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This is a guest blog by Peter Crisp of Fossil Free Football, a fan campaign aiming to kick big polluters out of the world’s favourite sport.  

The ongoing 2026 FIFA World Cup will likely be the hottest ever, produce more pollution than any event in history, and promote the world’s biggest oil company to billions of viewers. Yet it could also be a turning point. As football’s vulnerability to the climate crisis becomes impossible to ignore, more and more fans and players are calling for sporting authorities to do better.

The climate crisis is fuelling extreme heat across the planet, driven by decades of burning coal, oil and gas. And the 2026 World Cup is not immune. Researchers predict that 14 out of 16 match venues this year will exceed dangerous temperatures with one in four matches expected to be played in hazardous heat conditions. Just last year, a June heat wave hit multiple World Cup host cities at once. A repeat this year could put attendees at real risk. On June 24 2025, it was 102F/39C  in Boston. This year, on June 23, England will play Ghana in that same city  in a stadium without shade (see below) at 4PM…

Gillette Stadium, Boston, which will be used during the tournament, offers little heat protection to fans and players. Source: Nathan Macoul, Unsplash

The heat threatens safety and changes the game itself. Extreme heat means slower tempo, less pressing and earlier substitutions. 97 of 104 scheduled matches face a higher probability of performance-impairing conditions due to climate change — meaning fans paying record prices are increasingly likely to watch a less intense game. And while players have medical teams and cooling breaks, fans are often left to fend for themselves. While 3 of the 16 venues are air-conditioned, fans in queues, fan zones and on transport routes can be exposed to dangerous heat for hours — often far longer than the players on the pitch.

The International Federation of Association Football or FIFA (which is the governing body of world football), has done little to keep fans and players safe from obvious heat risks during World Cups. We’ve already seen the consequences when it doesn’t: In June 2024, an assistant referee collapsed during a Copa America match, while last year’s Club World Cup saw players and fans sheltering inside as heat again became a major point of concern. Despite this, FIFA has selected many stadiums without any shade, in locations that are not typically used for summer sports. 

A group of experts recently told FIFA that it should do more to keep players and fans safe. They called for it to lower the temperature threshold at which matches are delayed. Currently, FIFA will only consider pausing play at 32°C (measured in Wet Bulb Globe Temperature or WBGT, a scale that accounts for heat, humidity and sun exposure together). That bar is so high that it wouldn’t be triggered at 45°C with 20% humidity, or 35°C with 80% humidity — conditions that would be dangerous for anyone, let alone athletes playing at full intensity. Seventy professional players have also publicly backed those calls. FIFA has added water breaks to all matches regardless of temperature — fundamentally altering the experience of the game — but experts say those breaks should be doubled to six minutes to properly protect players. Many fans have pointedly noted that FIFA may be equally motivated by the advertising slots these breaks create.

FIFA’s unserious attitude on heat risks extends to its broader engagement with the climate crisis. Despite holding a “green card for the planet” and committing to net-zero by 2040, FIFA President Gianni Infantino has massively expanded the tournament, and the pollution it will produce as a consequence. He has added an extra 16 teams and 60 matches, and spread the World Cup across North America so that huge amounts of flying are required. Researchers estimate the whole tournament will generate over 9 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent worth of pollution. 

FIFA President Gianni Infantino once held a ‘green card for the planet’ to show his commitment to sustainability. Source: FIFA

FIFA’s massive emissions are worsened by its sponsorship choices. It is reportedly earning about $100m per year to advertise the world’s largest oil company, Aramco. Billions of fans are therefore now receiving pro-oil messaging, just as we must urgently move away from fossil fuels. 

Aramco is 98.5% owned by the Saudi state and is a dominant source of the regime’s funding, earning $33.6bn in the first quarter of this year. These profits have bankrolled Saudi Arabia’s recent push into world sport including football –  often framed as part of its post-oil ‘Vision 2030’ diversification strategy. But the fact that Aramco is being globally promoted, (instead of any other non-oil enterprise) makes clear these sports investments are about protecting fossil fuel profits, not moving away from them. Sponsorships have helped promote Saudi Arabia and shielded it from criticism of its commitment to fossil fuels. It’s clear that the Aramco deal too is part of a broader pro-oil strategy that includes blocking climate talks and ‘hooking’ poorer countries on its oil. 

SoFi stadium, Los Angeles, USA vs. Paraguay, June 13. Source: image supplied

Aramco has been given top billing, with its brand splashed around stadiums at kick off, including at the tournament opener. Notably, the fixture was a repeat of the 2010 World Cup, but nostalgic fans looking back to iconic images from that year might have noticed a surprising (and disturbing) difference. While the 2010 tournament was sponsored by solar energy, this one is promoting Big Oil. Aramco’s World Cup advertising centres around its supposed “innovation” ,but there is nothing innovative about drilling, extracting and burning fossil fuels. The real breakthroughs are in solar, battery storage and electric vehicles — technologies that are cleaner, cheaper and faster-growing than oil has ever been. 

Opening match of 2010 World Cup, featuring solar sponsorship.

This summer, the heat impacts felt by football’s elite will be impossible to miss. But if the climate crisis is reaching its most well resourced event, then grassroots football,  the foundation the whole game is built on,  is surely being hit much harder. For every high-profile match affected by heat, there are thousands more unseen players around the world that are harmed by heat or flooding rain. FIFA profits billions from an ever-expanding tournament and big oil sponsorship — but it is ordinary fans and players who bear the cost, in dangerous heat and a worsening climate, without seeing any of the cash.

Credit: Sadhin Mahmud, Unsplash

Many football fans feel our loyalty is being exploited. FIFA’s incessant focus on profit is stripping away the essence of our beloved game — and we must use this discontent, linked to the climate crisis, as a powerful opportunity for change.

The pattern of FIFA’s constant prioritisation of revenue over tradition and affordability is consistent. Unprecedented prices for match tickets, public transport and fan zones. Commercial “hydration” breaks inserted into matches. Fans banned from bringing their own water. Big oil on the stadium hoardings. Everything FIFA does turns up the heat for supporters while lining its own pockets. Its response to obvious heat risks at the next two World Cups hosted by Morocco, Spain and Portugal, and then Saudi Arabia, has been to float moving the tournament to winter, discarding decades of tradition rather than addressing the cause.

Hundreds of millions of fans have every reason to demand better. As heat impacts worsen and the costs of fossil fuels become impossible to ignore, football lovers have real power to push for a fundamental reset that puts players and fans before FIFA’s bottom line.

Source: Quang Nguyen Vinh, Pexels

FIFA claims its core mission is to “unite the world” by making football accessible to all. Delivering on that mission means putting the climate first, because we can’t play in dangerous heat or on a flooded field. Here’s what that looks like in practice:

• End the expansionist mentality. More teams, more matches, more flights means more pollution. Growth cannot come at the planet’s expense.
• Revise heat guidelines. Current thresholds don’t protect players or fans. FIFA must lower the bar for match delays and take welfare seriously.
• Ease the fixture calendar. An oversaturated schedule drives player burnout and unsafe conditions. Less is more.
• Drop the polluters. Sponsorship deals with oil companies like Aramco must give way to partnerships with clean, innovative industries.
• Put climate at the centre. Every decision FIFA makes should be guided by one question: does this make extreme weather worse?

The most popular sport on the planet needs to stop scoring ‘own goals’, and start playing for the right team.

If you’re a fan who is ready to take this message to your club or national association, connect with us at Fossil Free Football on social media and join our next online campaign session! 

The post 2026 FIFA World Cup & Extreme Heat appeared first on 350.

Wildfires are becoming a familiar part of the European summer, from the hills of Wales to the forests of Spain and southern France. And whenever they make the news, the counter argument tends to follow: wildfires aren’t really a climate story, because most of them are started by people.  More often, it’s a dropped cigarette. A barbecue left unattended. Arson. A spark from machinery, or even broken glass catching the sun just right.

It’s true. Almost all wildfires are triggered by human activity in one way or another, accidental or deliberate. But using that fact to wave away the climate connection misses the point entirely.

Fires need three things to get going, the fire triangle,  fuel, oxygen, and a source of ignition. Humans have always provided plenty of that third ingredient, and always will; cigarettes, barbecues, campfires and careless machinery aren’t going anywhere, in Britain or anywhere else. What’s changed is the first ingredient: fuel.

The hotter and drier the weather, the drier the scrub, grass and woodland become. Dry vegetation doesn’t just burn more easily, it burns faster, spreads further, and is far harder to bring under control once it’s alight. A spark that would once have fizzled out on damp ground can now, in tinder-dry conditions, become a fire that spreads across dozens or hundreds of hectares before crews can contain it.

That’s the shift climate change is driving, it’s turning the landscape into fuel. By early July 2026, wildfires had already burned around 170,000 hectares across the EU, well above the long-term average, following the hottest June ever recorded for Western Europe. France recorded its hottest day since national records began in 1947. In southern Spain, temperatures hit as high as 45°C. Scientists have linked the intensity of that heat directly to human-caused climate change.

The human cost has been severe. In Spain’s Andalusia region, a wildfire near Almería and Bédar became the deadliest the country has seen in roughly two decades, killing at least a dozen people, many caught trying to flee. Across the continent, wildfires have killed more than a dozen people this year alone, while the heat itself, separate from the flames, has been linked to thousands of excess deaths. Portugal, Greece and Turkey have also battled major blazes, and Europe has mounted its largest firefighting mobilisation yet in response.

So, who struck the match is’nt really the  question, It’s about why the ground around it is so ready to burn. And that’s a question with a clear answer: a hotter, drier climate, driven by the continued burning of fossil fuels, is loading the dice for every spark that was always going to happen anyway, whether that spark falls in Wales, Andalusia, or the Var.

If we want fewer, smaller, less destructive wildfires, tackling the ignition source is only ever going to be half the job. The rest means tackling the reason our landscapes are drying out in the first place, and holding the industry driving that heat accountable for the damage it’s causing.

The post Beyond the spark: Why wildfires across Europe are getting worse appeared first on 350.

Back in April, we launched the Great Power Shift, our flagship global campaign to end fossil fuel dependence and ensure affordable clean energy for all. We are calling on governments to shift public money away from fossil fuels and into renewables, make polluters pay their fair share through a permanent windfall tax, and invest in energy systems that work for everyone, not just the highest bidder.

Months on, our campaign is gaining real momentum across the world, shifting power away from polluters and back to people.

Learn more about how fossil fuels and the cost of living crises are interconnected. Credit: Kathleen Lei Limayo/350.org

From local actions to national campaigns, people across the world are demanding a better future where clean, affordable energy is within reach for everyone.

Together, here’s what we’ve achieved so far:

Ahead of the G7 Summit in France, we made our demand to the world’s richest countries loud and clear: stop letting fossil fuel companies rake in obscene profits while ordinary people pay the price through higher bills and climate disasters.

More than 30,000 people signed our petition, while campaigners in France took the message directly to decision-makers through creative public actions and a wave of online pressure ahead of the summit.

Although G7 leaders stopped short of taxing the windfall profits of oil and gas companies, they couldn’t ignore the growing public demand for a fairer energy system.

The pressure doesn’t stop here.

Supporters from around the world sent our Out of Pocket report directly to political leaders, highlighting how dependence on imported fossil fuels drives up household energy costs.

The report highlights how fossil fuels are taking money from ordinary people and governments.

And it got noticed. We received a response from the European Commission – proof that people speaking up together can reach the halls of power. We also hand delivered copies to the European Parliament last week.

Across our network, people aren’t waiting for politicians to act.

In the Pacific, community leaders gathered for a Solar Scholars training programme, learning how to bring renewable energy projects to their communities.

Pacific solar scholars program.

In Türkiye, our organisers are building a virtual solar cooperative. In South Africa, our campaigners continue pushing for free basic electricity. In Canada, we’ve joined more than 60 organisations calling for governments to tax fossil fuel companies’ excess profits.

More and more communities are building energy systems that put people first.

Communities around the world also stood in solidarity with people resisting the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), a project threatening livelihoods, ecosystems and communities across Uganda and Tanzania.

Residents of Kijumba District, Uganda, stage a peaceful road blockade during the #KickPollutersOut Global Week of Action

Together with partners, campaigners organized more than 60 actions across 19 countries as part of #KickPollutersOut Global Week of Action, from marches and community meetings to creative protests and digital actions, sending a clear message that fossil fuel expansion has no place in our future.

The week showed something powerful: communities separated by thousands of kilometres are standing together against the same system that puts corporate profits before people and the planet.

Momentum continued well beyond the G7.

In Santa Marta, Colombia, representatives from 57 countries came together for the first-ever global conference focused on transitioning away from fossil fuels. For the first time, Indigenous Peoples, frontline communities, trade unions, youth activists and civil society weren’t just watching from the sidelines – they had a seat at the table, shaping the conversation alongside governments.

During the Santa Marta conference, activists and local communities blocked the entrance of one of the main coal ports in Latin America.

Outside the official meetings, communities showed that the transition is already happening. From community energy projects to a peaceful action at one of Latin America’s largest coal ports, people demonstrated that renewable alternatives aren’t ideas for the future – they’re already being built today.

Just weeks later at the UN Climate Talks in Bonn, governments signalled growing momentum behind the global commitment to transition away from fossil fuels. But once again, wealthy countries failed to deliver the finance that climate-vulnerable communities urgently need to adapt to worsening floods, droughts and extreme heat.

The message from both meetings was clear: progress is possible, but governments still need much more public pressure to match their promises with action.

That’s why our movement continues to grow. Around the world, people are facing a cost of living crisis, rising energy bills and worsening climate impacts. Meanwhile, oil and gas companies continue making enormous profits while ordinary households bear the costs.

350.org campaigners in France and Africa call for a permanent windfall tax on fossil fuel profit. Photo: Remy El Sibaïe

Enough is enough. It’s time governments made polluters pay and invested that money in affordable renewable energy and climate solutions that put people first.

When we come together to speak out, organize and build solutions in our own communities, change becomes possible.

Ready to be part of the movement?

Join the Great Power Shift and help push for a fair, fossil-free future.

Join the Great Power Shift

The post The Great Power Shift is underway! appeared first on 350.

This is a guest blog written by Ziada Kassimu, Executive Director at Green Conservers. Green Conservers (GC) is a youth-led movement working at the vital intersection of climate action and social equity. Recognizing that environmental degradation disproportionately impacts vulnerable populations, GC advocates for structural climate justice while deploying real-world solutions. Their  work centers on two transformative pillars: advancing decentralized Renewable Energy to end fossil-fuel dependency, and pioneering Agroecology to replace extractive agricultural systems for resilient, biodiverse, and community-governed food systems.

The sun had barely risen over the dusty plains when women in Diloda began their daily journeys. Some walked long distances in search of water. Others headed to small farms that once provided food for their families. A few sat outside their homes, reflecting on a life that looked very different before the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project arrived in their communities.

For many women, land was more than a piece of property. From the soil came maize, beans, sunflowers, and vegetables that fed families and generated income. The land paid school fees, covered medical expenses, and offered hope during difficult seasons. Today, many women say that hope has become increasingly difficult to find.

During community discussions, women described how the acquisition of land for the EACOP project disrupted livelihoods that had sustained families for generations. While compensation and livelihood restoration programs were presented as solutions, many community members believe these initiatives have fallen short of restoring what was lost. “We were told our lives would improve,” one woman explained. “Instead, we are struggling to rebuild what we already had.” Her words hung in the air like a cloud before a storm.

 Ziada Kassimu Executive Director at Green Conservers and Savio Carvalho (Managing Director at 350.org) Credit: Ziadah

Across affected communities, women continue to carry the heaviest burden. As primary caregivers, food producers, and managers of household welfare, they often absorb the impacts of economic disruption first and most intensely. The consequences stretch far beyond income.

When productive farmland is lost, women must work harder to feed their families. Household expenses rise while economic opportunities shrink. Food security becomes uncertain. Children become vulnerable. The entire social fabric of a community begins to strain.

In Diloda, women also spoke about another challenge that rarely appears in project reports: the growing tensions between farmers and pastoralists. Before the project, communities already faced occasional disputes over land and natural resources. However, as available land becomes increasingly limited, many residents believe tensions have intensified. The result is a growing atmosphere of uncertainty.

Communities that once shared resources are now competing for shrinking spaces. Women, often responsible for maintaining household stability, find themselves navigating conflicts they neither created nor control.

Meanwhile, many of the development promises associated with EACOP remain largely invisible to residents. Community members recall hearing about improved roads, better schools, healthcare facilities, and economic opportunities. These promises generated excitement and optimism.

Yet years later, many residents still travel on poor roads that become difficult to navigate during rainy seasons.Children continue to face challenges accessing education. Families still struggle to obtain clean and safe water. The promised dispensaries and social services remain absent from daily life.

For women carrying water containers under the scorching sun, development is not measured by project announcements or corporate presentations. It is measured by whether water flows from a nearby tap. It is measured by whether a sick child can receive treatment at a local health facility. It is measured by whether a mother can harvest enough food to feed her family. It is measured by whether livelihoods are truly restored. It is measured by energy access and affordability. 

Women in Diloda walking to the market: Credit: Ziadah

Community members repeatedly raised concerns about the effectiveness of livelihood restoration programs. While training and support activities have been implemented in some areas, many women argue that these interventions have not fully replaced the stability and independence that their land once provided. A small business cannot always replace fertile farmland. A short-term training cannot easily restore generations of agricultural knowledge and economic security. And a promise cannot fill an empty plate.

The story unfolding in communities affected by EACOP is not only about infrastructure or energy development. It is about people. It is about women whose daily lives have been transformed by decisions made far from their villages. It is about mothers searching for ways to support their children. It is about communities asking whether development can truly be called development when those most affected feel left behind.

As global conversations continue about energy, climate, and economic growth, the voices of women from Diloda offer an important reminder. Development should never be measured solely in kilometers of pipeline constructed or profits generated. It should be measured in stronger livelihoods, improved well-being, energy access, social harmony, and opportunities created for future generations. Until women can confidently say their lives are better than before, the question remains: Who truly benefits from development, and who is left carrying its costs? For the women of Diloda, the answer is written not in project reports but in the realities they face every day.

The post The Women Left Behind appeared first on 350.

The barrier to renewable energy was never the technology. It’s power: who holds it, who benefits, and what it takes to shift that. The ICONIC Renewable Energy Zones Toolkit is built to help close that gap. It’s a practical resource for NGOs, campaigners, and community partners who want renewable energy to do more than exist — to turn projects into campaigns, and consultation into co-ownership.

Solar and wind are already proven, affordable, and scalable. What usually stands in the way isn’t the technology — it’s the grid operator who won’t connect, the bank that won’t lend, the regulator whose rules haven’t caught up, or the developer who shows up to “consult” once the deal is already done. This toolkit is built for that fight.

It’s organized as a set of modules you can use standalone or as a full campaign workflow — starting with the case for organising around power, not just projects, and moving through strategy, community rights and consent, policy barriers, and finance. It draws on lessons from campaigners already doing this work, from La Guajira to East Africa to the Amazon.

Inside, you’ll find:

• Case studies from real campaigns
• A Theory of Change template and power-mapping worksheets
• A Strategy Menu and Tactics Library
• Tools for community engagement, FPIC, and benefit-sharing
• A plain-language finance module for engaging funders and investors
• Ready-to-use briefing templates for press, officials, and coalitions

Whether you’re building a campaign from scratch or sharpening one already underway, this toolkit meets you where you are.

Download the Toolkit

The post The ICONIC Renewable Energy Zones Toolkit appeared first on 350.

One week after 40+ communities mobilized to call on the federal government to make a deal with the people, the Prime Minister made a clear choice.

He decided to double down on protecting Big Oil’s profits instead of prioritizing our communities, our climate, and our future.

Let’s break down what happened over the last 24 hours:

• Prime Minister Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith teamed up to unveil their plans for their West Coast Pipeline. They proposed dragging the one-million-barrel-a-day tar sands pipeline from Alberta all the way to the Delta port right outside of Vancouver.
• They confirmed the pipeline would be another publicly-owned project, with an extremely unclear private-sector partnership. In other words, we can get ready to expect $35-100 billion of our tax payer dollars wasted on building this dangerous pipe dream.
• Earlier that same day, Carney went to BC, striking a New Cooperative Prosperity partnership with BC Premier Eby and pledging to gut environmental protections to accelerate the expansion of LNG facilities.4

Canada is headed in a dangerous direction. Expanding tar sands and the fracked-gas industry is like pouring fuel on the flames of the climate emergency. Let’s make sure our Members of Parliament know that they need to stand up to oppose this agenda. Call on your MP to sign the People’s MOU and say no to new pipelines.

There’s power in raising our voices together. The People’s MOU was delivered to 40+ MPs across the country last week and, since then, thousands of others have e-mailed it to their Members of Parliament. We know that many Liberal MPs also have their doubts about Prime Minister Carney backsliding on climate. That’s why it’s so important to ensure as many of them as possible are confronted by their constituents and pushed to use their leverage in this fragile majority government to champion a different direction.

This week, heatwaves gripped communities across the country as we marked the 5 year anniversary of the 2021 Heat Dome where 619 people died from extreme heat. And yet, Prime Minister Carney kicked off the week with a special video speaking directly to Canadians and sharing that climate action isn’t “sustainable in the long run.”

But you and I both know, what’s truly unsustainable is expanding fossil fuels and cooking our planet. And to top it all off, the world is rapidly transitioning towards affordable, renewable energy, meaning that building a new oil pipeline locks us into a volatile, dead-end economy.

It’s time to stop fuelling climate destruction and funding our future. Tell your MP to back this vision.

The good news is that the odds are in our favour. Even pipeline companies aren’t ready to fully back the project because they know it’s a bad idea.

We also know that Indigenous-led resistance and people power can bring dangerous proposals like this to a halt. We did it before and we can do it again.

Blog by Atiya Jaffar, 350 Canada Country Manager

The post Carney wants to gamble away our future appeared first on 350.

You’ve probably heard of COP, the big UN climate summit that makes the news every year. But every June, there’s a smaller, quieter meeting that happens first: this year it ran from 8 to 18 June in Bonn, Germany. It’s where governments, campaigners, and yes, fossil fuel lobbyists, sit down to work through the details of climate finance, adaptation, and the shift away from fossil fuels, months before COP. Think of it as the kitchen where the recipe for the next big summit gets written, long before anyone sits down to eat.

This was my first time in that kitchen. I went in feeling both overwhelmed and energized in equal measure.

Here’s the thing about a space like Bonn: if everyday people and civil society aren’t in the room, someone else fills it. (Analysis from Kick Big Polluters Out shows the extent to which Big Banks attended COP30 in 2025 and financed $409 billion in fossil fuels in 2024). And that someone is rarely on the side of the communities I work with across East Africa like those who resist fossil fuel exploitation like EACOP and protect our ecosystems, as well as those that the REPower Afrika campaign hosts through the AfrikaVuka network . They are all mobilizing to lead the transition toward a just, decentralized, and renewable energy future for all.

I never met a lobbyist wearing a badge that said “fossil fuel industry.” That’s not how it works. But you could feel them: sitting close to government delegations, quietly slowing things down whenever real progress was within reach. I felt it most around the push to move countries away from fossil fuels. Nearly 90 countries had backed a plan for this kind of transition last year. It still didn’t make it into the final text in Bonn. That’s not an accident.

So when people ask why 350 sends someone like me to these talks, this is the answer: someone has to say, out loud and in the room, that fossil fuels are not affordable — not for the climate, and not for the communities already paying the price.

Rukiya at COP Bonn negotiations. Photo: Bonaventure Bondo

If you asked me to name the one person who inspired me most, I honestly couldn’t give you a single name. That would undersell what I actually experienced.

I shared the halls with climate campaigners, gender justice advocates, Indigenous leaders, students, journalists, and young organisers — all coming at the same fight from different angles, whether that’s trade, finance, gender, or human rights. Different doors into the same house. 

Over those two weeks, I sat down with people from GreenFaith, PELUM Association, Germanwatch, Power Shift Africa, CAN Africa, CAN International, Oxfam, Greenpeace and many more. I spoke with the head of the African Group of Negotiators, and with party delegates from Tanzania, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Gambia, Benin, and Finland, among others, along with researchers from the University of Reading. Each conversation was a small window into how differently, and even how similarly, countries and movements are approaching the same crisis and how we are all working towards the solution and all we need is political will and urgency.

Rukiya meeting African Group of Negotiators Chair Nana Dr.Antwi-Boasiako Amoah. Photo: Baboucar Nyang

Knowing that so many people are out there working toward the same goal was its own kind of reassurance. The communities we represent are not missing from these rooms. We are there.

A few things stood out that I’ll carry back into my work across East Africa.

1. Local champions matter. Every country needs people in government and civil society who are willing to push a climate justice agenda forward — and part of our job is finding and backing them, before, during, and after moments like this.
2. Urgency is uneven. Too many governments, including from countries that are themselves vulnerable to climate change, are still treating this crisis as something to manage slowly rather than the emergency it actually is.
3. Priorities differ from country to country, and that’s useful to know. Tanzania, for example, is focused on climate finance; Nigeria is more focused on adaptation. Understanding these differences helps us support more tailored, local advocacy rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

More than anything, the conversations in Bonn gave us good bones for what comes next. They gave us a clearer sense of what our countries are actually prioritizing on the road to the next big summits. Now the work is turning that insight into real organising on the ground — connecting local priorities to regional and global ones, without leaving anyone behind. It’s also a chance to push the conversation beyond just emissions, toward the things that actually shape people’s lives: energy access, jobs, and affordability.

Rukiya with fellow CAN and AfrikaVuka Network partner Kenneth Nana Amoateng at the Loss and Damage action. Photo: Rukiya Khamis

Wherever we raise the banner for a just, community-centred shift to renewable energy — even if it’s just a handful of us — that is already a win.

The conversations in Bonn gave us more momentum for what we are already doing: a year of shifting power from polluters to the people. That’s the Great Power Shift. Join us.

The post Bonn is where the recipe gets made appeared first on 350.

What is a heatwave?

It’s hot. Very hot. Hotter than it should be. It’s not for too long, just a few days or weeks, but everyone feels it, and everyone talks about it. We don’t give it fancy names, like we do with hurricanes, but you hear about it in the news. Or not.

Right now, in the summer of 2026, Europe is living through one of its most severe heatwaves on record, with all-time temperature highs broken in France, Spain, the UK, Germany, Belgium, Austria and beyond, and hundreds of deaths already linked to the heat in France alone. Meanwhile, India has spent much of its pre-monsoon season under extreme heat, with cities like Delhi, Nagpur and Akola pushing past 45°C and even 46°C, and nighttime temperatures rising faster than daytime ones across nearly every Indian state. This is what the climate crisis looks like in real time, not a future projection.

The problem with heatwaves is that they are very relative. It’s not the same to register 30 ºC in the summer or in the winter. And it’s not the same to register 30 ºC in Greenland or in the Middle East. Each place has its average temperature for each time of the year. We call it a heatwave when a particular region goes well above that average for a number of days. How much above it, and for how long, varies from region to region. In many parts of the world, these events are already increasing in frequency, duration and intensity, and will increase even more as a result of the climate crisis.

The silent killer

 Unlike more spectacular climate impacts such as tropical storms, floods or wildfires, heatwaves come up without a bang. For most people, heatwave days are just annoyingly hot and media sometimes even portrays them as something nice. But, actually, heatwaves are as dangerous a climate impact as it gets.

According to a recent academic study, heatwaves killed at least 157,000 people between 2000 and 2020 (only storms are deadlier, with around 200,000 victims). However, the authors of the report warn that this figure is very likely underestimated: many countries don’t monitor heatwaves and some times don’t even have a definition for them. To illustrate that point, only 6.5% of those casualties were registered in Asia, Africa, the Caribbean and South and Central America, despite those regions concentrating 85% of the global population.

The toll keeps mounting. The World Health Organization has described Europe’s current heat emergency as a public health crisis, estimating that heat has contributed to roughly 200,000 deaths across the continent over just the past four years.

Heat can be behind a number of health conditions. The most concerning is heat stroke, which occurs when the body is too hot and loses its ability to cool down. Children, the elderly and low-income communities are more vulnerable to heat stroke, as are people with chronic diseases, pregnant women and outdoor workers. The poorer a community is, the less access to cooling it has, which exacerbates inequality and injustice. Heatstroke is more likely in high humidity conditions.

In India, this inequality is stark: around three-quarters of the country’s workforce, roughly 380 million people, works in heat-exposed sectors like agriculture and construction, often informally and without basic protections, while only about 8% of households have air conditioning. Rising humidity is compounding the danger, since high humidity stops the body from cooling itself through sweat, turning conditions that were once merely uncomfortable into something deadly.

More than just heat strokes

The dangers of heatwaves, however, go way beyond heat stroke. High temperatures are associated with lower air quality, which causes and aggravates respiratory diseases such as asthma. They are also related to cardiovascular and kidney diseases.

Extreme temperatures affect agriculture, stunting plant growth or directly killing them. Livestock is also affected, as animals can also see their growth, milk production and reproduction rates reduced. These impacts disproportionately affect communities who depend on agriculture for survival and don’t have any other social safety nets, which increases climate injustice. Heatwaves also affect infrastructure such as airports, roads and bridges, and any economic activity that requires outdoor work.

Is it hotter?

Heatwaves are a statistical occurence. They are relative to the average conditions, so by definition we can find it in any time and any place in history. But that doesn’t change the fact that climate change is making them worse in absolute and relative terms. Or, in other words: yes, it’s hotter than ever, more often, and yes, it will get hotter.  Scientists have concluded that it is virtually certain that global heating drives that increase in the duration and intensity of heatwaves at a global level. That means, in climate science terms, above 99% certainty.

Heatwaves happen when a mass of high-pressure air remains stationary (still) for long enough to get warmed up by the sun. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 have the capacity to absorb heat, so a stationary mass of air will get warmer in the same amount of time if it contains a higher concentration of these gases. These phenomena are geographically uneven and their likelihood at a specific location depends on many factors, such as orography, tree cover, aerosol pollution, soil moisture or distance to the sea.

One of the clearest examples of this mechanism in action is the heat dome. You’ll hear the term a lot now, so it’s worth explaining. A heat dome forms when a large, stationary zone of high pressure traps hot air over a region for days or weeks, acting almost like a lid: air sinks within it, keeping surface pressure high and suppressing cloud formation, so the sun bakes the ground relentlessly with no relief. Sometimes that high-pressure system gets wedged between two other weather systems and becomes “locked in,” barely moving — a pattern known as an Omega block for the shape it traces on weather maps. This is exactly what’s been driving Europe’s 2026 heatwaves: a stubborn Omega block parked over the continent, dragging in hot, dry air from the Sahara and refusing to budge, before slowly shifting from Western Europe toward Germany, Poland and the Balkans. And heat domes themselves are becoming more frequent and more intense as the planet warms, since warmer baseline temperatures mean the same stagnant weather pattern now produces far more extreme spikes than it used to. See how the 2021 heat dome in Canada impacted lives. 

According to the IPCC, the average temperature of the extremely hot days in land will increase by 3ºC if we contain global warming under 1.5ºC, and by 4ºC if we stay under 2ºC. Keep in mind that this is an average! Some areas are already becoming uninhabitable during heat waves within this century.

The climate footprint

Heatwaves are one of the deadliest expressions of the climate crisis. We are seeing how they increase in frequency and intensity as the concentration of greenhouse gases mounts. And it is the greed of the fossil fuel industries and its allies what is pushing that increase. Let us retrace their steps.

Global heating is caused by an increase in the concentration of greenhouse gases, mostly (but not only) CO2 and CH4. These are found naturally in the atmosphere, but since we started massively burning fossil fuels, the concentration has been growing exponentially.

The increase in concentration of CO2 is linked to fossil fuels. There isn’t any other possible source (not volcanos, not clouds, not solar cycles, nothing). CH4 is also massively linked to fossil fuels and land use change. Studies and data have widely proven that: the debate is over.

The coal, oil and gas industries have massively profited from it and they continue to profit from an economic model that forces people to use fossil fuels. Reports have proven that they knew the damage they were causing since at least the 1970s, and that, instead of abandoning their business model, they actively worked to disinform the public. They still do. We keep burning fossil fuels because they choose (and they chose then) to use their power for that purpose.

But even if we cannot stop heatwaves completely, we can stop the fossil fuels industry. People around the world have been fighting to keep coal, oil and gas in the ground, to cut the financial flows that allow this industry to still exist and to push for a more equitable and clean future. If you haven’t yet, join us!

More from the Fossil Fuels Did This series:

• Fossil Fuels Did This: Tropical Cyclones
• Fossil Fuels Did This: Floods
• Fossil Fuels Did This: Drought

The post Fossil Fuels Did This: Heatwaves appeared first on 350.

How can the donkey cross the pipeline? This may sound like a joke (like why did the chicken cross the road?) but it’s not, as this story will make clear. This was a very real question I encountered when, in June 2026, we at 350.org along with colleagues from the environmental organization, Green Conservers, visited the Diloda community in Northern Tanzania. Diloda is one of several villages in Hanang District where the soon-to-be-operational East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) passes through. 

The pipeline runs about 1,443 km, passing through Uganda and Tanzania. In Tanzania alone, it sits at around 1147 kms long and traverses 8 regions and 25 districts. According to project timelines announced by EACOP Ltd, operations are expected to begin later in 2026, when the first oil shipments are marked to leave Tanga port in Tanzania. It’s expected to carry 200,000 barrels of oil a day from Uganda to Tanga port, and will have to be heated to at least 50 degrees Celsius to keep the waxy crude oil flowing. All this, buried just a few metres beneath the land communities like Diloda depend on for their farms, water and homes. 

Even before it’s up and running, the project has had some devastating consequences on Indigenous Peoples’, their lands and way of life. As the pipeline snakes its way from Hoima in Uganda, to Tanga in Tanzania, many living along its path have been displaced with little compensation, losing both land and livelihoods. Those who depend on fishing can no longer access fishing grounds on Lake Albert, near Kingfisher, Uganda’s upstream oilfield that will feed crude oil into EACOP for export. Allegations of human rights abuses there are well documented too: fishing boats burned, extortion within local fishing communities, and soldiers intimidating residents. The pipeline also poses great risk to several nature reserves, some of which are home to endangered species on the verge of extinction. It’s no wonder that over the years, this project has faced sustained opposition and pressure from local communities, NGOs and various stakeholders from Uganda, Tanzania, France, South Africa and many other parts of the globe. 

We travelled over 50 km of dirt road from Katesh, a small town in Tanzania’s Hanang District, heading into the rural communities further along the EACOP route to reach Diloda. The road was a real challenge to navigate. It spoke to the harsh terrain and long distances communities must travel just to access health facilities or government authorities.

Along the way, we passed  several villages and communities consisting mainly of agriculturists and pastoralists, including the Maasai. On reaching Diloda, we met one of the leaders (name withheld) whose house stands about  20 meters from the pipeline. He has been involved in community engagement around the project, and helped arrange for a few community members to speak with us about the challenges they face because of EACOP, even before the oil has started flowing.

The pipeline has split the land, making access difficult. Photo: Savio Carvalho

The pipeline runs through the agricultural lands of the Diloda community, a drinking water source, a school and other basic infrastructure that  defines the lives, livelihoods and social cohesion of the community. After a long period of resistance and campaigning, and allegations of threats and intimidation, several community members told us they had little choice but to sign the agreements, written in unfamiliar English rather than their native language of Datooga, forcing them to surrender their land for inadequate compensation. Project officials made many promises, including jobs, connection to the electricity grid and infrastructure development, none of which have seen the light of day. This has been documented by other groups, including Human Rights Watch. 

Most households use donkey carts to transport goods from the farm to the house or the grinding mills. The pipeline has split the agricultural land in two, making access very difficult. The project plans to create an underground passage alongside a small stream, allowing people and their carts to cross beneath the pipeline. But this passage runs through what is, in reality, a riverbank that swells during the rainy season, making it next to impossible to cross. There’s a real chance the dirt road could become submerged or choked with wet mud. The seemingly simple, but very pertinent question of how a donkey crosses the pipeline therefore has a direct impact on the lives and livelihoods of this community.

In addition to the passage of agricultural produce, there are many other serious issues impacting the community. The first is the challenge faced by those school children who will be forced to walk long distances to get to the crossing in order to access their schools. 

Whether or not this project is completed, ensuring the needs of the community are met – both during construction and in its aftermath – is the responsibility of the State, project proponents and EACOP Limited, the company developing and operating the pipeline.The Governments of Uganda and Tanzania have a legal obligation to uphold the  human rights of those impacted. They need clear oversight and accountability mechanisms to ensure all non-state actors deliver on their promises, resettlement actions plans,and investments in biodiversity and community resilience projects. 

Communities need training and capacity building in terms of disaster management, covering oil spills, fires and major accidents.They also need a mandatory community insurance scheme and spill liability insurance to cover any damage the pipeline causes to water sources, farm lands, livelihoods and the environment. These must be funded by project proponents before oil flows with  claims managed independently of the company. Communities cannot and should not be left to the mercy and good will of the company, but to the rule of law which is the responsibility of the state.

EACOP passing through Tanzania.

Going back to the donkey cart in Diloda: crossing the pipeline is more than a matter of life and livelihoods. It’s a symbol of freedom, prosperity and mobility. The Government of Tanzania must play their part and not use a sledgehammer against those seeking justice. This means ensuring year-round access to agricultural lands, water sources, schools and essential services alongside infrastructure development, jobs and remedial action. 

By Savio Carvalho
Managing Director, Campaigns and Networks
350.org
@savioconnects.bsky.social‬

The post How Can the Donkey Cross the Pipeline?  appeared first on 350.