From Albania to Cyprus – all countries in Europe are being affected by extreme heat, drought and aridity. Forest fires of unprecedented scale and intensity are claiming lives, destroying livelihoods and natural habitats. In the EU, more than one million hectares have gone up in flames – an all-time record since records began. Our solidarity goes out to those affected!

The global forest fire map shows mostly red areas; red indicates forest fires. Rising temperatures are making conditions increasingly dry, resulting in fires spreading rapidly. The increase in heatwaves is a consequence of the dangerously advancing climate catastrophe. Species extinction is accelerating, water cycles are being disrupted and, due to massive CO₂ emissions, the climate catastrophe is being fuelled in the truest sense of the word. The enormous CO₂ emissions from the burning of fossil fuels are heating up the atmosphere, the soil and the oceans. This is a resounding slap in the face for the fascist climate deniers

Humans and nature are directly affected. Mass evacuations. Rivers and seas are overheating; entire major cities such as Madrid and Bordeaux are facing a sea of flames; animals can no longer find grass; farmers are already feeding their winter hay supplies to their livestock; entire harvests have been destroyed; entire species are threatened with extinction. Excess mortality due to heat has risen dramatically in 2026.

We hold the capitalist profit system responsible as the main culprit! Scientists and environmentalists have been warning us for decades. Yet monopolies and governments continue to prioritise the pursuit of profit. The unity between humanity and nature is being wantonly destroyed. Through the continued burning of fossil fuels in private transport and energy generation; through cuts to budgets for public safety and landscape conservation; through the promotion of large-scale agriculture, food production and unnecessary manufacturing with enormous greenhouse gas emissions; and so on.

Greed for profit is also often the direct cause of fires: entire areas are set alight so that they can subsequently be turned into cheap building land for huge tourist resorts. This has been standard practice for years. Forest fires caused by carelessness and even arson have always occurred and must be tackled; today, they have devastating consequences due to heatwaves.

There is another way. After the Second World War, the then still socialist Soviet Union began establishing protective forest belts on a large scale to effectively combat the regular droughts caused by dry winds. Trenches were dug around the areas to prevent forest fires, and the forests were regularly maintained.

We are facing an escalating global environmental catastrophe. Forest fires are considered a key factor in this global environmental catastrophe. People lose their lives and their livelihoods as a result, or suffer from chronic illnesses afterwards. The unity between humanity and nature is being wantonly destroyed – and the capitalist profit system is to blame.

People are angry with their governments; now is the time for us to do our own thinking. Behind this extreme heat lies the profit system of imperialism. We have a solution: under socialism, people and nature – not profit – take centre stage. Only in a society where workers are in the driving seat of a planned economy can we save our planet.

Let’s step up the fight for our environment!

Let’s wrest the world from the hands of those responsible for the global environmental catastrophe in the banking and monopoly centres!

Present signatories, further signatures possible.

1. БКП Българска Комунистическа Партия (Bulgarian Communist Party)

2. MLPD Marxistisch-Leninistische Partei Deutschlands (Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany)

3. UPML Union Prolétarienne Marxiste-Léniniste (Marxist-Leninist Proletarian Union), France

4. RM Rode Morgen (Red Dawn), Netherlands

5. MLGS Marxistisch-Leninistische Gruppe Schweiz (Marxist-Leninist Group of Switzerland)

6. TKP-ML Türkiye Komünist Partisi – Marksist-Leninist (Communist Party of Turkey – Marxist-Leninist)

7. Red Network Ireland

8. UMLP União Marxista-Leninista Portuguesa (Portuguese Marxist-Leninist Union)

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