Greenpeace activists and researchers launched targeted environmental protests and monitoring actions across Europe and Latin America, highlighting the escalating impacts of extreme heat and the climate crisis on public infrastructure and ecosystems, according to recent updates from the organization.
Airport Protests Target Climate Inaction in Mexico City
During the World Cup, Greenpeace Mexico activists staged a peaceful demonstration at Terminal 2 of Mexico City International Airport (AICM), according to Greenpeace. Organizers placed a giant balloon in the central rotunda of the airport terminal to draw attention to climate policies. Participants positioned themselves beneath the balloon dressed to mimic flames, symbolizing extreme heat threatening both sports and the planet. Activists displayed messages reading “The game has extra time, but the planet doesn’t” and “If the climate changes, the game changes,” calling for a decisive shift in government climate policy away from oil and fracking toward the protection of marine and terrestrial ecosystems like the Maya Forest.
European Heatwaves Spark Direct Action in the UK, France, and Italy
In the United Kingdom, Greenpeace activists rebranded London underground station signs as Baking Street, London’s Burning, and Hottenham Court Road during a June heatwave, according to Greenpeace. Participants also attached stickers reading “Heatwave – Brought to you by Shell” to remind passengers that rising temperatures are driven by the burning of fossil fuels. Meanwhile, in Italy, Greenpeace staff utilized thermal cameras to monitor surface temperatures in the historical center of Rome as severe summer heat hit the country. In France, nine Greenpeace activists appeared before the Paris Court of Appeal in a legal challenge following an action on March 5, 2021, when they entered the tarmac at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport and partially repainted an airplane green to protest greenwashing and aviation sector regulations.
Energy Security Focus at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Poland
Ahead of the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, Greenpeace presented energy security recommendations to the Polish government and European leaders at the Westerplatte monument, according to Greenpeace. The organization called for the establishment of a crisis-resistant energy system anchored in renewable, distributed energy sources, drawing lessons from the war in Ukraine for the future of European energy policy.
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