should write to the energy secretary urging him to outlaw what they called “such high pressure and extreme procedures”.

Their vote recorded opposition to plans for lower-volume fracking at an East Yorkshire site at West Newton, in Holderness. Councillors also called for an independent report on the safety and risks associated with the West Newton operation.

In his reply, Mr Shanks said there was an “effective moratorium” on fracking for shale gas in England.

This was introduced in 2019 after fracking for shale gas at Preston New Road caused multiple small earthquakes.

The moratorium prevents fracking in shale using volumes of fluid of 1,000m3 per stage or 10,000m3 in total. It does not prevent fracking using lower volumes, including that planned at West Newton.

Briefing documents confirmed earlier this year that the Energy Independence Bill would deliver the government’s manifesto promise to ban fracking. But they did not specify which operations would be included in the ban.

Campaigners have said all forms of fracking should be outlawed. They have called this a legal loophole that is exploited by oil and gas companies.

Opponents of lower-volume fracking have pointed out that the Preston New Road fracks in 2019, which caused the UK’s largest fracking-induced earthquake, used lower volumes of fluid than the limit set in the moratorium. The Preston New Road volumes were also lower than proposed proppant squeezes at Burniston, in North Yorkshire, refused planning permission earlier this year.

Mr Shanks’ comment on earthquake risk may also contradict recent work by Stuart Haszeldine, the professor of geology at University of Edinburgh.

The professor’s analysis has concluded that the absence of high-volume hydraulic fracturing subject to the UK moratorium does not mean earthquake risks can be ruled out.

His work has focussed on a series of earthquakes in Surrey, which began eight years, and have been linked by some academic researchers to oil and gas operations.

In a recent report, Professor Haszeldine said:

“In my opinion, there is now a substantial body of evidence linking the 2018–2019 earthquake sequence in the Horse Hill and Newdigate area with oil production activities at Horse Hill.

“This includes the temporal relationship between production activities and earthquake occurrence, together with subsequent academic analyses published since the issue was previously considered by regulators.”

Separate studies by Robert Westaway, of Glasgow University, and Matthew Fox, of University College London, have shown pressure diffusion from oil, gas and water production can trigger earthquakes.

Mr Shanks did not refer in his letter to Labour’s manifesto commitment to ban fracking. But he did say forms of hydraulic fracturing in non-shale oil and gas operations, such as proppant squeeze or acid fracking, “had been used for decades”.

The Weald Action Group, which opposes oil and gas development in southern England, responded:

“We are fighting this. There is no evidence that supports his [the minister’s] statement that it has been used for decades.”

• A campaigner in East Yorkshire is seeking to bring a legal challenge against the lower-volume frack at West Newton.

This article The data center fight is going global was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

Earlier this year, Gallup asked a national sample of Americans whether they would support an AI data center being built in their local area. Seventy-one percent opposed it, 48 percent of them strongly. Opposition to living near a nuclear power plant was markedly lower, at 53 percent. Republicans, Democrats and independents all rejected data centers. Asked why, respondents most often pointed to environmental concerns: water, energy, land use, noise and air pollution — and the lack of community consent.

At Social Change Lab we recently ran a randomized controlled trial with 3,467 participants to answer a question the AI accountability movement has been wrestling with: Which of AI’s many harms actually move people from concern to action? We tested 11 different arguments, from environmental effects to job losses and the harms of algorithmic bias; from AI enabling more pervasive surveillance to the risk of superintelligent AI leading to human extinction. 

The results showed that AI’s environmental impacts were the strongest predictor of willingness to act. Job displacement — the issue people mention most unprompted, ranked much lower. Extinction risk came last. And the emotion most strongly associated with action was not fear or anxiety, but anger.

Previous Coverage

The data center backlash that’s uniting America

These findings should concentrate the minds of climate organizers and funders alike. Data centers have become a focal point for public anger not just over AI but over climate policy around the world. Unlike abstract metrics such as “CO2 parts per million,” every data center is tangible; it requires a planning application, a zoning decision, a water permit and elected officials willing to approve — or reject — it. These local decisions create concrete opportunities for organizing.

In the United States, the movement to halt data centers has grown with remarkable speed: The New York State Assembly recently passed what could become the country’s first statewide moratorium; Seattle became the largest American city to adopt one after residents generated more than 96,000 emails to the city council; and more than 500 organizations from 47 states have joined the Stop Data Centers Coalition. 

“Concerns about data centers are agitating even people who have never taken a public stand on any issue before,” Deeda Seed of the Center for Biological Diversity told Waging Nonviolence in June. “They’re willing to take a stand on this.”

But the movement is growing far beyond the United States. In fact, one of the clearest victories so far came in a Dutch town that few people outside the Netherlands had heard of before 2021.

The case of Zeewolde

In February 2021, Meta proposed building a 200-megawatt hyperscale data center on 410 acres of reclaimed farmland outside Zeewolde, a town of just over 22,000 people. It would have consumed at least twice as much electricity as the town itself. Residents, farmers and Extinction Rebellion campaigners objected not just to the scale of the project, but to the secrecy surrounding it. Officials had spent two years negotiating with Meta while keeping the company’s identity out of the public record, and many residents felt scarce renewable energy was being handed to a foreign corporation for little local benefit. 

The campaign worked on two fronts at once. Locally, they plastered posters on the town hall, organized a residents’ petition and waged nonviolent direct action. Days before the December vote, 20 Extinction Rebellion activists occupied the council building’s public hall with banners reading “We want Greta, not Meta,” until police cleared them out. Nationally, allies in The Hague were pressing a different lever. Part of the land Meta needed belonged to the state, and motions in both chambers of parliament urged ministers to use that leverage. 

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Campaigners lost the first vote when the council approved the project in December 2021. But they won almost everything that followed. Within months the Dutch government imposed a moratorium on new hyperscale developments; local elections delivered a council majority to the anti-data center Leefbaar Zeewolde Party; the Dutch Senate blocked the sale of the government-owned land Meta needed; and by July 2022 the company had abandoned the project. The Netherlands subsequently restricted hyperscale facilities over 70 megawatts to just two designated sites.

In Zeewolde the fight was against a single project. In Ireland it was taking on the whole tech industry, which began aggressive expansion in the 2010s. Resistance to data centers came early there, too — and initially it was successful. In 2018, Apple abandoned a $1 billion project in Athenry after objectors ran the approval to the Supreme Court of Ireland. 

The government’s answer was to back the tech sector harder, using legislation to route large applications past local councils. Data centers kept coming. Organizers built a real coalition to stop them, united around a  moratorium bill in the Dáil, the lower house of Ireland’s parliament. 

But when a moratorium arrived, in 2021, it was instituted by the grid operator, which stopped issuing connections around Dublin for fear of blackouts. Nobody had voted for it, and when it lapsed in December 2025, there was no political win to defend. Friends of the Irish Environment, Friends of the Earth Ireland and ClientEarth are now suing to overturn the new rules. Data centers used 23 percent of Irish electricity last year, up from five percent a decade ago, and they are forecast to reach 31 percent by 2034. 

Zeewolde’s win was written into national law by a parliament that a grassroots campaign had won over. Ireland’s pause arrived as an engineering judgment — and departed as one.  

A global movement

Outside Europe and the United States, the sharpest conflicts are often about water.

In Santiago, Chile, community opposition forced Google back to the drawing board in 2024 after a court ruled that its proposed Cerrillos district data center had failed to account properly for climate change in assessing impacts on the city’s overstretched aquifer. A second Google project in nearby Quilicura was halted by residents the same year.

“We don’t need more data centers here taking our water so people in the Global North can draw funny pictures on AI,” Tania Rodríguez, founder of the Chilean water rights group Mosacat, told Time magazine.

In neighboring Uruguay, campaigners went to court in 2022 to discover what Google was planning. They learned the proposed cooling system would use 2 million gallons of drinking water a day from a supply under severe strain. As the campaign  said, “No es sequía, es saqueo,” or “It’s not drought, it’s pillage.” The project ultimately proceeded only after Google agreed to reduce its scale and abandon using water for cooling.

An ad for Le Monde in Paris in July 2026 expresses a widely held anti-AI sentiment. (Blood in the Machine/Brian Merchant)

The movement is spreading. In Australia, Greenpeace is calling for a moratorium while community groups like Tomorrow Movement organize against major projects in Western Sydney. In France, data centers are featured in municipal election campaigns. Across Africa, where at least 11 governments have spent more than $2 billion on AI-enabled surveillance systems (including CCTV, license-plate readers, facial recognition and command centers where the feeds converge), AI infrastructure often raises concerns about surveillance as much as energy use. Abeba Birhane’s concept of “algorithmic colonialism” puts a name to a familiar pattern of extraction and unequal power, something of particular concern in authoritarian contexts. 

The climate movement has spent decades searching for an issue that is local, immediate, genuinely winnable and has broad political appeal. Data centers may prove to be exactly that. Communities have shown that these fights can be won. So how can others do it? And will the movement have the resources to take on the best-funded industry in history?

How to fight a data center

Of the thousands of people all over the United States and around the world who are stepping up to fight AI data centers, the vast majority aren’t lawyers or politicians. Most are regular people who are using what skills they have to fight off a raw deal for their community. In Central Oregon, farmers have organized tractor parades to city hall in protest; in Maryland, a concerned beauty salon worker quit her job and led a successful fight for a moratorium; and in Apex, North Carolina, an unlikely coalition of teachers, parents and IT professionals came together to defeat an AI data center. These are people using their skills and everyday know-how to build power with neighbors — and you can do it, too. 

1. Find out what they haven’t told you

Almost every successful campaign begins with research.

Companies consistently announce projects in terms of investment, jobs and innovation while leaving crucial questions unanswered. They use shell companies, non-disclosure agreements or opaque planning processes to hide the details — and the most important information is often what’s hidden.

How many permanent jobs will the facility really create? What will it mean for electricity prices and grid reliability? Where will the water come from, and where will it go? What subsidies or tax incentives have been offered? What noise, air and light pollution will nearby residents experience?

Residents can find the answers to these questions by researching online, scrutinizing planning applications, filing Freedom of Information Act requests, talking to people fighting projects by similar companies, checking zoning documents, and more. The work doesn’t need specialist skills so much as determination — you already have the tools you need. The Commons Social Change Library recently published a practical guide for organizers wherever new projects emerge.

And doing this work tends to motivate others to show up and help out. We can all contribute something, even if that’s making food for folks searching the internet: Anyone can fight and anyone can win.

2. Build the broadest coalition

One of the most successful things about this organic movement so far has been the ability of groups to focus on common goals instead of differences. A huge majority of Americans oppose AI data centers. Again and again neighbors with different politics, ideas, professions and class backgrounds are uniting because they agree on one thing: They don’t want an AI data center in their community. Conservatives and progressives find themselves making the same case at the same council meeting.

That breadth is really important. Tech companies often expect opposition from the “usual suspects” and have their arguments rehearsed. But they are much less prepared to push back on church groups, local businesses, sports clubs, zoo staff, neighborhood associations and concerned residents who have never attended a public meeting before. 

3. Understand what winning looks like 

Once some information is gathered and a group of people is getting together, a lot more resistance is possible. Moratoriums are popular because they buy time once people recognize that we are on our back heels in the fight against Big Tech. Some pundits have complained that this isn’t a full solution, and it’s not — a moratorium isn’t radical at all, it just means pausing to reboot since we are up against the richest companies that have ever existed. Slowing things down is part of the stage for achieving something bigger. 

Because of the power imbalance and loose rules for big companies, the two most common wins right now are reactive: stopping individual data center projects and winning moratoria or bans. Neither is perfect, but both can be building blocks towards more transparency, robust regulation and eventually building alternatives that fit with what communities actually want. Ultimately, part of why data centers are so hated is because they are externalizing so many costs onto people — from increased public health risks, to higher costs of living, to dangerous pollution. 

Winning is about understanding those trade-offs and moving the discussion toward investing in things we actually want and need, like public libraries and skate parks and safe bike lanes, all of which create jobs. When students, environmental advocates and neighbors came together to defeat a data center in New Brunswick, New Jersey, local officials immediately shifted to the other option on the table and kicked plans into gear to build a public park instead. That is the alternative: more shade, more trees, and spaces to gather and exercise, instead of a creepy box full of wires and chips.

Resourcing the fight

As we’ve noted, this organic, volunteer-based movement against AI data centers is one anyone can fight and anyone can win, and movements can and often do come about and grow organically. But, some of the most successful movements throughout history, from the U.S. civil rights movement to the Indian independence movement, were resourced in their earliest stages. Such an influx of funding helps ensure a movement can be sustained beyond local fights and scale to a more cohesive, strategic, national or global campaign. 

Yet, funders often arrive to movements last, hopping on the bandwagon once an issue has become popular. The lag is structural: Philanthropy funds organizations, and the most effective groups in passionate moments often don’t have official names, let alone 501(c)(3)s or professional grant writers. Often, they start with a WhatsApp group, a church hall meeting or an improvised coalition of neighbors. By the time a grant cycle catches up to a movement, the legislative windows have sometimes passed. 

That is exactly where the data center movement finds itself today. Across the U.S. — and increasingly around the world — data center resistance movements have energy and are building more and more momentum. What they often lack are the things that allow movements to grow: organizing staff, legal support, trainers and the connective tissue that allows communities to learn from one another instead of reinventing every campaign from scratch. Foundations can step up now to help ensure this fight goes even further than just local wins. 

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There is good reason to invest early. Some of the most successful environmental campaigns of the past two decades — from the movement against fracking to the coalition that helped secure the Inflation Reduction Act — were strengthened by philanthropic support before victory looked inevitable. Early funding allowed organizers to build sustainable networks rather than simply react to the next crisis.

That precedent is why Climate Emergency Fund has moved more than a third of its 2026 grants to groups organizing around data centers and AI, sometimes before those groups have a name. It serves as a form of venture philanthropy: Fund early, move fast, stay close to the communities doing the work. We are already seeing funding requests arrive from four continents as resistance to AI infrastructure becomes an increasingly global phenomenon. 

Many funders tell me they want to focus on affordability, democratic resilience or climate. The fight over AI infrastructure sits at the nexus of all three. It is about rising electricity bills, secret deals behind NDAs and the fossil fuel infrastructure that underpins the industry’s growth. 

AI is often presented as inevitable. Yet the infrastructure behind it still depends on local planning decisions, water supplies, electricity grids and politics. Those decisions remain contestable. Zeewolde, Cerrillos, New Brunswick — these were all stopped by committed groups of regular people who found out in time, who showed up and who kept showing up. For a climate movement searching for local, tangible and winnable campaigns, this might be a once in a lifetime opportunity.

This article The data center fight is going global was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.