Foteini Simic, 16 years old, and Petros Kalosakas, 18 years old, are high-school students and Greenpeace volunteers from Athens, Greece.
There are few moments in life that count forever. Choosing who (and if) to marry, becoming a parent, buying a house… Before all of these come the last years of the Greek Lykeio (senior high school) and the critical final exams held during the month of June. The grades one gets at the end of those three years give shape to all the life milestones to come.
This year’s exams – especially their final days, June 11-13 – were for sure memorable… Temperatures soared to 43C in the month of June in much of the country – an unprecedented occurrence in our lifetime, which forced us to go through this important rite of passage at the end of high school in unbearable conditions.
Difficulty to focus and breathe, dry mouths during oral exams, stifling heat slowing one’s handwriting, and temperatures that the human body cannot endure for long – these were not the ideal conditions for a successful graduation.
But the heatwave that messed up our graduation exams is not just bad luck. It is the result of very bad decisions. Recent studies have attributed Greece’s searing heat and ensuing wildfires of the past years to climate change. The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concludes that the burning of fossil fuels is a primary cause for the excessive heating and rapidly rising temperatures.
Saudi visa crackdown left heatwave-hit Hajj pilgrims scared to ask for help
This year’s heatwave was not only intense, but earlier than in previous years. As schools close for three months in the summer when the summer heat is high, there is normally not much need for air conditioning and most public schools don’t have more than ceiling fans to cool off.
The climate crisis has become an unfair obstacle to our individual prospects, affecting our entire generation across countries and continents. Of course, we will work hard to go through all the precious moments that life can offer, but it will be impossible to look back at this boiling month of June and ignore how badly it impacted our grades – and our future.
This might be a year that fossil fuels, and the companies that profit out of them, stole our opportunity to make memories and build a bright future.
Climate chaos hitting children
What we have missed in Greece this year pales in comparison to what others around the world have lost. Millions are displaced by floods in Bangladesh, while wildfires and storms claim victims from the Caribbean to China and Canada.
Children are often those more severely affected: we’re living through a global decline in the provision of education, with the number of children missing out on schooling inflating to a quarter billion. Extreme heat waves, fuelled by fossil fuel companies, threaten our generation’s future. In our times, the climate crisis is no longer just a warning. It is a harsh reality that is affecting our daily lives.
Climate chaos is real – and we are already facing its impacts. Yet governments have failed to move beyond fossil fuels and continue to depend on oil and gas companies, whose profits have been going strong, at an average of $3 billion a day for the last 50 years.
UK court ruling provides ammo for anti-fossil fuel lawyers worldwide
Big oil and gas majors like Shell, TotalEnergies, and ENI have known about the impacts of climate change for decades. Yet even though they kept making record profits – they never devoted their talents and resources to fix the problem. They didn’t use their political ties to ring the alarm bell. They rather invested millions and millions in greenwashing and denial.
Many others knew as well. Even our grandparents knew the lines of Greek singer Cat Stevens (today Yusuf Islam): “You roll on roads… pumping petrol gas… But they just go on and on and it seems that you can’t get off.” It was impossible to ignore.
Now it’s definitely time to jump off the fossil fuel wagon. Our generation must devote all its energies to raise awareness of how climate chaos is affecting us all, and to mobilise more people to support climate and environmental action. Alternatives must be pursued, and historical polluters must pay for all that they’ve taken from us – including our future.
The post To keep its profits, Big Oil stole our future appeared first on Climate Home News.
The conference is one of the largest aimed at preparing for hurricane season, which begins June 1. A task force report on potential reforms to the agency also remains on hold.
ORLANDO, Fla.—A major conference to help communities prepare for hurricane season kicked off Monday without the agency that coordinates federal disaster response.
Right now, Greenpeace activists are standing up to Big Gas at a major gas conference in Sydney.
Inside the Sheraton Grand Hotel, executives from fossil fuel companies have gathered alongside lobbyists, investors and political allies to plan the future of gas in Australia – and how to maximise their profits.
So Greenpeace has stepped in to call it out. Activists have dropped a banner inside the venue with a clear message: Gas Execs Profit. We Pay The Price.
We need your help to spread the message that we won’t stand by and let this happen.
What’s really going on
Gas corporations are making billions in windfall profits from global conflicts – from Ukraine to Iran – while Australians pay the price with higher energy bills and climate damage.
And they want more.
More drilling. More exports. More profit.
Why Greenpeace took action today
This conference is where it all comes together. Behind closed doors, gas executives, lobbyists, investors and political allies are meeting to push for more gas expansion, no doubt using global instability as their justification.
That’s why Greenpeace couldn’t let this gathering go uninterrupted.
Big Gas is counting on people not paying attention. Let’s prove them wrong.
Share the video to call out Big Gas.
What needs to happen now
Gas is expensive. It’s volatile. And it ties our energy system to global instability.
But there is a better way. Renewable energy is already cheaper, more reliable, and made right here in Australia. It’s the fastest path to lower bills, real energy security and a safer climate.
To get there, we need to:
- properly tax the gas industry and its exports
- stop expanding gas
- and speed up the transition to homegrown renewable energy.
Share this video far and wide to show just how much support there is to tax Big Gas properly and speed up the transition to renewable energy.
This is just the beginning
This action is part of a growing movement to stand up to Big Gas and challenge the power it holds over our government and society. The Federal Government has a role to play – starting by taxing gas corporations properly and then accelerating the transition to homegrown renewable energy.
Together, we can show just how much support there is for change and make it impossible for decision-makers to ignore.
What you can do
- Follow along on our social channels.
- Share the video far and wide to show how much support there is.
- Sign the petition to tell Albo to stand up to Big Gas – because if we can, he can.
BREAKING: Greenpeace activists disrupt major gas conference in Sydney
SYDNEY, Tuesday 31 March 2026 — Two Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists have been arrested following a peaceful protest at the Australian Domestic Gas Outlook conference in Sydney, where they dropped a banner that said — “Gas Execs Profit. We Pay The Price” and held banners saying “Tax Gas Profits”.
Photos and B Roll video of the protest and arrests are available here
Live updates on Greenpeace Instagram
The two activists were arrested by police around 9:00am AEDT and taken to Day Street Police Station. Information on this morning’s gas conference disruption can be found here.
Solaye Snider, Campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Greenpeace activists have taken a strong stand today against profit hungry gas corporations and lobbyists, who see horrific global wars as an opportunity to price gouge and profiteer, while everyday people pay the price.
“Australians have had enough of gas corporations like Santos and ConocoPhillips ripping us off, leaving us with nothing but empty pockets and climate damage. The gas industry is aggressively lobbying against being fairly taxed and pushing to drill for more gas. Change requires showing up and speaking out, and that’s what these activists have done today.
“Greenpeace Australia Pacific stands by our activists, and stands with all communities who are peacefully fighting for a safe and clean energy future. The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental pillar of a healthy democracy and a basic right of all Australians.”
-ENDS-
Media contacts:
Lucy Keller: +61 491 135 308 or lkeller@greenpeace.org or Kate O’Callaghan: +61 406 231 892 or kate.ocallaghan@greenpeace.org
Greenpeace activists arrested after disrupting major gas conference in Sydney
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