Should the climate movement organise around extreme weather events?

Why this matters

Extreme weather events are creating a new generation of climate activists - people for whom climate change is not abstract. Public attention spikes around these moments, and one news editor recently observed that the major climate story of the year isn't COP, it's summer. But these windows close quickly. If the climate movement doesn't act, others will: in Valencia, the far-right Vox party were first on the scene, using the disaster for scapegoating.

What we found

Communities organising around extreme weather have won concrete victories. Vermont's Climate Superfund Act passed 21-5 after consecutive floods, requiring fossil fuel companies to pay their share of climate damages. In the Philippines, a decade of survivor-led organising produced the world's first National Inquiry on Climate Change and, in 2025, the first civil lawsuit directly linking a fossil fuel company to deaths in the Global South. In Spain, mass mobilisation after the Valencia floods led to a National Climate Emergency Pact.

What it means for the movement

Successful campaigns share six elements: act fast while attention is high; centre affected communities and give them agency; use attribution science to make corporate responsibility concrete; lead with stories alongside facts; build coalitions beyond traditional environmentalists; and target specific actors with concrete demands. The most powerful climate organising may not look like climate organising at all - it may look like flood survivors demanding accountability, or farmers seeking compensation for climate damages.