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We are writing to you from Berlin, Germany where it’s been sizzling this past month. In fact, summer this year across the northern hemisphere has been no joke, with temperatures hitting over 46°C in some places. Intense heatwaves have swept across Europe, causing hundreds of heat-related deaths, fuelling wildfires, and pushing power systems to the brink.
In South Asia, August, the usually rainy month bringing respite from the heat, has actually been bringing quite a bit of devastation. Every day, you’ll open the papers to news of deadly flash floods and landslides.
Now, we know all too well that the climate crisis is to blame for these disasters. But what we really want to know is, what the heck are our governments doing? The more they delay action, the more lives we are losing.
They’ll have another chance at the UN climate talks in Brazil later this year, and they better come with real commitments this time, especially to ditch fossil fuels for good. We really can’t afford another weak outcome like the failed plastics treaty talks just weeks ago. It’s high time, it really is.
Global problems like this really need us to band together for the greater good of everyone. And as you’ll read on in this newsletter, it’s really the everyday folks like us who are rising to the challenge and drawing a line in the sand.
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Movement Updates Discover our latest actions demanding climate solutions & energy justice
Kicking Total Out of Africa
For decades, fossil fuel giant TotalEnergies has plundered Africa leaving communities to face pollution, displacement, and lost livelihoods. So this past month we united activists, students, artists, and frontline groups in over 10 countries for a continent-wide Week of Action to Kick Total Out of Africa. From marches in Johannesburg to a 1,000-person football protest in Togo, cycling demos in Kinshasa, creative resistance in Zimbabwe, and a tribunal in Uganda, people put fossil colonialism on trial. The week ended with an interfaith vigil in Nairobi, demanding Total pay for its damage, leave Africa, and make way for a just, renewable future.
Youth climate leaders join UN Climate Group
We celebrated International Youth Day this year with wonderful news! Bangladeshi activist Farzana Faruk Jhumu and Pacific Climate Warrior Okalani Mariner were appointed to the UN Secretary-General’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, a platform where young leaders shape global climate policy. Jhumu, co-founder of KaathPencil and member of 350’s Asia Network Council, has led campaigns for a just energy transition in Bangladesh. Mariner, 350 Samoa Coordinator, is an artist and advocate amplifying Pacific voices. It’s time those most affected by the climate crisis have a stronger voice at the highest levels of decision-making!
Drawing the Line at the Asian Development Bank
In mid-August, we came together with allies, in Manila, Philippines, for a bold protest to challenge the Asian Development Bank’s rushed Energy Policy Review. With this review, they are planning to lift the ban on nuclear power, expand fossil fuel investments, and push false solutions like waste-to-energy incineration. But we are drawing the line because Asia deserves a future powered by the sun, the wind, and the people; not decades more of debt and pollution.
A future beyond coal in Colombia
In Valledupar, the heart of Colombia’s coal region, we joined partners and more than 120 community leaders from Cesar, La Guajira, and Magdalena for a vibrant two-day Festival for Just and Popular Transitions. Between workshops, panels, music, and dance, we shaped an Action Plan for a future beyond coal, centered on energy sovereignty, economic diversification, agroecology, and gender justice. More than 20 local projects were on display, showing that Colombia’s transition is already alive and people-powered!
Climate Jargon Unpack the terms & concepts being used by climate activists & experts
Energy Transition Materials (ETMs)
Metals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and rare earths that make renewable energy possible by powering electric car batteries, spinning wind turbines, and running through the electricity wires.
Why they matter: As the world moves away from coal, oil, and gas, everyone’s eyes are on ETMs as their demand is set to grow six times by 2040. Every new solar panel, every electric bus, and every wind turbine depends on them.
The problem is that mining these minerals can be messy. It can destroy forests, pollute rivers, waste huge amounts of water, and hurt local communities. In some places, children and workers face dangerous conditions to dig them up. Without strong rules, the rush for ETMs could repeat the same harms fossil fuels have caused.
Luckily, there are solutions to a better path like mining responsibly, with strong protections for people and nature; making technology last longer through repairing and recycling old parts; and sharing the profits to support the communities living where these minerals are found.
Learn more about ETMs here and scroll down to see how they are being discussed in the public these days.
Community Spotlight Be inspired by stories & interviews of real people who are fighting for a just energy transition
Communities around the world are rising up to Draw the Line
Click on the video to find out why.
This time we don’t have just one story, the story is all of ours. We each need to draw the line somewhere. When big oil drills our coastlines. When renewable solutions are delayed in favor of fossil fuels. When money is valued over life. When our planet overheats. Against violence and genocide. For our human rights and dignity. For our future generations. For all life on Earth.
Renewable Rundown Get informed on big numbers, key facts and important news
Four Storylines
What they are saying about Energy Transition Minerals (and what they’re leaving out!)
Energy Transition Minerals are at the center of fierce debates about our future. These debates decide who benefits, who pays the price, and whether the renewable transition will be fair, or repeat old patterns of fossil fuel exploitation.
Harmony Labs, supported by Climate and Land Use Alliance, spent the two years studying how ETMs are covered in the news, industry, and policy across nine big countries. Their findings show which stories dominate today’s conversations, and what’s missing. Here’s what’s you need to know:
- It’s all about geopolitics. Most ETM stories are framed as a global race for resources, with China painted as either the villain or the savior. This leaves little room for community concerns or environmental protections.
- Climate is twisted into a mining excuse. Instead of being used to push for cleaner, fairer systems, climate change is often cited as the reason we “need” more extraction, fast.
- Indigenous Peoples are nearly invisible. Even though over half of ETM mines are on or near Indigenous lands, their perspectives show up in only 2% of stories analyzed.
- Water is the silent red flag. Across countries, water impacts from mining are the most talked about but still not nearly enough given how central they are to community survival.
Read the full findings and watch this exclusive webinar (psstt…you’ll need this super secret password: *ej0CHo=) to see how the today’s ETM stories are shaping climate decisions.
Your Power Support us in demanding real climate action
We are less than a month away from Draw the Line, the moment where we all rise together against everything that’s wrong with the world today – greed, violence, destruction and more.
And at the heart of it all is the climate crisis, which cannot be ignored. But so can’t our power when we stand together.
Whether it’s your first action or your fiftieth, you’ll be shoulder to shoulder with people who care just as much as you do. The world needs your voice, and every person who shows up makes our movement stronger.
Find the Draw the Line action closest to you and come join us in the call for climate and social justice.
Energize Build your skills to tackle the climate crisis and widen our movement
So are you ready now to take the next step to demand a better future for yourself?
Our resources page is packed with practical tips and guides to help you organize an action, spread the word, and bring more people with you. From media and storytelling to art and recruiting, these tools are here to strengthen your action and make our movement impossible to ignore.
