People power in Brazil is what hope looks like. 

For three intense weeks, the people of Brazil took to the streets and ensured their voices were heard when it mattered most. Despite disinformation, denialism, and interference by Big Tech companies, Brazil decided for Brazil to re-elect President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The people power on display in this historic election — it was the first time in Brazil a candidate who finished second in the first round has turned the tide and secured a victory —  matters to the entire world. It strengthens democratic regimes, maintains the commitment to a protected Amazon and the fight against climate change, and joins other governments that already recognise the threat Big Tech poses to national sovereignty and electoral processes.

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Resisting Big Tech’s election interference 

Leading up to the election, Greenpeace Brazil joined CTRL + Z and dozens of other civil society organisations and individuals in signing an open letter calling out the Big Tech for tipping the scales towards far right candidate Senator Flávio Bolsonaro. From AI deepfakes to shadowbans, platforms were violating Brazilian election laws and tilting the scales. 

• Unlabelled Deepfakes: A MonitorA study found 1 in 4 offensive images targeting female candidates showed signs of AI generation circulating with zero labeling.

• Foreign Ad Money: Ekō and NetLab UFRJ documented Meta reportedly accepting foreign payments for ads containing deepfakes and direct attacks on democratic institutions.

• Mass Shadowbans: Student unions, journalists, and voter rights groups reported sudden account suspensions and shadowbans after posting electoral content, without an effective or meaningful process to appeal. 

Autocrats, tech billionaires, and the far right rely on public confusion, exhaustion and cynicism to keep power. But an informed and united movement shatters that playbook every single time. ⁣

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The people have the power 

The autocrats are losing. Not just in Brazil. The same day, Serbia also rejected longtime autocrat Aleksandar Vucic in elections, following a years-long student-led opposition movement.

Autocrats and far right politicians and their tech billionaire enablers rely on public exhaustion to keep their grip. But an organised, united movement shatters their playbook every single time. Remember: we don’t just watch history happen, we build it. ⁣

Lu Sudré is Head of Communications with Greenpeace Brazil.

It’s early morning on Tuesday 20 October and in the heart of Jakarta, a small group of activists scale the iconic statue at Bundaran HI to stage a peaceful protest. They’re demanding urgent climate action and lower cost of living. Two giant banners unfurl bearing messages in Bahasa Indonesia: “Take Action on the Climate Crisis, Bring Down the Cost of Living” and “Disasters are Getting Worse, the People are Struggling, What is the Government Doing?”.

Two women in climbing harnesses and helmets rappel down the Selamat Datang (Welcome) monument, holding spherical signs bearing the slogan, No Progress Without Protest. The internet swiftly crowns them “Queens” for their bravery as they climb to defend our planet and make people look up.

Within hours, photos and videos of the protest are viral on social media prompting a government response, and media coverage has spread around the world. 

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Why are people protesting?

People around the world are protesting to demand justice, equality and a liveable planet.⁣ As the climate crisis accelerates and the everyday cost of living supercharged by fossilflation continues to rise – along with outrage at perceived ineptitude or corruption and inaction of authorities – people are filling the streets to call for change. From Indonesia to France and Albania, students are at the forefront of demonstrations to demand accountability.

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In Indonesia, millions of people are facing the worsening impacts of climate disasters such as flash floods, El Niño-charged drought, and forest and land fires that have triggered prolonged transboundary haze. It’s a crisis that requires governments and companies to accelerate a just global energy transition away from fossil fuels, the biggest driver of climate breakdown, and to end and reverse forest destruction.

The viral banners dropped by Greenpeace Indonesia at Bundaran HI came on a day of protests in several cities across the country, fuelled by anger over the worst toxic haze in over a decade that has engulfed Southeast Asia. Indonesians are demanding action to tackle the fires and toxic smoke that are harming health and claiming lives, including in Central Kalimantan, one of the worst hotspots, and West Kalimantan where conservation groups have evacuated dozens of critically endangered orangutans.

No progress without protest

As crowds and cameras gathered below Jakarta’s landmark Welcome Monument watching banners carrying their messages unfurl, Atha Rasyadi, head of Greenpeace Indonesia’s Social & Economic Campaign, explained why protest is crucial to keep up the pressure for progress: “We cannot continue to remain silent when economic growth only enriches a handful of people, especially with the greedy exploitation of nature, while the others are forced to struggle to survive.⁣”

The protest is another reminder of what hope in action looks like.⁣ In the words of one of the viral banners shared widely across social media, and even rendered as animated illustrations, No progress without protest.

We cannot continue to remain silent when economic growth only enriches a handful of people, especially with the greedy exploitation of nature, while the others are forced to struggle to survive.⁣

Timing is everything

The peaceful protests in Indonesia mark the second year of the current presidency, a time when sentiments are running high around food prices, air pollution and the climate crisis. Sentiments that resonate, not only across Indonesia, but in countries around the world. 

Extreme weather and ecological disasters not only threaten public safety and health but also disrupt livelihoods, suppress incomes and drive up food prices.

“We are amplifying the voices of the public who are urging the Prabowo-Gibran administration to acknowledge the climate crisis, which is increasingly degrading people’s quality of life,” said Jeanny Sirait, a climate justice campaigner with Greenpeace Indonesia. “Extreme weather and ecological disasters not only threaten public safety and health but also disrupt livelihoods, suppress incomes and drive up food prices.”

This is what HOPE in action looks like around the world

Courage and hope are contagious. Across the world, young people are filling the streets to defend each other, their future, and the planet. This generation resists and we’re just starting to see its power!⁣

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People are refusing to accept futures they didn’t choose. From unaffordable homes and underfunded schools to systemic corruption, police brutality, and restrictions on the right to protest, people are organising to demand change. ⁣⁣

While elites feast, people are too often told to tighten their belts and stay quiet. Across Indonesia, and in countries from Albania to Brazil, Kenya, France, Serbia, the UK and the USA, protesters are demanding an end to corruption and the freedom to speak out without intimidation. An informed, united movement is unstoppable and these huge mobilisations bring hope. 

Hope isn’t something you watch, it’s something you DO. This is what HOPE looks like – share this post to help amplify beautiful moments of people rising for a different future.

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Amsterdam, Netherlands – Between January and August 2026, energy prices accounted for the entire rise in eurozone inflation from 1.7% to 3.2%, according to new Greenpeace International analysis that exposes the scale of fossilflation.

Without the oil price shock driven by the US-Israel war on Iran, eurozone inflation in August would have been 2.2%, rather than 3.2%. The findings show how fossil fuel dependence leaves households exposed to price shocks, which in turn have an impact on the wider economy.[1]

John Noël, campaigner at Greenpeace International, said: “The problem is bigger than any single conflict or oil price spike. As long as economies remain tied to volatile fossil fuel markets, repeated disruptions are hitting household costs. Governments must protect people from rampant fossilflation by replacing the fossil fuel system with decentralised renewable energy and electrification.”

The report found that energy prices accounted for 97% of fluctuations in eurozone inflation since 2024, when the temporary distortions of the pandemic years had cleared, demonstrating that fossilflation is a recurring source of economic instability that needs to be addressed by governments and central banks, rather than being treated as a temporary phenomenon that is outside of their scope.

The analysis also found that households can be protected from that economic exposure by switching to renewable energy like wind and solar, and electrified technologies powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels. In an illustrative simulation, a fully electrified German household using an electric vehicle, heat pump, rooftop solar and battery storage faced a 1.5% price increase between January and August 2026, compared with 2.5% for a standard household using the official consumer basket.

Noël added: “While fossil fuel companies are making obscene profits, people are increasingly struggling to make ends meet. Renewable energy can protect households and give them more control over their bills. Rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles, public transport and heat pumps can reduce the exposure of countries, families and businesses to volatile fossil fuel markets. Central banks need to recognise fossil fuels as an economic risk and governments must accelerate the shift to decentralised renewable energy systems that shield people and local businesses from recurring price shocks, rather than leaving them exposed.”

Greenpeace is calling on governments to speed up the shift from fossil fuels to decentralised renewable energy and electrification, which can be funded by introducing permanent taxes on oil and gas companies’ profits. Replacing dependence on volatile international oil and gas markets with clean energy generated closer to home would help protect household budgets from future price shocks while cutting climate pollution as part of a just energy transition.

ENDS

Notes:

[1] Fossilflation: how oil and gas prices drive inflation and how households can be protected

The research relies on official consumer inflation datasets and recognised international commodity benchmark databases. Consumer price index (CPI/HICP) time series and basket weightings were sourced directly from Eurostat and the European Central Bank (ECB) for the Euro Area and Destatis for Germany. Global energy benchmark prices—including Brent crude in euros and Dutch TTF natural gas—were compiled via market databases like Macrobond. Using these official figures, the analysis used econometric methods—including variance decomposition, local projections, OLS regressions, and counterfactual index modeling—to isolate fossil energy pass-through and simulate household electrification savings.

Contacts:

John Noël, Campaigner, Greenpeace International, jnoel@greenpeace.org

Dr. Mauricio Vargas, Economist and Financial Expert, +49 151 11765567, mvargas@greenpeace.org

Greenpeace International Press Desk, +31 (0) 20 718 2470 (available 24 hours), pressdesk.int@greenpeace.org

When oil and gas prices rise, people can end up paying more for essentials. The war on Iran has exposed this vulnerability again. Dependence on fossil fuels leaves people’s living costs tied to conflict, disrupted supplies and volatile international markets.

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Written by Dr Mauricio Vargas, an economist at Greenpeace Germany, and published by Greenpeace International, this report examines fossilflation, the inflationary pressure caused by rising fossil fuel prices. Drawing on data for the eurozone and Germany, it investigates how energy prices drive changes in inflation and how renewable energy and electrification can reduce exposure to price shocks.

Key findings

• Energy drove the total rise in eurozone inflation in 2026. The annual inflation rate increased from 1.7% in January to 3.2% in August. Energy’s contribution more than accounted for that increase, while other components partly offset it.
  
• Without the oil-price shock, August inflation would have been substantially lower. The analysis estimates a eurozone inflation rate of 2.2%, rather than 3.2%, had oil prices remained at their January level.
  
• Energy has been a major source of inflation volatility. Energy accounted for 97% of fluctuations in the eurozone’s overall inflation rate between January 2024 and August 2026. This measures movements in the inflation rate, not the proportion of every price increase caused by energy.
  
• Electrification and renewables can help protect people from fuel-price shocks. In a German household simulation using electric heating and transport, solar panels and battery storage, the modelled mix of consumer purchases rose in price by 1.5% between January and August 2026, compared with 2.5% for the official consumer basket. The simulation excludes upfront investment costs and does not guarantee the same savings for everyone. 

Reducing fossil fuel dependence can help protect people’s budgets

The report argues that replacing oil and gas with renewable electricity should be part of governments’ response to rising living costs. Changing fossil fuel suppliers does not remove exposure to international fuel-price shocks. Investment in decentralised renewable energy, storage, electricity networks and electric heating and transport can help reduce that dependence. 

Greenpeace calls for peace and action to protect people from the costs of fossil fuel dependence. Governments must make the transition accessible, including to people who cannot afford the upfront costs of cleaner energy and transport. Renewable energy is not just a climate tool; it must be taken as an urgent measure for peace and economic security.

Download the report:

Fossilflation: how oil and gas prices drive inflation and how households can be protected