Dirty energy not only fuels dangerous climate change but also causes immense harm to people, communities, workers and the environment, all around the world. Dirty and harmful energy lies at the heart of a broken energy system that is unjust and unsustainable and destroying people and the planet.

Friends of the Earth International takes a holistic approach to fighting dirty energy—we include coal, oil, gas, nuclear power, industrial agrofuels and biomass, mega hydroelectric dams, and waste-to-energy incineration in our definition of dirty energy. These destructive energy sources and technologies are driving climate change and have a deplorable track record, ranging from air and water pollution causing serious health impacts, through to massive land grabbing for new dirty energy mines, plants and infrastructure.

This is a global problem, but in recent decades the tentacles of dirty energy have pierced through the entire African continent, destroying lives and livelihoods. But communities are fighting back against this destruction, as the case studies in this briefing illustrate.