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Africa stands at a pivotal crossroads. As the climate crisis intensifies in the region, it is disproportionately crushing marginalized communities, particularly women and youth. Yet, our continent is home to the world’s most abundant renewable energy resources and a vibrant, youth-driven climate movement ready to claim the future.

Every year leading up to Africa Day on May 25, Afrika Vuka Week serves as our annual moment to channel Pan-African solidarity into bold, collective action for climate justice. This year, under the banner of REPower Afrika, our message was loud, clear, and uncompromising: Access to affordable energy is a human right –  End the Political Crisis.

We are building a pan-African movement advocating for clean energy that is rooted in people’s power and the lived realities of everyday Africans.

The problem: we pay, they profit

Africa is currently trapped in a severe, manufactured energy crisis. Decades of fossil fuel extraction have left 600 million Africans without electricity access. The continent contributes only a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions, yet it continues to suffer disproportionately from fuel price spikes, debt distress, inflation, and food insecurity tied to global oil and gas markets. 

Ongoing global conflicts and supply chain disruptions have caused the prices of fossil fuels like gas and oil to spike yet again. While multinational corporations rake in record-breaking profits from these crises, African governments, ordinary households and businesses are being pushed into deep debt. In 2026 alone, six major oil corporations — Chevron, Shell, BP, ConocoPhillips, Exxon, and TotalEnergies — are projected to pocket $94 billion in fossil fuel profits: enough to provide solar power for the energy needs of almost 50 million people in Africa.

When fossil energy prices skyrocket, the cost of everything else follows: transportation costs spike, groceries and basic food items become unaffordable and monthly utility bills grow unmanageable. This situation is the direct result of a global system built on fossil fuels that prioritizes the profits of a few companies over the lives of millions.

A deeply unjust, gendered burden

This crisis is not gender-neutral, it hits women the hardest. Across Africa, the structural failure to provide affordable energy fuels the feminization of poverty. Women spend up to 4 hours a day on unpaid care work — triple the time of men — searching for firewood or cooking over dangerous kerosene and charcoal stoves, with 70% of rural Sub-Saharan Africa still dependent on traditional biomass.  The consequences are devastating:  severe, long-term health problems and forcing women to scramble to afford basic necessities. We cannot solve our continent’s poverty and health crises as long as we remain tied to expensive, volatile fossil fuels. It is time to put people over profits.

How Afrika Vuka Week 2026 took this fight to the streets, schools and town halls

Last month,  the 23 to 30May, we mobilized during Afrika Vuka Week 2026 under the banner of  Pan-African solidarity to redefine the energy crisis not just as a technical challenge, but as a fundamental human right and a pressing political crisis.

Over the seven days of  coordinated actions across the continent, we shifted the narrative. We made sure  affordable renewable energy was at the center of political debate and  community voices were leading  the fight for an equitable energy transition. Our  cost of living stories from locals put a human face to what rising fossil fuel prices actually mean:  unaffordability of daily life.

Throughout the Week of Action, local groups tailored interventions to their unique realities. From grassroots organizing to creative expression, communities mobilized in many ways:

Through marches and awareness walks, we demanded political accountability, including a bike march in Democratic Republic of Congo by Shujaa Initiative. 

Artivism, concerts, and pop-culture captured the spirit of resistance with Green Society holding a Art4Climate workshop in Egypt led by Professional Visual Artist Hossna Hanafy

Educational talks in schools and universities to equip the next generation like the one in Nigeria led by Quest For Growth and Development Foundation at the Community Secondary School, Rumuodumaya, Port Harcourt.

Community Dialogues & Town Halls shared lived experiences such as the Renewable Energy Assembly in Uganda led by the Centre for Environmental Research and Agriculture Innovation (CERAI) and Youth for Nature Conservancy (YNC). 

The results speak for themselves. The REPower Afrika campaign is now recognized across the continent as the definitive roadmap for a just transition away from expensive fossil fuels. Local groups owned the campaign, driving solutions built around their communities’ real needs. Because true energy justice isn’t just about switching to solar, geothermal, and wind. It’s about doing it fairly, democratically, affordably and without saddling African nations with yet more debt.

Here is what we are fighting for: a renewable energy future that dismantles the exploitative, debt-heavy funding models that burden our people. Instead, we champion community-owned, decentralized solutions. Africa rises with the sun and wind – our energy transition must empower our people, not foreign creditors.

Join the Movement: 

The Afrika Vuka Network is calling for an immediate shift toward community-led renewable energy. People deserve clean, affordable energy that puts our needs first – and it is time for our governments to deliver it. 

#AffordableEnergy – Let’s claim it together! Join our whatsapp channel for the latest updates!

The post Afrika Vuka Week 2026 appeared first on 350.

This post first appeared on 350Pacific.org.

When Fijians received news of increased fuel prices due to the war in West Asia, scores of everyday people lined up to secure fuel supplies for transport, outdoor cooking stoves, and diesel generators. Families began budgeting for the sharp increase in groceries and public transportation, tour operators planned for a rise in operating cost, sugarcane farmers projected heavier workloads, and communities in remote island areas began to suffer higher boat fares.

The impact of volatile fossil fuel markets has cascaded down onto everyday people who are already living on the frontlines of intensifying climate impacts. One of the most recent impacts seen in Fiji is the announcement of possible “power rationing” by Energy Fiji Limited, due to escalating global fuel prices, increased dependence on thermal generation and worsening dry season conditions.

Access to reliable and safe electricity is essential to community development. It allows students to study when required, fisherfolk to keep their catch fresher for longer, rural homes to access drinking water through water pumps, and communications channels to stay open during emergencies. Renewable energy, particularly rooftop solar, has the potential to address the chasms that fossil-fuel reliance has pushed our people into.

This year, Fiji is one of the Pacific nations chasing an ambitious renewable energy target, despite the Pacific contributing only 0.03% of global emissions. This is aligned with the COP28 pledge to triple renewable energy globally, as well as the recently adopted UN resolution on states legal obligations to climate action.

The just energy transition has never been more timely, not only for climate action but for the growing affordability and energy crises that plague our islands. What many don’t see when reading these headlines are the individuals on the ground, doing their part to ensure these targets are met. Those outside the boardrooms and international negotiations, working both to combat the cost of living crisis and the energy crisis. One such person is Fijian solar energy provider, Pita Tamani.

Pita started as a regular electrician and is now the Founder and Managing Director of Electrify Energy Monkey, a company he started after learning the benefits of solar power as both a source of energy and income for young Fijians.

Pita initially completed his training and worked as an electrician in Nausori for two years, before returning to his village, where he first encountered the ripple effects of renewable energy access.

“I met two men that came to my village to do an inspection for solar energy. They came to inspect a well, where they would eventually design a solar system to run a pump, extract water from the well to a holding tank, and supply several houses close to that well with water,” recalled Pita.

Through the roll-out of renewable energy, communities can go on to power water access, refrigeration, co-op stores and a multitude of other facilities. However, as a practitioner in renewable energy, Pita saw the potential for personal growth as well as community development.

“One of the men that came to install solar in my village told me a story that he had traveled overseas and to a lot of places because of his trade, and he was also an electrician. I asked him if there were any vacancies, and that’s when I first engaged in renewables and solar. I worked for them for three years. Then I got an opportunity to go to Australia. There, I learnt the massive potential for solar energy and all of the things I needed to know as an electrician, and as a solar technician.”

The step from electrician to entrepreneur was driven by Pita’s lived experience as a young Fijian boy watching his mother work to provide better opportunities for him.

“I was raised by a single parent, so I saw the challenges she went through to bring me up, pay my school fees and such. What I saw motivated me to build something of my own and help people from it,” says Pita.

Pita Tamani (foreground), with the team from Electrify Energy Monkey. Source: Electrify Energy Monkey

 

As Fijians feel the pinch of rising costs of living, a future powered by renewable energy has the potential to alleviate much of the strain caused by cost of living crises like the one the Pacific is currently facing.

“I think that sort of financial independence is really important. What we’re doing is giving people energy independence with distributed renewable energy, even if they don’t have access to the grid, “ says Pita.

The benefits of solar energy are not limited to energy access in rural or remote areas disconnected from the national grid. Recent threats to electricity access, caused by global fuel instability, have driven many urban-dwellers to consider the benefits of generating and storing their own renewable energy.

“People are not really aware of the benefits of engaging a solar system nowadays. Not only solar, but any type of renewable energy. Even in urban areas, it’s going to offset their bill. It’s a healthy long-term investment for people living in urban areas because you can get your returns if you sell back to the grid,” said Pita.

When asked if Fiji’s target of 100% renewable energy was achievable, Pita agreed our islands are more than able to move beyond fossil fuels, given that our people are equipped with the expertise and skills to drive the energy transition.

“We can source good materials in the country, but the end result of renewable energy, such as solar, depends on installation. If we don’t have the expertise in this space, then it’s going to take us a long time trying to engage the skill set required to get us to 100% renewable energy. We are headed towards a renewable-driven future but if our technicians are not ready, this future will be delayed. If we are ready for on-the-ground implementation, then we can achieve a Pacific powered by renewables, ” Pita said.

Remote communities, like this village on the island of Moturiki, benefit from distributed renewable energy. Source: Electrify Energy Monkey

 

Despite the potential economic, environmental and social benefits of renewable energy, Pita believes that Fiji and the Pacific require an increase in the technical expertise of renewable energy, and trainings to ensure our people are able to build and manage our own renewable energy infrastructure.

One such effort to equip Pacific communities with the skills needed to generate their own electricity is the Solar Scholars training, scheduled to take place from May 26 – May 29 in Nadi, Fiji.

Fifteen community leaders from around the Pacific will learn to assemble solar PV systems that will be used to power basic services, reducing the strain of rising fuel costs and providing emergency energy during power outages. In a training organised by 350.org Pacific and the Institute of Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), participants from Fiji, Tuvalu and Vanuatu will join the Solar Scholars program, and assist with two community solar installations in Yavulo Village and Lautoka City.

Pacific Climate Warriors in the 2021 Solar Scholars training.

 

350.org Pacific and Caribbean Program Lead, Fenton Lutunatabua, stressed the importance of energy democracy and community-centered solutions in a time where fossil fuel companies continue to profit from war-driven price hikes.

“Everyone deserves access to energy to light their homes, to contact their loved ones, to store their food, and to maintain a life of dignity. Just as everyone also deserves a safe and livable future, beyond the devastation of compounding climate disasters,” said Fenton.

“When renewable energy is prioritised and distributed, we move one step closer to a Pacific beyond fossil fuels, a Pacific that stands a better chance of surviving this affordability crisis. When young people are given the skills to better their communities, we make leaps towards a thriving generation of leaders for our region.”

The training will be conducted by the RE-Charge Pilipinas Team of ICSC, who launched the Solar Scholars initiative in 2015 after Super Typhoon Haiyan struck the Eastern Visayas in the Philippines. This pioneered the creation of the Solar TekPak and community solar photovoltaic (PV) system that could be used to power emergency services in cyclone-prone island communities.

You can follow the journey of the Pacific’s newest Solar Scholars here.

STAY UPDATED

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This is a guest blog by Yu Sun Chin, Senior Regional Researcher at Zero Carbon Analytics (ZCA).  ZCA is an international research group that provides insights and analysis on climate change and the energy transition.

In the Philippines, families have been seeing their power bills rise over the past few months, especially since the Iran war. 

“When we got our energy bill after the Iran war broke out, we were very shocked. It was wow. It was a significant increase,” Jaime Quemado, who had just bought rooftop solar in Manila, said in a recent AP story about the price shocks. 

The Philippines already has one of the highest power prices in Asia, second only to Singapore, which is a much wealthier country. Low-income households can spend up to 10% of their annual income on electricity, making electricity affordability a big issue.

Imported fossil fuels are pushing up electricity bills

There are many reasons why the country’s power prices are so high, including inefficient coal plants, how expensive it is to transmit power over the country’s 7,600 islands, and the fact that the government doesn’t subsidise electricity costs for consumers, unlike in other Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. 

But a big reason is that the Philippines generates just over three-quarters of its electricity from burning coal and gas in power plants, and a lot of this fuel is imported from other countries.

Importing coal and gas is expensive, and becomes even more so when conflicts like the Iran war squeeze global supply and push up prices. Currently, LNG (liquefied natural gas, a gas cooled into liquid to travel long distances) prices in Asia are more than 70% higher than on February 27, the day before the Iran war began, and coal prices in Asia have risen around 20% over the same time period. A similar thing happened in 2022, when LNG prices hit historical highs in Asia after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Price of fossil fuels in Asia have increased since the war in Iran. Credit: Zero Carbon Analytics

As the fuels used for power get pricier, electricity becomes more expensive to produce, and increases in global coal, oil and gas prices are felt in consumers’ pockets – especially in countries that rely on imported fossil fuels for power. In the Philippines, households literally see an increasing “generation charge” in their monthly electricity bills, which refers to how much it costs to produce electricity. 

Poorer families will be hit hardest by rising energy prices – research shows that poorer Filipinos will lose a higher percentage of their income from energy price shocks than richer Filipinos, because, in addition to paying more for fuel and power, rising energy prices also raise food prices.

But the Philippines isn’t the only country that imports a lot of fossil fuels. Many countries across the world meet the majority of their energy needs with fossil fuel imports, including Japan, Korea, Türkiye and Germany, according to think tank Ember. 

Other countries in South and Southeast Asia, like Thailand and Pakistan, import substantial amounts of gas, which they use to generate power. Thailand relies on gas to generate about two-thirds of its electricity, and Pakistan relies on it for around one-third. As a result, power bills are also going up in many of these countries, including Türkiye and Pakistan.   

Governments in Asia are rushing to get renewables online

These high electricity bills aren’t inevitable – they are a result of power systems that are built to rely on turbulent fossil fuel markets. A system that uses renewable energy sources, like wind or solar PV, can help lower power prices. Once they are up and running, wind and solar power don’t require fuel – apart from sun and wind, which are free – so there are no fuel costs to fluctuate. Solar can produce stable power for up to 30 years.

Research has shown that it is already cheaper to produce electricity from solar than from gas in the Philippines. The same is true in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, like Vietnam and Malaysia. 

In the Philippines, the government is taking note and rushing solar power online. On March 30, the government said it had activated 250 megawatts (MW) of solar capacity – equivalent to 8% of the county’s 2024 solar capacity – and 450 megawatt-hour (MWh) of battery storage. It has also said it would fast-track the completion of 22 power projects to bring an additional 1.47 gigawatts (GW) of renewable energy and storage online by the end of April. 

Many are turning to solar panels to generate electricity as they are cheaper than oil and gas. Image credit: ulleo, Pixabay

Filipino homeowners are also hurrying to install solar panels, with rooftop solar becoming increasingly popular. A survey of 20 local solar companies saw a 70% rise in weekly installations and a six-fold increase in customer inquiries since the Iran war began, according to the AP.

Thailand is also seeing a surge in inquiries about installing new solar since the start of the Iran war, according to media reports. In April, the Thai government also approved THB 5 billion (about USD 156 million) in loans for people to install rooftop solar and buy EVs.

In fact, our recent research found that 15 Asian countries have announced clean energy measures in response to the Iran war.

Many asian countries have announced clean energy measures in response to the war in Iran. Credit: Zero Carbon Analytics

More renewable energy is good for energy bills and the planet

All of this new solar is good news for consumers’ pockets. If the Philippines continues to expand solar and use it to replace imported coal and gas in the power mix, it will help to lower electricity bills. The same is true for Thailand – we calculated that Thai households with solar could have saved 77% on their power bills compared to households without solar in 2024, saving an average THB 8340 (about USD 260).

New solar is also good news for the planet. More renewable energy means fewer emissions from coal and gas plants, which will help to slow global warming and lessen the chances of climate impacts and extreme weather. This is especially important in Southeast Asia, which is one of the regions most vulnerable to climate disasters. 

The Iran war has reminded us that imported coal and gas are an expensive and risky way to generate power, just four years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine showed the same. Choosing to replace fossil fuel generation with renewable energy will help to protect families from paying the price of such global crises.

 

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Some are already calling it a “Super El Niño”. But what exactly is El Niño and what does it have to do with the fossil fuels driving the climate crisis? Here’s everything you need to know.

What is El Niño?

Every two to seven years, the surface waters of the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean warm significantly above their normal temperature, and when they do, it throws the entire planet’s weather off balance. This phenomenon is called El Niño.

The science

Normally, trade winds in the Pacific act like a giant fan blowing across the tropics, pushing warm surface water westward toward Australia and Indonesia — bringing rainfall, healthy monsoons, and productive oceans. Meanwhile, cold, nutrient-rich water rises to the surface in the east, keeping fisheries alive and climates stable along the coasts of Peru and Ecuador in South America. But every few years those trade winds weaken, warm water stops being pushed west, and the eastern Pacific heats up. And when it happens, that balance collapses: Australia and Indonesia face drought, South America faces floods, and weather systems that billions of people depend on are thrown into disarray across the entire planet.

El Niño develops through the warming of the surface water in the Pacific.  (Getty Images)

The name El Niño, Spanish for “the boy child”, refers to the baby Jesus. It was originally coined by South American fishermen who noticed a warm ocean current off the coasts of Ecuador and Peru around Christmas time as far back as the 1600s.

El Niño is one phase of a larger natural climate cycle called ENSO (El Niño–Southern Oscillation). Its counterpart, La Niña (meaning “girl child”), is the opposite: a cooling of the same Pacific waters, with strengthened trade winds. Together, El Niño and La Niña swing global weather patterns like a pendulum. El Niño brings drought to South and Southeast Asia, Australia, and southern Africa, while delivering heavier rainfall to parts of South America. And La Niña brings the reverse of many of those patterns.

Neither event is a disaster by itself, rather they have been part of Earth’s natural climate rhythm for thousands of years. The problems start when they become extreme, especially when the world they arrive in is already stressed.

What’s happening right now?

This year, something different is happening. The Pacific has just swung out of a La Niña cooling phase, and El Niño is developing unusually fast. The question is just how big it gets.

For an El Niño to be officially declared, ocean temperatures only need to rise 0.5°C above average. But the United States’ National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, now puts an 82% chance of El Niño developing by July 2026, and this one is already looking far more serious than its predecessors. 

A “Super El Niño” is when temperatures surge 2°C or more above normal. That threshold has only been crossed a handful of times in recorded history — in 1982, 1997, and 2015. Each time, it triggered droughts, floods, and record temperatures across multiple continents. But the El Niño in 1876-78 is considered one of the strongest on record, and led to a global famine that killed around 50 million people across India, China, Brazil, and southern Africa. That was about 1 in every 28 people alive at the time. It remains the benchmark for worst-case El Niño events in human history. 

Right now, forecasts are warning that this El Niño could push ocean temperatures 2°C or even 3°C above normal by the end of 2026. Three of the world’s top forecasting agencies project El Niño 2026 will likely match, or surpass, the 1878 El Niño in ocean temperature. And unlike 1877, this one is arriving in a world that is already hotter, with more people to feed and less room for error. Many scientists are already predicting 2027 will be the warmest year ever recorded.

Impacts

The human stakes are quite high, and they look different depending on where you live. Africa faces some of the worst exposure: drought in the Sahel and southern Africa threatens staple crops like maize, while East Africa faces major flooding. The last major El Niño left over 30 million people needing humanitarian assistance in southern Africa alone. In Asia, a weaker monsoon puts India’s rice, wheat, and cotton harvests at risk, while drought conditions threaten crops across Southeast Asia and Australia. In Latin America, Central America faces prolonged drought and food insecurity, while Peru, Ecuador, and southern Brazil face the opposite: intense rainfall and flooding. The crops most people depend on — maize, rice, and wheat — all tend to fall globally during strong El Niño years. In wealthy countries, that means higher food prices. In others, it means hunger.

And this is all hitting a world already under strain — fertilizer shortages, energy price spikes, and sweeping cuts to foreign aid have stripped away the buffers that once helped vulnerable communities absorb these shocks.

Why fossil fuels make El Niño impacts so much worse

Here’s the critical point that often gets lost in the headlines: El Niño itself is not caused by climate change. But the climate crisis, driven by burning fossil fuels, is making its effects dramatically worse.

Think of it this way. El Niño temporarily releases enormous amounts of heat stored in the ocean into the atmosphere. That has always caused disruption. But today, that heat is being released into a world already running hotter than it has in human history. So when El Niño pulses on top of that elevated baseline, the consequences are more severe than any comparable event from decades past.

“Global warming is giving more energy to the whole system to be unearthed by these El Niño events when they occur.”

–  Dr Daniel Swain, climate scientist

In other words, global heating acts as a fuel that amplifies El Niño’s natural force — and that extra energy has real consequences: heavier downpours and more destructive storms, faster-spreading wildfires as higher temperatures dry out vegetation, more severe droughts in regions already vulnerable during El Niño years, and record-breaking temperatures. 

Some research also suggests that warming oceans may be making individual El Niño events stronger, though scientists are still working to fully understand that link. What is clear is that the baseline the world is dealing with has already shifted. Fifty years ago, a strong El Niño caused serious damage. Today, that same event would be far more destructive because the climate crisis has already raised the stakes.

Researchers also warn of a vicious cycle: strong El Niño events hit hydropower-dependent regions with droughts, forcing them to burn more coal and gas for electricity — which in turn pumps more carbon into the atmosphere and drives further heating. El Niño and fossil fuels then go on to reinforce one another’s worst effects. 

What this means for the climate fight

A Super El Niño is not a reason to panic, but more so a reason to act. These events come and go. What doesn’t go away is the underlying warming driven by fossil fuels. Every fraction of a degree that burning coal, oil, and gas adds to the global baseline makes the next El Niño more destructive.

Some climate models now show a meaningful chance that 2026 or 2027 could see global monthly temperatures briefly exceed 2.0°C above preindustrial levels for the first time in recorded history. They are the temperatures at which weather systems break down, crops fail, and the precarity built up by decades of climate inaction becomes catastrophic.

We know exactly what to do. The technology exists. The knowledge exists. The path forward is a rapid, just phase-out of fossil fuels, and a shift to renewable energy that doesn’t leave vulnerable communities behind.

El Niño will pass. The climate crisis won’t, unless we end the era of fossil fuels.

Join 350’s Great Power Shift campaign to phase out fossil fuels, usher in renewables and hold the polluters accountable.

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If you’ve been feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world lately, you’re not alone.

Every day seems to bring another crisis: rising costs, deepening inequality, escalating conflicts, and climate disasters arriving faster and harder than before. It can feel relentless.

But beyond the headlines, something else is happening too.

Across the world, ordinary people are building the future we’ve been fighting for – together, in their communities, with their own hands. They are organizing, installing solar panels, demanding accountability, and proving that another kind of future is not only possible, but already underway.

This week alone, we’ve seen powerful reminders of that.

1. The United Nations took a historic step on climate accountability

United Nations member states have adopted a landmark resolution affirming that governments have a legal responsibility to act on climate change. The move follows the groundbreaking advisory opinion issued earlier this year by the International Court of Justice.

More than two-thirds of UN member states, 141, voted in favour of the resolution on Wednesday, with eight voting No and 28 abstaining.

For years, climate movements around the world have pushed for accountability from the countries and corporations most responsible for the crisis. While this resolution does not solve everything overnight, it marks a significant shift: climate justice is becoming impossible to ignore at the highest levels of global power.

This is what sustained public pressure can achieve. Change rarely comes all at once, but movements create momentum, and momentum matters.

2. Pacific communities are building energy sovereignty

In Nadi, Fiji, community leaders from Fiji, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu are currently taking part in a hands-on Solar Scholars training led by 350 Pacific and the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities.

By the end of the training, participants will have assembled and installed two community-owned solar systems: one serving a village in Sigatoka and another powering a kindergarten in Lautoka.

That means children will be able to go to school with reliable electricity and communities will have greater control over their own energy future.

“One of the dreams has always been to learn how to reach out to communities and bring energy sovereignty in our communities,” said 350 Pacific Coordinator George Nacewa.
This is what a just energy transition looks like: communities building solutions for themselves, rooted in care, self-determination, and shared knowledge.

3. People around the world are demanding renewable energy

New polling across 13 countries, including Brazil, India, Colombia, Germany, the United Kingdom, and South Africa, shows something striking: people increasingly understand that fossil fuels are tied to conflict, instability, and rising living costs. They want something different.

Across political divides, majorities support investing in solar and wind energy, taxing excessive fossil fuel profits, reducing dependence on oil and gas, and treating energy as a public good rather than a source of corporate profit.

The message is clear. People want energy systems that are cleaner, fairer, more stable, and more affordable. Governments now need to catch up with the public.

4. Southeast Asia is embracing rooftop solar

As global fuel prices continue to rise, families and governments across Southeast Asia are increasingly turning to rooftop solar.

In the Philippines, solar installations have surged by 70%, while customer inquiries reportedly increased six-fold following the recent Iran conflict. Indonesia aims to expand rooftop solar capacity from 1.3 gigawatts today to 100 gigawatts by 2034. Vietnam and Thailand are also introducing new policies and targets to accelerate solar adoption on homes and public buildings. This is people power in action.

When renewable energy becomes accessible, people choose it, because it lowers costs, increases energy security, and offers a path away from dependence on volatile fossil fuels.

Every rooftop panel represents more than electricity. It represents a choice for a different future.

5. Africa is mobilizing for affordable, community-owned energy

Across the African continent this week, thousands of activists, young people, and community organizations are mobilizing as part of AfrikaVuka Week.

Their demand is simple but powerful: stop expanding fossil fuels and start investing in affordable, community-owned renewable energy.

For decades, fossil fuel expansion has been framed as development, even while millions of people continue to lack access to reliable and affordable electricity. Afrika Vuka Week challenges that narrative by calling for energy systems that prioritize people, not corporate profits.

Climate justice and energy justice are inseparable, and communities across Africa are making that connection impossible to ignore.

The transition is already happening

It is easy to believe that progress is too slow, or that powerful interests will always stand in the way of change.

But around the world, the transition is already underway.

Communities are organizing. Families are choosing renewable energy. Young people are demanding accountability. Movements are growing stronger across borders.

And together, they are proving something important: a safer, fairer, more affordable future is not a distant dream. It is already being built.

Across the world, people are proving that another energy future is possible. Join the Great Power Shift campaign and help build a future powered by the people, not fossil fuels.

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This is a guest blog by Health Care Without Harm, a global movement working at the intersection of climate and health, grounded in a simple reality: more people are being made sick by the conditions around them, and while health care contributes to the problem, it holds a powerful responsibility and opportunity to lead change from within. 

If the global health care sector were a country, it would be the fifth largest source of pollution that is driving rising temperatures worldwide. Behind that number is a deeper reality: modern healthcare, like much of our economy, is still heavily dependent on fossil fuels. And that dependence comes with a cost that all of us are paying, in our health, in our wallets, and in our daily lives.

The health system runs on fossil fuels and so do the harms it treats

From the electricity that powers hospitals, to the production and transport of medicines, to the plastics used in packaging and everyday care, fossil fuels are embedded in nearly every step of the healthcare system. In fact, the vast majority of health care emissions come from fossil fuel use.

Plastics are a key part of this story. Today, around 99 percent of plastics are made from oil and gas. That means everything from gloves and gowns to syringes and packaging is directly tied to fossil fuel extraction and production. And plastics add another layer of harm: from start to finish, they release toxic chemicals and microplastics into the air, water, and even our bodies, linked to serious health risks including cancer, infertility, and respiratory illness.

Plastic is not just waste, it is an ongoing demand for fossil fuels, built into how our hospitals and clinics operate.

At the same time, burning fossil fuels is driving rising temperatures and extreme weather, and are a major source of air pollution. That pollution is responsible for millions of deaths each year. It contributes to asthma, heart disease, stroke, cancer, and complications during pregnancy. It worsens existing conditions and creates new ones.

In other words, the same fossil fueled system damages the air, water, and land we rely on and is also filling our hospital beds.

A patient with sickness sitting in hospital ward bed, waiting to receive treatment and medical assistance from doctor. Photo: magnific.com

We are paying for it twice

There is a hidden double cost to fossil fuels.

First, we pay through our health. Rising temperatures, extreme weather, polluted air, and unsafe water are already affecting communities around the world. Doctors and nurses are seeing it every day, from respiratory illness to the mental health impacts of disasters. Findings show that in 2024, heat-related mortality for people over 65 has increased by 85% compared to the early 2000s, with over 546,000 heat-related deaths occurring annually. In India alone, air pollution is linked to over 1.72 million deaths annually.

Rising temperatures and polluted air have also made India more vulnerable to disease. Photo: PTI

Then we pay again through the cost of care.

Treating these health problems is putting a growing strain on health systems. The costs are staggering: air pollution alone causes trillions of dollars in damage globally each year, while exposure to plastic-related chemicals adds more than $1.5 trillion annually through cancer, diabetes, respiratory illness, lost lives, and reduced productivity. In the US alone, plastic-related diseases cost $250 billion in a single year.These pressures don’t stop at treatment, they ripple through the system, increasing waste management costs, straining supply chains, and compounding operational and financial stress.

This is the price of a fossil fuel dependent system, and it is a price that is rising and that comes out of all of our pockets. Following India’s example, for 2023/24, Indian insurers collected $12.4 billion in health insurance premiums, an increase of about 20% over the previous year. 

As with most crises, the burden is not shared equally. Communities already facing inequality are often the most exposed to pollution, extreme heat, and disasters. They are also the least likely to have access to quality health care when they need it most. Around the world, hundreds of millions of people still lack reliable access to electricity. Many rely on burning charcoal or other fuels at home, exposing families to dangerous indoor air pollution. Women and children are especially affected.

Even within wealthier countries, frontline communities are often the first to feel the impacts and the last to receive support. When disasters hit, it becomes even clearer: health systems can be overwhelmed or disrupted, leaving gaps that communities themselves are forced to fill.

In May last year, for example, a powerful tornado tore through parts of St. Louis in the U.S., causing widespread damage. Homes were destroyed, power was cut, and thousands of people were left without basic support. Many families struggled  to access food, clear debris, or get the healthcare they needed. Community groups stepped in quickly, delivering supplies, checking on neighbors, and helping people replace medications and connect to care.

A drone view shows houses damaged after a tornado struck in St. Louis, Missouri, May 17. REUTERS/Lawrence Bryant

But while that response was essential, it also exposed a deeper problem. Communities should not have to carry this burden alone. Disasters like this show the urgent need for stronger systems, better preparedness, and policies that prioritize people’s health and safety before a crisis hits. This means investing in communities ahead of time, ensuring equitable access to care, and building systems that can respond when it matters most.

 

Healthcare can help lead the way

Healthcare has both the responsibility and the influence to drive change, grounded in a simple principle: do no harm. In a fossil fuel dependent world, that principle is harder to uphold, but it also creates a clear mandate for change.

Health workers, along with tens of thousands of hospitals and leading health ministries, are not only responding to the impacts of rising temperatures, they are actively redesigning the system itself. In practice, this means:

• Switching to decentralized renewable energy: Hospitals are investing in renewable energy to reduce their own pollution, to stay operational during disruptions and reduce exposure to volatile fuel prices.
• Transforming supply chains: Health systems are changing what they buy, choosing products that create less pollution and waste, while making their systems more reliable.
• Reducing reliance on plastics: Hospitals and clinics are cutting unnecessary single use plastics and shifting to safe, reusable alternatives, lowering costs while reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
• Reducing unnecessary waste: Improving efficiency – using less and wasting less – helps bring down costs and protects patients and workers.
• Clinicians driving change: Health professionals are spotting what works, cutting pollution, and using their knowledge and leadership to influence decisions.

These are not abstract ideas. They are real, working examples of what a just transition away from polluting fossil fuels can look like in practice. They show that it is possible to reduce reliance on fossil fuels while improving care and lowering costs: Renewable energy means cleaner air and fewer illnesses. Stronger systems mean fewer disruptions and more stable prices.

Health systems are both public and private, so leadership needs to come from across the sector – and beyond it. Hospitals and health workers can lead change, but they cannot do it alone. Transforming healthcare also means rethinking how medicines, devices, and supplies are made and delivered, reducing reliance on fossil fuels at every step. Scaling this shift will require political will. Governments and institutions need to align policies, finance, and incentives with a future that protects health rather than undermines it.

The choice in front of us

The connection between fossil fuels, health, and affordability is visible in our air, our hospitals, our bills and our daily lives.

We can continue to absorb the rising costs of a system that makes us sick, or we can build one that protects health at its core. That means governments putting people before pollution and polluters, accelerating a just transition to renewable energy, rethinking our dependence on plastics, and ending the prioritization of fossil fuel expansion over public health.

The post Out of Pocket: the real cost of fossil fuels on our health and healthcare systems appeared first on 350.

Written by: Ogie Atadero, Energy Transition Campaigner at 350 Pilipinas

There is a particular kind of disbelief that accompanies good news now, especially when it concerns the climate crisis. We have grown used to stories of loss: forests burning, coastlines drowning, heat arriving early and lingering too long. The future has so often been described to us as catastrophe that we forget another possibility exists, that change can sometimes arrive quietly, almost invisibly, carrying not only necessity but relief.

“Saving is happiness,” Ms. Mel Policario said, with the practical certainty of someone who has watched the numbers closely.

She is the Finance Officer of Dr. Yanga’s Colleges Inc. (DYCI), a school in Bulacan, a province located on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. DYCI, near the close of 2025, made what sounds at first like a technical decision: to shift to renewable energy through the Green Energy Option Program, or GEOP. But many of the most important transformations begin this way; not with spectacle, but with paperwork, conversations, signatures, and a willingness to imagine that the systems surrounding us are not fixed forever.

 

A simpler path to clean energy

For years, renewable energy in the Philippines has often been imagined as something distant or inaccessible, requiring solar panels stretched across rooftops or wind turbines turning against the horizon. There is romance in those images, certainly, but also intimidation. They suggest large investments, technical expertise, maintenance costs, and space that many institutions simply do not have.

GEOP changes the story.

Through the program, qualified consumers can choose renewable energy suppliers directly, receiving clean energy through the same national grid that already powers their buildings and classrooms. No installation crews arrive. No roofs need rebuilding. The electricity travels invisibly, as electricity always has. What changes is the source: somewhere beyond sight, energy generated from renewable sources is fed into the grid and credited to institutions like DYCI.

Eligibility for GEOP is relatively straightforward and is often indicated in the electricity bill of large energy consumers. Initially set at a minimum monthly peak demand of 100 kW, the threshold has since been revised to 50 kW, enabling more institutions to qualify and access renewable energy options.

In the Philippines, we are used to noticing energy only when something goes wrong: during brownouts, rising electricity bills, or the heavy heat of a classroom when the power suddenly cuts out. Electricity is something people feel very personally here.

The savings no one expected

Which is why DYCI’s transition to renewable energy feels quietly remarkable. Nothing about the school suddenly looked different. There were no giant machines built across the campus, no dramatic reconstruction. And yet something fundamental had changed beneath ordinary life itself: the source of the energy powering classrooms, offices, electric fans, and lights.

With nearly the same level of electricity consumption as the previous year, DYCI has already reduced its electricity costs significantly through renewable energy procurement. In only a matter of months, the school has saved more than one hundred thousand pesos – money that can now be redirected toward students, facilities, and the ordinary needs that sustain an educational institution.

There is something quietly radical in this.

The dominant narrative around climate action has long framed it as sacrifice: consume less, pay more, expect hardship. Fossil fuel dependency, meanwhile, has been normalized as the practical and affordable choice, despite the immense social and environmental costs hidden beneath every coal plant and oil shipment. But moments like this reveal another reality. Renewable energy is not merely an ethical gesture toward the planet’s future. It is increasingly the smarter economic choice in the present.

How transitions really happen

Implemented as a mechanism under the Renewable Energy Act of 2008, GEOP opened a door that many institutions are only beginning to realize exists. Since its implementation in 2021, it has allowed schools, businesses, and organizations to participate in the energy transition without the enormous upfront costs that traditionally defined renewable energy projects.

Additionally, DYCI’s commitment to explore alternative energy options like GEOP, ultimately led to the securing of contracts under the Retail Competition and Open Access (RCOA) framework. Alongside GEOP, RCOA serves as a complementary mechanism that enables qualified consumers to directly engage with competitive electricity suppliers, further supporting the transition to more sustainable and cost-efficient energy sources.

And perhaps this is how transitions really happen: not all at once, not everywhere simultaneously, but through accumulating acts of practical imagination. A school changes providers. A finance officer notices the savings. A conversation begins. Someone else realizes they can do the same.

If larger institutions, including government agencies, are willing to transition to renewable energy and make the process accessible and straightforward, it can significantly encourage broader public adoption. When the transition is supported by accessible, reliable, and well-established mechanisms that are enabling rather than punitive, individuals are more likely to follow and adopt the shift quickly

The future often arrives long before we recognize it has already begun.

The post The future of energy is here, and it’s saving schools money appeared first on 350.

According to a European Environment Agency survey of 27,000 people across 27 European countries, published before the war in the Middle East in February, over 38% of respondents said they could not afford to keep their homes adequately cool in summer.

As temperatures continue to soar around the world, heatwaves are becoming more frequent and intense. But they’re not only uncomfortable; they can also pose serious health risks. It’s important to stay cool and protect ourselves while also looking out for those who might be more vulnerable in our communities.

Here are some practical tips to help you cool down during a heatwave.

1. Shield Your Home from the Sun’s Rays: It might be counterintuitive to keep your windows closed during heatwaves but as soon as it starts to feel hotter outside than it is in your home – it’s best to close all your windows and close your curtains or blinds when the sun is directly on them to keep the heat out. You can also put tin foil with the shiny side facing outward in your window to reflect heat away.
2. Let the Heat Out! In the evening, if it’s cooler outside open all your windows and doors for as long as possible to let the cooler air flow through your home and remember to close them again in the morning before it gets hotter.
3. Stay Hydrated: Freeze water bottles overnight so you have ice-cold water to drink throughout the day. Make yourself an electrolyte-infused hydration drink by mixing 100ml of lemon juice, 2 tbsp lime juice, 500ml of water, 2 tbsp of honey, 1/8 tsp sea salt.
4. Make Your Own Air Conditioner: Freeze a big bottle of water overnight and put it in front of a fan (on top of a towel to catch any condensation). Sit in front of the bottle and enjoy the cool breeze.
5. Cool Your Skin: Take cold showers or baths (and then dry off in front of your homemade air conditioner!). Keep a spray bottle of water in the fridge so you can mist yourself through the day. You can cool off fast by soaking your feet in a bucket of cold water.

Find out more ways to stay cool from the World Health Organisation – including what to do if you or someone you are assisting is suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.

How can you help others?

We are facing an unprecedented severity and frequency of heatwaves and the impacts aren’t felt equally. It is the people with underlying medical conditions, people in unstable housing, and some of the same folks who were hailed as ‘essential workers’ during the height of the pandemic who are the most at risk from the impacts of these heat waves. Make sure to check in on people in your community, particularly elderly and unhoused folks. Consider distributing cold water bottles to folks who might need them.

Share these tips with your friends and family.

What else can you do about the climate and affordability crisis? 

Heatwaves are evidence that we’re already paying for a crisis we didn’t create. Meanwhile, those that did create the crisis – oil and gas companies – continue to profit, backed by billions in public subsidies. Our governments must choose to make a great power shift that will bring down energy costs and tackle the climate crisis at the same time.

Sign the petition calling on all governments to ensure affordable renewable energy for all, to tax polluters permanently and to stop fossil fuel subsidies.

True renewable, democratic, and just energy systems are possible. Check out the 350.org Hope Hub, which showcases projects worldwide that do just that.

The post 5 ways to stay cool in a heatwave appeared first on 350.

What happens when a geopolitical crisis strikes? When wars start over oil reserves, prices spike at the pump and on household bills, and the fragility of a fossil fuel-dependent world becomes impossible to ignore? And you ask ordinary people — not politicians, not lobbyists, not oil executives — what they think should happen next?

Well, the general public already has the answers. They understand why these crises keep happening. They understand who profits from them. And they understand what needs to change. Two major crises of 2026, the US seizure of Venezuelan President and the US-Israeli war in Iran, have etched into the public consciousness how fossil fuels drive conflict, inflate bills, and strip communities of stability over their own futures.

Crisis one: Venezuela. The moment people connected oil to instability and conflict.

The United States’ capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and threats to seize its natural resources in early 2026, and its threats to annex Greenland, uncovered a clear link: fossil fuels make countries and people more vulnerable to military aggression and conflict. Where there is oil and gas, there is instability — wars fought over reserves, and ordinary people left to pay the price in rising bills, broken communities, and lives lost to conflicts they never chose. None of this, it turns out, has been lost on the public.

In the immediate aftermath, Secure Energy Project commissioned market research agency Opinium to poll six countries — Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Canada, Germany, and India – on whether the public was drawing the same conclusions. They were:

• In India, the world’s most populous nation and third largest energy consumer, spending hundreds of billions on fossil fuel imports every year — 72% said India would be safer with more renewable energy, 67% said the transition is more important than ever, and 66% said India should prioritize clean energy over fossil fuel expansion
• In Brazil, 76% said the transition is more important than ever and 79% said Brazil should prioritise clean energy. 
• In Mexico, where approximately 70% of gas consumption came from US imports in 2025, 72% said oil and gas dependence increases the risk of international conflict, 70% said Mexico would be safer with more renewables.
• In Colombia, 69% said oil and gas dependence increases the risk of international conflict, 69% said Colombia would be safer with more renewables, and 61% said transitioning to domestic solar and wind would strengthen national security — with majorities holding across every political tradition.
• In Canada, 67% said oil and gas reliance increases the risk of international conflict, 59% said Canada would be safer with more renewables.
• In Germany, 72% said fossil fuel dependence increases the risk of international conflict, 57% said it weakens national security, and 58% said Germany should prioritize the energy transition.

Across all six countries, across every point on the political spectrum, the same recognition emerged: fossil fuel dependence doesn’t just damage the climate. It fuels aggression, enables coercion, and makes entire nations vulnerable to the whims of the powerful few. Domestic solar and wind, in contrast, don’t come with geopolitical strings attached. They don’t spike when a president gets arrested or a strait gets blockaded. For the first time at this scale, energy security, international political stability and climate action were understood as the same thing.

Crisis two: Iran. When people demanded the polluters pay.

A few short weeks after, came the war in Iran. Oil and gas prices surged. Bills rose. 350.org’s analysis showed the price spikes could cost ordinary households and businesses up to US$1 trillion by year’s end. While BP posted US$3.2 billion in quarterly profits and TotalEnergies banked US$5.4 billion in the first three months of 2026 alone, families across the world suffered from the costs of a crisis they did not cause.

Oxfam’s polling, conducted in April across seven countries, cut straight to the accountability question: while families absorbed war-driven energy price spikes and oil and gas corporations banked record profits, what did people think governments should do about it? The answers, across every country surveyed, were unambiguous.

1. On government investment priorities, the verdict was overwhelming. Brazil and Turkey led the way, with 77% in each country saying their government should invest more in renewable energy rather than expanding fossil fuel extraction. Colombia followed at 72%. France at 64%, the UK at 62%, and the Netherlands at 61%. Even Australia — the country most resistant to the energy transition in the survey — still had 59% favouring renewables over fossil fuels, against only 29% who favoured expansion
2. On corporate accountability, majorities were clear too. The Netherlands led at 75% saying it is wrong for oil and gas corporations to make huge profits without taking responsibility for their climate pollution. France came in at 71%, the UK and Brazil both at 70%, Turkey at 67%, Colombia at 63%. Australia, again, showed the lowest — but still majority support at 57%.
3. On taxing fossil fuel profits, the findings were perhaps the most politically significant — and the most hopeful. France showed the strongest support, with 75% backing increased taxes on oil and gas profits to fund the transition, including 43% who strongly support it. The UK came in at 72%. Turkey at 70%. Colombia and Brazil both at 69%. The Netherlands at 63%. Australia at 60% — the lowest of all seven countries, yet still a clear majority.

And here is the detail that should make every government take notice: in six out of seven countries surveyed, there were more far-right respondents who supported taxing oil and gas profits than those who opposed it. This is not a left-wing policy position being imposed on a reluctant public. It is a majority position across the entire political spectrum – in every country, in every tradition, among voters that governments across the world claim to represent.

The public has connected the dots: fossil fuels mean conflict. Renewables mean security, stability and lower bills.

Together, these findings paint a picture of a public that has worked out what its governments have apparently not. The energy crisis, the geopolitical crisis, and the climate crisis are not three separate problems requiring three separate committees and three separate summits. They are one system – built on fossil fuel dependence, sustained by lobbying and political capture, and extracting its costs from the communities least responsible for any of it.

Whether the question was asked in the shadow of Venezuela or Iran, whether framed around national security or corporate accountability, whether put to voters in the Global South or the Global North – the answer is the same. Renewables mean stability. Fossil fuels mean vulnerability. And the corporations that profit from that vulnerability should fund the way out.

This is exactly what The Great Power Shift is fighting for. From activists urging taxes on Big Oil’s excess profits in Canada, to communities in Japan pushing back against fossil fuel subsidies, to families in South Africa organizing for free basic electricity, and more – people everywhere are calling for the future their governments have been too slow to deliver. The public mandate documented in these two polls isn’t a starting point. It is confirmation of something already underway.

No family should be priced out of heating their home because a war broke out over oil reserves. No government should feel compelled to wage one. Clean, affordable renewable energy ends both problems at once – and the public, across thirteen countries, already understands that. 

Energy is not a market commodity to be traded and speculated on, nor is it a geopolitical weapon. It is a right. And frankly, it’s time governments caught up with the people they claim to represent. It’s time for the Great Power Shift!

JOIN US

 

The post People are ready for the energy transition. Governments need to catch up. appeared first on 350.

This is a guest blog co-authored by Risalat Khan, Senior Strategist, Insurance and Finance at The Sunrise Project Inc and Kenny Stancil, Deputy Research Director at the Revolving Door Project.

If you’ve opened an insurance bill lately and felt your stomach drop, you’re not alone. For many of us, insurance is a core part of the financial safety net, but the cost of insuring our homes, our cars, our farms, and our health is climbing fast.

Insurance companies blame rising ‘natural’ disaster losses and rebuilding costs, but they’re leaving out a crucial part of the story: Fossil fuel pollution, which insurers continue to support (through practices like underwriting and investment), is supercharging the extreme weather that is driving up insurance prices.

We call it the pollution premium — the hidden surcharge that fossil fuels add to the cost of protecting the things we care about most.

 

In early 2024, the Global Week of Action (GWA) called on the insurance industry to end their role in driving the climate crisis through their insurance of fossil fuel projects. This action was in Nigeria by Voices of the Vulnerable on 29 Feb 2024. Photo: Voices of the Vulnerable

Climate disasters are getting more expensive

The costs of the climate crisis are rising, for the insured or uninsured alike. In 2024, global economic losses from tropical cyclones, floods, wildfires, and other extreme weather events made worse by planet-heating emissions reached USD 368 billion, well above the 21st century average. 

Only $145 billion of those $368 billion in losses were insured. The remaining $223 billion landed directly on families, communities, and governments with little safety net and grueling paths to recovery. This massive protection gap serves as a reminder that across much of the world, the costs of the climate crisis fall directly on people without insurance.

Behind those numbers are real human beings. Typhoon Yagi killed 816 people and caused $12.9 billion in losses across China and Southeast Asia. Hurricane Helene killed 243 people and caused $75 billion in losses across the US, Mexico, and Cuba. Spain’s flash floods in Valencia killed 231 people and caused $16.1 billion in damage. Of the $104 billion in damages unleashed by those three storms, just $22.1 billion was insured. That leaves households and government budgets to absorb the rest.

In a changed climate, nothing is just a random act of nature anymore. Estimates suggest that over a third of all weather-related insured losses since 2000 — roughly $600 billion — may have been caused by climate change. The climate share of losses rose from 31% to 38% over the past decade, growing at 6.5% per year — faster than the growth in overall insured losses. 

Even people with insurance are not spared. As climate disasters become more frequent and intense, insurers face more and more claims. To stay profitable, they raise premiums — the regular payments you make to stay covered. This is the extra amount that fossil fuel-driven climate change quietly adds to your insurance bill every month regardless of where you live.

The pollution premium, in other words, is escalating for all of us.

Activists protesting against insurance companies investing in fossil fuels. Photo: Leon Kunstenaar

Premiums are rising around the world

As climate disasters grow more costly, we can see the impact in how insurance companies charge policyholders across the world.  

In the United States, homeowner insurance premiums increased by 29% from January 2021 to January 2026, and personal auto insurance rose nearly 25% over the same period. These mounting costs are among the biggest contributors to overall inflation.

France raised its mandatory natural catastrophe surcharge on property insurance from 12% to 20%, effective January 2025. In northern Australia, premiums climbed more than 130% in real terms between 2007 and 2022, a 6% growth year on year.

Across most low- and middle-income countries, insurance coverage is usually less than 10%, and sometimes far less, leaving uninsured communities and businesses to bear most of the risks and losses from climate disasters.

This is a global problem. And it’s getting worse.

Insurers are dropping out, leaving ordinary people to  pick up the tab

Insurance companies aren’t just raising premiums; they’re abandoning some communities altogether. 

In the United States, nearly two million home insurance policies were not renewed between 2018 and 2023, and the national average nonrenewal rate increased by 32%. Some of the biggest insurers have stopped writing new policies altogether in certain places in recent years, citing extreme weather risks, including Allstate and State Farm in California, Farmers in Florida, and AIG in parts of more than a dozen states in the US.

Across much of the world, the situation is even bleaker. In Asia, only 17% of losses from climate disasters are covered by insurance and in Latin America, the rate is just 19%. In Africa, only 0.5% of climate-related losses had insurance coverage — leaving hundreds of millions of people entirely exposed when floods, droughts, and storms destroy their homes and harvests. When there is no insurance safety net, the costs land directly on families and governments, and sometimes a major disaster can cost an entire year’s GDP for a small country!

For communities accustomed to higher rates of insurance protection, the retreat of private insurers forces governments to step in as the insurer of last resort. In the US, these emergency backup programs have more than doubled since 2018 and now cover more than $1 trillion worth of property. Not only are there concerns about their ability to pay out claims in the event of major catastrophe, the costs are passed onto the public in the form of higher premiums.

People left without affordable options face hard choices. Some turn to smaller or less regulated insurers — companies that may not be able to pay out when disaster actually strikes. Others simply go without insurance entirely. In 2024, 6.1 million US households had no home insurance at all. In Europe, only around a quarter of weather-related losses are insured. Across Asia and Latin America, it is less than one in five.

Either way, ordinary people are left exposed and paying into a system that may not protect them, or taking on all the risk themselves.

The pattern is the same everywhere: as fossil fuel pollution turbocharges climate disasters, insurance becomes less affordable, less available, and less reliable. But when insurance disappears, the costs don’t. They land on strained families, communities, and government budgets instead.

Local climate activists, working with the Insure Our Future Network, gathered outside AIG Headquarters in Manhattan on May 12, 2021 during their annual shareholders meeting to demand that AIG take action on climate change. Photo: by Erik McGregor

They knew. We’re paying.

None of this is happening by surprise. As far back as the late 1970s, ExxonMobil’s own scientists accurately predicted the warming we’re now experiencing. The fossil fuel industry knew that its products cause planet-wrecking pollution, but spent decades funding doubt and delay instead.

The insurance industry also knew. As early as 1973, Munich Re warned about climate change impacts. Yet most insurance companies continue to insure and invest in fossil fuel expansion regardless, even though we have known since 2021 that such expansion is incompatible with limiting temperature rise to 1.5°C, beyond which destructive impacts grow exponentially worse.

As of 2024, just 32 companies were linked to over half of global fossil fuel emissions. Meanwhile, fossil fuel subsidies reached USD 7.4 trillion the same year. Put simply, governments are subsidizing the industry most responsible for unleashing climate chaos and forcing households to pay for the ensuing damages.

And the costs keep growing: beyond insurance, fossil fuels are driving up healthcare costs through air pollution, pushing up food prices through supply chain disruptions, and adding billions to public health budgets through heatwaves, vector-borne diseases, and more.

The fossil fuel industry profits while we pay the pollution premium.

This is a political choice — and we can change it 

Here’s the good news: the solutions exist, they are affordable, and the public wants them. We can bring down the pollution premium by replacing fossil fuels with clean energy and making polluters pay.

Make polluters pay. Every premium hike, every dropped policy, every government bailout is a cost that belongs on the balance sheets of the companies that caused this crisis. New York’s Climate Change Superfund Act is designed to collect $75 billion over 25 years from major oil and gas companies — money that goes directly back to communities bearing the costs of extreme weather. And the public is ready: 71% of US voters support requiring fossil fuel companies to pay their share of climate damages. Globally, 8 in 10 people agree.

Expand cheap renewable energy. In 2024, 91% of newly built renewable capacity produced electricity at a lower cost than the cheapest new fossil fuel alternative. The benefits are substantial; renewables helped avoid $467 billion in fossil fuel costs in 2024, supporting energy security, affordability, and resilience.

Build resilience. In Alabama, homes constructed to wind-resistant “Fortified” standards filed 55% to 74% fewer claims after Hurricane Sally. If every affected home in two counties had met those standards, insurers could have saved $112 million on payouts and policyholders $35 million in deductibles. We can prepare before a disaster strikes.

But pursuing resilience without decarbonization is like running on a treadmill that keeps speeding up. Real risk reduction requires adapting to climate change and reducing emissions.

We don’t have to keep paying the pollution premium. Governments can end fossil fuel subsidies, tax polluters, and accelerate the shift to clean, affordable renewable energy. The money is there. The technology is there. The public support is there. What’s missing is political will — and that’s something we can build together.

It’s an open question whether the insurance industry will become an ally in this fight or continue to prop up fossil fuels. Insurance companies and executives are still profiting from the status quo. Offloading liabilities while raising premiums — and investing our premiums into dirty industries — is padding their bottom line. The climate crisis is treated as someone else’s problem. 

Yet, there is precedent: health insurers took tobacco companies to court in the 1990s, and today, property insurers have the option of doing the same with the fossil fuel industry. Ultimately, our political representatives must safeguard our communities by making fossil fuel polluters pay, and forcing insurers to become part of the solution.

The post Out of Pocket: Pollution Premiums – the real cost of fossil fuels on our insurance bills appeared first on 350.