Of all types of weather, extreme heat is the most fatal. 489,000 people die each year due to extreme heat, and 18,970 deaths annually are attributed to workers exposed to dangerous temperatures.
The problem is not going away. In fact, due to the climate crisis, it is getting much worse. Over the last year, 4 billion people — about 49% of the global population — experienced at least 30 additional days of extreme heat. Studies show that climate change has at least doubled the number of extreme heat days in 195 countries around the world.
Low- and moderate-income people are hit hardest by extreme heat days – in their homes and on the job – reducing life expectancy, making people ill and exposing people to dangerous working conditions. . Infants, pregnant mothers and the elderly are especially vulnerable but anyone who is unable to escape the heat – whether it’s due to work or faulty housing is at risk.
Around the planet, ACORN International affiliate members are feeling the heat, and organizing to protect themselves and their communities from a growing climate crisis.
What we’re seeing:
Temperatures above 35°C/95°F are considered dangerous to human health. In cities across India, members of the ACORN-affiliated Gig Workers Association are expected to work in temperatures that have surged much higher – from 42°C to a record high of 51°C in Delhi in June 2025 (108-123°F).
Graphic produced by ACORN Gig Workers Association on the dangers posed by working in extreme heat
The Gig Worker Association is an all-India network of platform-based gig workers – mainly providing delivery services in some of the world’s busiest and hottest cities. Delivery workers associated with online platforms work long hours without guaranteed rest zones, paid heat breaks, or basic heat safety protocols. Heat-induced headaches, UTIs, stress, and fatigue are frequently reported.
In June 2025, as the heat index climbed above 50°C, India’s meteorological department issued a series routine “red” warnings, urging citizens of Delhi to avoid the outdoors, especially at mid-day. However, Delhi-based delivery workers were told to report for delivery work from noon to 4pm. Onedescribed the situation for many gig workers: “The company has made it mandatory to log-in for 3.5 hours between 12-4 PM during the hottest time of day to get incentives.” Ironically, the phones that workers like Swiggy use for their work routinely break down due to the extremely high temperatures.
“The company doesn’t care whether we survive or not, they just want the deliveries done.”
Gig Worker Association member in Delhi, June 2025
Extreme heat is one of many on-the-job risks faced by sugarcane workers affiliated with ACORN Cameroon. Cameroon’s industrial agriculture sector alone accounted for 26.4% of work-related accidents. The ACORN-affiliated Syndicat des Travailleurs Saisonniers de la Filière Canne à Sucre de la Haute Sanaga estimates that the Cameroon Sugar Corporation (SOSUCAM), which holds a monopoly on sugar production in the country, is responsible for about a hundred work-related accidents per year on its plantations and in its factories – 90 percent of which were never compensated. Working in extreme heat has led to workers losing consciousness on the job.
Canada is not normally seen as a global hot-spot but the climate crisis and poor housing design has left many tenants struggling with extreme heat. On average, Canada is warming at twice the global rate and extreme heat events are becoming common. ACORN Canada’s 2025 report “Crumbling apartments in a warming world” details the troubling ways this impacts low and moderate tenants in multiple Canadian urban centres: Greater Vancouver, Greater Toronto-Hamilton, Ottawa, London, Greater Halifax, Calgary, Winnipeg, Moncton and Fredericton. Only 9% of surveyed tenants stated that they are not impacted by extreme heat and most reported poor sleep (74%), fatigue (66%) and headache (48%).
“I feel that it has become suffocating. I have to go outside. I have to go outside for some fresh air. You can’t stand here. It’s like the rooms are on fire,”
Millicent Parke, ACORN Member residing at 2277 Kipling Avenue in Toronto
“For the seniors and disabled residents in these buildings, who are isolated and facing rent increases, a big heat wave can be deadly.”
Abi Martin, ACORN Member in Calgary
ACORN members in France face similar challenges. France has repeatedly broken extreme heat records over the last five years and the French Government predicts that this will only become more common. The frequency of heat waves is expected to double between now and 2050.
Extreme heat is an extreme risk for tenants in French cities like Lyon, Marseille, and Grenoble. Of the 325,000 homes in Lyon, 10% can be classified as “passoires thermiques”, according to the municipal government. In other words, ovens. The problem is especially acute in neighborhoods classified as “sites patrimoniaux remarquables” (significant historical sites), a planning designation which landlords use as an excuse to dismiss tenant concerns, falsely claiming that even modest building improvements are forbidden by law. Instead, units are transformed into furnaces thanks to windows without shutters, poorly insulated walls, lack of ventilation and poorly renovated attic spaces. When temperatures exceed 35°C outside, our members face temperatures that reach over 40°C inside.
Tenant members of the ACORN-affiliated Locataires Ensemble report insomnia, discomfort, physical exhaustion and heat stress. In June, as temperatures in Lyon reached 40°C (104°F), residents taped bed sheets to their windows in a desperate attempt to mitigate the heat, and were told by their landlords that window shutters and fans would not be installed. Some tenants were forced to leave their homes as they remained dangerously hot into the evening.
« On redoute presque l’été, en fait. Surtout qu’il arrive de plus en plus tôt. On est presque fin mai. Il peut durer jusqu’à mi-septembre. » (« We’re almost dreading summer, actually. Especially since it’s coming earlier and earlier. It’s almost the end of May. It can last until mid-September. »)
Romain Vallet,
Locataires Ensemble ACORN Member, Lyon
In summer, our homes — unsuited to climate change — become heat traps and are uninhabitable for nearly two months a year. If the landlord doesn’t install the equipment needed to make the home livable, then I don’t see why I should be paying rent for an unlivable place.
Salim Poussin, Locataires ensemble ACORN France
The problems of heat are exacerbated in poorly designed and aging buildings where low and moderate-income tenants often live. Retrofitting has the potential to make housing more livable and significantly reduce the carbon emissions that fuelthe climate crisis. While governments across Europe, the UK and Canada have acknowledged the need for retrofitting in light of the climate crisis, retrofit programs are often inadequate, underfunded or fail to include renters or consider their concerns.
In England alone, 52% of homes— equivalent to 13.1 million properties— require energy efficiency upgrades to meet national standards. In the report “Retrofit for the Future” ACORN the Union and campaign partners note the urgent need for government investment – but also emphasize that resident voices are too often ignored. They note that previous government programs often produced unintended problems for residents: heat pumps installed without increasing insulation led to higher energy bills, poorly installed insulation caused mold issues later on. The largest barrier for tenants, however, is fear – of rent increases or eviction. ACORN the Union’s own research found that 11% of tenants were issued an eviction notice after raising a repair issue and 57% of respondents had a rent rise in the previous 12 months. For too many moderate-income tenants and homeowners, retrofits that would make their homes more livable inevitably lead to increased costs they can’t afford or permanent displacement through renoviction.
In Edinburgh Scotland, ACORN-affiliate Living Rent organized residents in Lochend are dealing with this conundrum. Lochend-Restalrig is one of the most deprived areas of Edinburgh, with a high percentage of residents in fuel poverty, and homes in poor condition. The energy efficiency is generally poor and some of the oldest blocks are entirely uninsulated. Residents were, at first, happy to learn that Edinburgh Council was planning energy retrofits despite a lack of consultation. However, that soon changed as it became clear that the retrofits would result in significant upheaval and costs (between £10k and £40k for each resident). Some Living Rent ACORN members lost their homes following renovictions. There were long unexplained delays and so little clarity that people felt (and feel) like their lives have been upended for months. The costs, expected to be borne by residents, were far more than many could afford.
“I broke down in tears when I got the estimate quote and was in tears when we met members of the council committee. When we got the quote, the letter patronisingly told us to use our savings or assets to pay the bill.”
Lochend owner-occupier
“We are a classic example of retrofit being ‘done to’ people without consultation or openness, leaving us with uncertainty and unmanageable debt. … This retrofit programme is one of the most disempowering, belittling experiences of my life.”
Lochend owner-occupier
ACORN Canada members also feel they are forced to choose between retrofits that would make their homes livable and costs they cannot afford. When asked if they were concerned about rent increase because of energy efficiency repairs, two-thirds of tenants said they were extremely or somewhat concerned. Moreover, they find that, even though they are asked to bear the cost of energy efficiency repairs, they do not see any improvement in their homes. Among members who saw energy efficiency repairs in their buildings 54% said that the repairs were not helpful.
The $130 million (CDN) financing agreement between the government-sponsored Canadian Infrastructure Bank (CIB) and corporate landlord Avenue Living was a clear example of a retrofit program designed without tenants in mind. Under the agreement Avenue Living conducted essential energy retrofits and upgrades to housing for tenants, while the federal government backed the initiative with substantial funds as part of an overall push to curb GHG emissions. . 78% of tenants told ACORN in a later survey that they wanted to see retrofits in their buildings if there were rules about landlords not being allowed to make excessive rent increases. However, in the absence of such rules, tenants were hit with large rent increases. 16% of tenants were forced to move and further 55% said they could “barely afford” to pay.
“I don’t know what to do. We need governments to stand up and take notice of what’s happening to the people, because this is something where they have to get involved and restrain these corporations.”
Sandra McCrone, ACORN Calgary Member, Avenue Living Tenant
Some national governments are not only failing to meet the crisis, they are actively dismantling the structures and schemes that people rely on to survive extreme heat. In the United States, the LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) is in crisis. In Donald Trump’s first term as president, the Republican administration proposed steep cuts to LIHEAP, but in the face of bipartisan pushback, the White House ultimately backed off. Now under Secretary Robert Kennedy, Jr. all of the staff administering the $4.1 billion Congressional allocation have been laid off, so there is no way for the remaining funds to be distributed this summer. Historically, over the last more than 40 years of the program’s existence 90% of the funds have been used to support heating assistance for families in the winter with the rest for summer cooling. With climate change, more is needed for summer crises, even while the Trump administration is playing political games with the program to deny people desperately needed funding. The program is not an entitlement and the money runs out way before the end of each fiscal year.
In another action, by executive order Trump has jeopardized the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) protections mandating additional breaks triggered by high temperatures for agricultural and other outdoor workers. Meanwhile, under the leadership of billionaire Trump donor Elon Musk, the Department of Government Efficiency has fired staff researching the impacts of extreme heat at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
What we need to see:
ACORN affiliates have demands that are as diverse and varied as the countries where they operate. However, there are recurring themes:
Governments, employers and landlords must recognize that extreme heat is the new normal – and that heat waves and record heat days will only get more common with each passing year.
Urgent action is needed to reduce carbon emissions and mitigate the climate crisis.
Low and moderate income-earners face the worst impacts of an overheating world and therefore require the most support – not added costs or risks to their homes and livelihoods.
Any programs to alleviate heat or mitigate the climate crisis will fail unless low- and moderate-income people are organized, involved and respected.
Cameroon:
In January 2025, 4000 members of the ACORN-affiliated Syndicat des Travailleurs Saisonniers de la Filière Canne à Sucre employed by SOSUCAM went on strike with a broad call for better pay and safer working conditions. After two weeks of peaceful protest, SOSUCAM called in 400 special forces officers with armored vehicles, resulting in the death of union member Gaston Djora and injuries to 11 others. SOSUCAM made modest concessions on wages after the strike but they have still refused to formally recognize the worker’s union. They continue to demand:
Decent work = Decent pay
More protection = Fewer deaths
Inclusive collective bargaining
A stop to union repression
Specifically, for the safety and health of workers on the job they demand:
A plan that allows agricultural workers to work at their full capacity
Ensuring victims of workplace accidents who are fit to work return to positions suited to their physical condition.
Improved conditions at onsite Hospital care.
Keeping accident victims who are not fit to work on sick leave.
Making public environmental and social management plan and ensure that accident risks are taken into account, along with a concrete plan for appropriate management of these risks
Canada:
In municipalities across Canada, ACORN is running “Beat the Heat” campaigns focussed on key demands:
A maximum heat bylaw that requires landlords to keep units below 26°C/78°F
Cities to track heat related deaths and illnesses
Programs to support tenants with the cost of running energy efficient AC/heat pumps
Other Canadian sections are focussed on demands for cooling subsidies, energy rebates and changes to property codes that will allow members to heat-proof their homes.
At a national level, ACORN Canada is calling on the federal government to move urgently on retrofit programs to address climate change but also to listen to tenants:
All green infrastructure retrofit partnerships and agreements from the Canada Infrastructure Bank, Ministry of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, or CMHC must include must include:
Affordability and anti-eviction covenants
Energy efficiency and mechanical cooling measures
Allowance of other improvements before energy efficiency and mechanical cooling
Require landlords to demonstrate benefits for tenants.
Signed agreements from the landlord made transparent to the tenants
Formal tenant participation
Community Benefit Agreements – Agreements signed by the financing entity, the landlord and the tenants.
Mandate all Canadian Provinces implement Energy Poverty Programs that provide direct assistance to those in need.
VICTORY: ACORN Canada members compelled Municipal Councils in Hamilton and Toronto to create new programs for low income and vulnerable residents. A subsidy of up to $350 (CDN) towards the purchase of an energy efficient air conditioner is now available in these Cities for low-income seniors in need.
VICTORY: In Alberta, ACORN tenant organizing forced the Canada Infrastructure Bank (CIB) to include affordability covenants in all retrofit financing deals. This means landlords must ensure housing remains affordable as they receive millions of dollars in federal funding for energy-efficient upgrades.
England and Wales:
ACORN the Union, along with their allies in the Retrofit For the Future Campaign, are calling on their Members of Parliament adopt a retrofit program that includes:
Real effective rent control and an end to no-fault evictions. These are crucial pre-requisites to any program of retrofits – to ensure tenants are protected against eviction or unfair rent hikes.
Rent freezes during renovations and for at least 2 years after them – longer in situations where a landlord has accessed a public grant don’t have to pay for the increased energy bills during the renovations
The right to enter your home while works are taking place
Measurement of effectiveness, with the results made public and guaranteed and automatic compensation and remediation where savings and standards are not met. Contractors should be paid a fair amount for the work done, not the distorted ABS system based on unreal energy savings
Investment in skilled workers and feedback from them on site visits after the completion of projects
Compensation to residents, proportionate to losses and suffering and straightforward to obtain
Effective sanctions, with checks to ensure firms do not dissolve and re-form
France:
ACORN-affiliate Locataires Ensemble is demanding the inclusion of an unconditional requirement for landlords to install shutters and fans in overheating homes, at their own expense in France’s Public Health Code. This should then be properly monitored and enforced.
Locataires Ensemble is also calling on municipal leaders, starting with the Mayor of Lyon, to urgently issue municipal decrees to ensure the health of residents which would require landlords to install equipment that will better regulate the heat.
Locataires Ensemble has also been a leading advocate for government action for accountable and ecologically responsible retro-fits, including:
Comprehensive mapping of building energy efficiency to identify “leaky” inefficient buildings
Support for tenants including subsidized energy audits and legal services
Penalties for landlords who refuse to make needed upgrades
VICTORY: Locataires Ensemble retrofit organizing has compelled 7 of 10 targeted landlords to initiate the process of carrying out needed retrofit work in the building.
India:
ACORN India and the Gig Workers Association are demanding that India’s Ministry of Labour and Employment app-based aggregators including Zomato, Swiggy, Blinkit, Zepto, Ola, Uber, Amazon:
Recognize extreme heat as an occupational hazard and make worker safety non-negotiable.
Provide climate hazard pay during red-alert heatwave days.
Equip all delivery workers with protective gear such as UV-resistant clothing, caps, hydration kits (ORS), and access to clean water.
Build or designate cooling/rest stations in high-traffic areas where workers can take shade during peak heat.
Implement “no-penalty hours” during high-heat alerts. This will allow workers to slow down or pause without income loss or algorithmic punishment.
Ensure all gig workers are covered by emergency medical insurance for climate-related health impacts.
Revise delivery window to more realistic time targets
Legally recognize gig workers as formal workers to ensure they are entitled to labor rights and are integrated into national social security schemes, providing them with health insurance, retirement benefits, and paid leave.
VICTORY: ACORN-affiliated Gig Workers Association in collaboration with union and environmental allies have compelled the Indian Meteorological Service to make heat warnings accessible to workers in the informal sector – through community platforms, posters and handwritten notices at labour chowks.
Gig workers design and distribute heat warning information. (Times of India)
Scotland:
ACORN-affiliated members of Living Rent in Lochend have specific demands around the retrofit project – but also as principles for future retrofitting:
Reduce the cost of essential retrofit work for owner-occupiers by improving payment assistance plans with zero interest payment plans, grant funding, and a ceiling on potential bills.
Include the community in decision making from the outset.
Allow private tenants to remain in their homes
VICTORY: Living Rent members in Lochend have won policy changes that give private tenants more security and a right to remain in their home when their landlord decides to sell back to the council – and continue to organize.
United States of America:
ACORN International is calling on the Trump Administration to:
Immediately restore staffing to ensure proper administration of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
Reverse DOGE staffing cuts to federal departments that have been developing strategies to address extreme heat – including cuts at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the National Integrated Heat Health Information System (NIHHIS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Enact standards under the Occupational Safety and Health Administration that must, at a minimum, ensure worker’s right to water, shade, rest breaks and training when working in temperatures over 90°F (32°F)
ACORN affiliates in the US are also calling on local government to take steps to protect citizens during extreme heat events:
No water shut-offs during any heat periods—not just those labeled “extreme” and lower water rates for households at 200% of the poverty rate or lower to enable the use water for cooling.
Special safety protocols for children, students, and athletes during outdoor activities.
Direct human assistance for all services, especially help with online forms and digital applications.
Public cooling spaces that include take-home frozen packs—either homemade or professionally prepared.
Solar generators to keep at least one room cool in homes without reliable power.
Pet safety education: Promote ice packs and shaded hydration for animals during heat waves.
Gronlund, Carina J. “Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Heat-Related Health Effects and Their Mechanisms: a Review” Current Epidemiology Report, July 1, 2014
Gig Worker’s Association Press Release, June 25, 2025 ”#CoolDeliveries: Campaign launches to Amid 45C Heat Wave to Demand Safety and Protection for Platform Gig Workers from Heat Stress and Extreme Climate Event”
Name withheld to protect against employer reprisals
Gig Worker Association Press Release, June 25, 2025 “DELHI’S HEATWAVE vs. SWIGGY’S 3.5-HOUR MINIMUM SHIFTS”
Joint Press Release Gig Worker Association, Amazon India Workers Union, Youth For Climate India, June 11m 2025 “#CoolDeliveries: Campaign launches to Amid 45 C Heat Wave to Demand Safety and Protection for Platform Gig Workers from Heat Stress and Extreme Climate Events”
Name withheld to protect against employer retribution
Testimonial provided to ACORN Locataires Ensemble, June 2025
The International Energy Agency estimates that retrofitting buildings with energy-efficient operations could reduce global carbon emissions by up to 6.1 gigatons by 2050.
Extreme heat is deadly and it’s only getting worse. Climate change is fueling longer, hotter summers, and low and moderate income people are being left to suffer the consequences.
Tenants are baking in unsafe apartments. Delivery workers are being forced to work in 45°C heat. Governments and corporations are doing too little, too late.OSHA heat protections rolled back for outdoor workers.
We demand urgent action from governments, landlords, and corporations to protect the people most at risk — not someday, NOW.
✊ We Call For:
🔹 Cooling as a right: Max temperature bylaws and retrofits with tenant protections. 🔹 Worker protections: Heat breaks, hazard pay, and rest zones for gig and informal workers. 🔹 No heat profiteering: Stop evictions and rent hikes tied to “green” upgrades. 🔹 Public investment: Fund energy poverty programs and safe, sustainable housing for all. 🔹 Reinstate and expand OSHA heat protections for all US workers
This July 23rd, join ACORN members around the world to demand climate justice that protects people — not profits.
✅ Protests, petitions & public pressure ✅ Tenant demands for cooling and retrofit justice ✅ Gig workers fighting for heat safety and rights. ✅ Fighting for U.S. OSHA heat protections
📢 It’s time to put the freeze on rising heat.Join your local action or organize your own today!
Because if we don’t fight back together… we’ll get cooked.
Why Talk About Heat?
Extreme heat is the deadliest weather event, killing 489,000 people globally each year. Nearly 19,000 of these deaths are workers exposed to extreme temperatures. Due to the climate crisis, the problem is rapidly escalating: over 4 billion people experienced 30+ days of extreme heat last year alone.
Who Is Most Affected?
Low- and moderate-income people face the worst impacts, whether through unsafe housing or heat-exposed jobs. Vulnerable populations include seniors, infants, pregnant people, and gig and informal workers.
What We’re Seeing Across the Globe
🇮🇳 India – Gig Workers Association
Workers endure 45°C+ (113°F+) heat in cities like Delhi.
No rest zones, hazard pay, or proper gear.
Platforms force work in peak heat hours for incentives.
Demands:
Recognize heat as an occupational hazard
Hazard pay, rest breaks, medical insurance
Cooling/rest stations, protective gear
Legal recognition of gig workers and inclusion in social security
Victory: India’s Meteorological Department now issues public heat warnings thanks to ACORN organizing!
🇨🇦 Canada – ACORN Canada
Canada is warming twice as fast as the global average.
Only 9% of tenants unaffected by heat. Most cannot afford cooling.
Demands:
Max indoor temperature bylaws (26°C max)
Tenant-focused retrofits with rent controls
Federally mandated energy poverty programs
Victories:
New air conditioner subsidies in Toronto & Hamilton
Affordability covenants added to Canada Infrastructure Bank retrofit deals
🇫🇷 France – Locataires Ensemble
Lyon tenants suffer in 40°C+ homes with no shutters or ventilation.
Historic preservation laws used as excuse to avoid upgrades.
Demands:
Shutters, fans, and insulation made mandatory
Enforce health protection laws under the French Public Health Code
Retrofit mapping and legal support for tenants
Victory: 7 of 10 targeted landlords initiated retrofits!
🇬🇧 England, Wales, & Scotland – ACORN the Union / Living Rent
UK homes are among the least energy efficient in Europe.
Tenants fear eviction or rent hikes from retrofit upgrades.
Demands:
Retrofits must include tenant protections and consultation
Zero-interest payment options for owner-occupiers
Right to remain for private tenants
Victory: Living Rent won secure housing for tenants in retrofitted properties in Lochend!
🇺🇸 USA – LIHEAP & OSHA Rollbacks
LIHEAP cooling funds blocked; 90% of annual funding used for heating
OSHA heat protections rolled back for outdoor workers
What We Need to See:
Recognition of extreme heat as the new normal
Inclusive, equitable retrofits
Tenant involvement in all housing/climate policies
Protections for informal and gig workers
OSHA heat protections rolled back for outdoor workers
Join the Movement: Across the globe, ACORN affiliates are organizing to Beat the Heat. We are demanding action from landlords, employers, and governments to protect the people most at risk.
Connect with local and international organizers for a deep dive into the most effective strategies in community organizing today. From cutting-edge grassroots mobilization tactics to communication skills and electoral campaigning, the Organizers’ Forum is a unique space to share experiences, sharpen tools, and build collective power across borders.
This year, the Forum heads to Romania and Bulgaria, where participants will meet with local organizations and activists fighting for women’s rights, environmental justice, fair housing, and more. Join organizers from across the ACORN network and beyond for a powerful week of learning, solidarity, and action.
Looking Back: Highlights from the 2024 Organizers’ Forum in Taiwan
Last year, the Organizers’ Forum traveled to Taipei, Taiwan, meeting with some of the most inspiring grassroots groups in the region.
📌 New Bloom Magazine
Our visit to New Bloom offered a compelling glimpse into the intersection of media, activism, and community in Taiwan. Not just an online newspaper, New Bloom also serves as a vibrant social space for political and cultural discussion. We learned from founder Brian Hioe about the challenges of independent media and its vital role in shaping public discourse.
📌 Migrant Workers Organizing: TIWA & SPA
The Forum delegation also met with the Taiwan International Workers Association (TIWA) and the Serve the People Association (SPA) to better understand the struggles of Taiwan’s 800,000 migrant workers. These essential workers, especially in long-term care, often face exploitative broker contracts, high fees, and legal barriers to equality.
TIWA is leading campaigns to regulate these exploitative practices, while SPA provides direct support, shelter, and policy advocacy for migrant workers. Both groups are doing critical work to defend rights and restore dignity to those whose labor is too often invisible.
📌 Green Citizens Action Alliance & Taiwan Climate Action Network
We also met with Green Citizens’ Action Alliance (GCAA) and the Taiwan Climate Action Network to discuss pressing climate challenges in Taiwan — from the nuclear power debate to the intensifying effects of typhoons and earthquakes. These groups are leading efforts for environmental justice through grassroots advocacy and research-driven campaigns.
We left Taiwan inspired by these movements and deeply committed to continuing our international solidarity work.
Why It Matters
The Organizers’ Forum is more than a trip — it is a global exchange of strategy, solidarity, and struggle. From Taiwan to Romania, our mission is to connect organizers, build relationships, and strengthen movements that fight for justice everywhere.
If you are an organizer ready to grow your skills, deepen your international perspective, and build long-term solidarity with movements around the world, this is your chance. Join us in Romania and be part of a powerful delegation committed to learning, sharing, and taking action together.
On June 18th, ACORN affiliates around the world marked our 55th anniversary not with cake, but with coordinated actions across four continents to confront the corruption, displacement, and environmental destruction of the Adani Group.
The Adani Group, controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, is currently evicting hundreds of thousands of people in Dharavi, Mumbai’s largest informal settlement, to make way for luxury towers and malls. Families are being relocated to one of the world’s most toxic landfills. This is just one example of a pattern that spans the globe: corporate greed, land grabs, environmental degradation, and political favoritism.
Across Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Kenya, and France, ACORN members delivered demand letters, held rallies, and protested the institutions profiting from Adani’s abuses.
ACTION HIGHLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD:
London, UK: ACORN members delivered symbolic eviction notices at the Science Museum, calling out its sponsorship by Adani Green Energy.
Edinburgh, Scotland: Members delivered a letter to BlackRock, comparing Adani’s eviction scale to displacing the entire population of Edinburgh.
Nairobi, Kenya: A community meeting explored how Adani is trying to enter local markets through airport development and trade deals.
Hamilton, ON: Members marched to MP Aslam Rana’s new office, posting a demand letter on the door and rallying for global housing justice.
Vancouver, BC: Members delivered a petition to MP Randeep Sarai’s office and secured a follow-up meeting.
Calgary, AB: Members delivered a demand letter to MP Corey Hogan’s office urging action against Adani investments.
Ottawa, ON: ACORN visited MP Mona Fortier’s office and flyered the community about Dharavi and Adani’s corporate abuses.
London, ON: A demand letter was delivered to MP Arielle Kayabaga, calling for divestment from Canadian pension plans tied to Adani.
Toronto, ON: Members protested outside BlackRock’s headquarters, demanding divestment from Adani enterprises.
New Orleans, LA: A Community Voice protested at the Port Commission office, linking Adani’s evictions to local displacement struggles in Louisiana.
Dallas, TX: Members protested at Adani North America’s supposed headquarters — a residential home listed in Texas filings — to expose the company’s lack of transparency.
Little Rock, AR: Letters were delivered to both of Arkansas’s U.S. Senators urging continued investigation and no deals with Adani.
Paris, France: Protesters gathered at a Synergy gas station to denounce the company’s ties to Adani Energy and the environmental damage caused by its oil extraction operations.
Global Day of Action Targets Adani’s Land Grab in Dharavi, Mumbai
ACORN International and Affiliates Around the World Stand in Solidarity with Residents Facing Mass Eviction
June 12, 2025 – On June 18, people across the globe will rise in coordinated action to demand justice for Dharavi residents and accountability from the Adani Group, as ACORN International marks its 55th anniversary by confronting one of the most egregious cases of corporate corruption, land grabbing, and environmental injustice in the world today.
Dharavi, one of Asia’s largest informal settlements and home to up to one million people in Mumbai, India, is facing forced redevelopment under a project led by the Adani Group, the multinational corporation controlled by billionaire Gautam Adani, one of the world’s richest men. The plan threatens to displace hundreds of thousands of residents with little to no consultation or guaranteed right to return. Many are planned to be relocated to the Deonar landfill, one of Mumbai’s most toxic sites, instead of being housed safely within the community they have helped build.
This is not development. It is a scam disguised as progress. People will be pushed out of their homes to make way for luxury towers and shopping malls, while billionaire Adani and his political allies profit.
Adani holds an 80% stake in the Dharavi redevelopment and with the current ‘master plan’ has carved out half of Dharavi’s landmass for himself. The plan has moved forward with little transparency or democratic input from the community. Meanwhile, the Deonar landfill, the proposed relocation site for a potential 500,000 residents, contains over 18 million metric tons of legacy waste, emits over 6,000 kilograms of methane per hour, and leaks toxic chemicals posing massive health and environmental risks.
This pattern of corporate impunity extends far beyond Mumbai. Adani’s record is under scrutiny not only in India but globally. The U.S. Department of Justice recently indicted Adani Group for alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, including a reported $250 million bribery scheme involving Indian officials and misleading statements to American investors, where he is facing charges from the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC). A separate incident involving U.S. sanctions violations by an Adani-linked oil shipping entity has further triggered investigations by the US Justice Department and fueled calls for accountability. Adani’s business practices have been described as “the largest con in corporate history”.
In response, ACORN International and its affiliates are calling on governments, institutions, and corporations to cut ties with Adani, refuse to support or legitimize displacement and environmental destruction, and urge the U.S. Department of Justice to aggressively pursue its indictment into Adani Group’s alleged corruption under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA). This call to action is part of our growing international movement demanding accountability.
On June 18, protests, petitions, and digital actions will take place across Canada, the United States, France, Kenya, and the United Kingdom. Cities taking part include Toronto, London, Edinburgh, New Orleans, Little Rock, Dallas, Baltimore, and Paris. These actions will denounce Adani’s abuses and call for an end to mass evictions in Dharavi.
Together, we stand in solidarity with the people of Dharavi and all communities resisting exploitation. We encourage anyone ready to speak out against Adani to join their local affiliate branch in action and sign our petition.
ACORN International is a federated organization with 300,000 members of low and moderate income families and lower waged workers organized in more than fifteen countries around the world, working to empower people, communities, and workers for the last 55 years.
Communities Displaced: Adani’s projects have displaced thousands, including residents of Dharavi in Mumbai, who are being pushed out to a landfill to make way for luxury development.
Environmental Harm: His companies are major contributors to the climate crisis through coal expansion, destructive infrastructure, and deceptive greenwashing.
Corruption & Fraud: Adani Group is under investigation for serious allegations including bribery, fraud, and sanctions violations.
Institutional Complicity: Many institutions invest in or partner with Adani — they must divest now or be held accountable.
New Deals in Progress: Governments and companies are still considering business with Adani. The message must be clear: Do not start.
To: Attorney General Pamela Bondi and the U.S. Department of Justice
We respectfully urge the Department of Justice to continue its investigation into the Adani Group under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).
According to credible allegations, executives at Adani Enterprises planned a $250 million bribery scheme involving Indian officials and made misleading statements to U.S. investors, while using U.S. financial institutions to conduct business. These facts bring the matter clearly within the jurisdiction of U.S. law.
The recent incident involving U.S. sanctions violations by an Adani-linked entity further underscores the urgent need for renewed scrutiny and legal accountability.
The question at hand is not about foreign policy. It is about integrity. If exceptions to U.S. anti-corruption laws are made based on perceived diplomatic risk, it undermines the rule of law that protects both free markets and strong international partnerships.
The relationship between the United States and India is important and will only be strengthened when both countries uphold a shared commitment to transparency, accountability, and legal due process. Dropping this case could erode investor confidence and send the wrong message to corporations that seek to operate above the law.
This is not about politics or personalities. It is about protecting the credibility of U.S. enforcement mechanisms. No company should be shielded from legal scrutiny because of wealth, influence, or geopolitical considerations.
We ask that the Department of Justice uphold its responsibility to pursue justice fairly and independently.
Gautam Adani is one of the richest men in the world and the oligarch behind India’s most powerful corporate empire. His companies span fossil fuels, infrastructure, media, to defense and have grown through a pattern of land grabs, environmental destruction, and political favoritism.
Adani’s destructive empire is propped up by a global web of investors, partners, and silent beneficiaries. These include corporations investing in his companies, institutions accepting donations, and entities facilitating his expansion. Governments, pension funds, and infrastructure authorities must make a choice: Will they support an empire built on displacement, exploitation, and environmental destruction?
Grassroots groups across Canada, the United States, France, and the United Kingdom Have all decided to raise their voices. From Dallas and New Orleans to Paris, London, and beyond, communities are taking action to demand accountability and resist further expansion.
WHAT
A wave of grassroots actions for ACORN’S 55th Anniversary led by communities around the world to mark one year since explosive allegations reignited global scrutiny of the Adani Group’s record of financial misconduct, climate destruction, and human rights abuse.
We are sending a clear message:
Cut ties with the Adani empire now – don’t invest, don’t build, and don’t legitimize.
Even if Adani is not currently doing business in your region:
Don’t Let Adani In. Stop the Harm Before It Starts.
WHY
Adani’s growth has displaced communities and threatened livelihoods, most notably in Dharavi, one of India’s largest informal settlements, where residents are being pushed out, to a literal landfill, to make way for a real estate project. This pattern continues across rural and Indigenous lands in Australia and around the world.
His companies are driving the climate crisis by expanding coal operations, building destructive infrastructure, and using greenwashing to mask the damage.
Ongoing corruption, fraud allegations, and legal investigations reveal that Adani is not a trustworthy partner for any institution.
Many organizations have quietly profited from his empire through investments, partnerships, or donations, and must divest now or be held accountable.
Others are considering new relationships — including governments exploring infrastructure deals. The message is simple: Do not start doing business with Adani!
Want to Get Involved?
Join a local action in your city or country
Call on institutions near you to cut ties with Adani
Share the campaign and amplify the demand for divestment
The resistance to Adani’s global empire is only growing stronger — and it’s not stopping now. Around the world, people are standing up to say: Our communities will not be ruled by oligarchs — starting with Gautam Adani.
?? STRASCAS marches for workers’ rights in Cameroon ??
On this year’s 139th International Workers’ Rights Day, ACORN International affiliate STRASCAS led a powerful protest parade in Douala with 190 members demanding decent work, safety, union rights, and social dialogue. Their slogans were clear:
✊ Decent work = Decent pay ✊ More protection = Fewer deaths ✊ Yes to inclusive collective bargaining ✊ Stop union repression!
This important day also marked a major step forward: STRASCAS officially became an affiliate of the Confédération Entente Nationale des Travailleurs du Cameroun.
?? STRASCAS défile pour les droits des travailleurs au Cameroun ?? À l’occasion de la 139e Journée Internationale des Droits des Travailleurs, notre affilié STRASCAS a organisé une parade revendicative puissante à Douala, rassemblant 190 membres autour de slogans forts :
✊ Travail décent = Salaire décent ✊ Plus de protection = Moins de décès ✊ Oui au dialogue social collectif et inclusif ✊ Stop à la répression syndicale !
Cette journée fut aussi marquée par une avancée importante : STRASCAS est désormais affilié à la Confédération Entente Nationale des Travailleurs du Cameroun.
ACORN is featured in Jack Shenker’s review of Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis by Nick Bano, published in the latest issue of the London Review of Books. The article doesn’t just name-check ACORN, it highlights the heart of our work: turning frustration, fear, and isolation into collective action and power.
Shenker writes about Ruby, a tenant trapped in the UK’s cruel private rental system, living with chronic illness in a mold-infested HMO owned by a retired doctor profiting from public housing benefit. After falling from the security of a corporate London job and grappling with the trauma of housing instability in her early adulthood, Ruby found herself once again on the brink of eviction. Stripped of income, health, and options, what little recourse did she have in the face of a system stacked against her? Organizing with ACORN. From role-playing landlord confrontations at a workshop, to speaking at our TSB bank occupation in Tottenham, Ruby found her voice and a community that fights back.
The review also acknowledges the legacy we’re building on: from Red Clydeside to the Stepney Tenants’ Defence League, ACORN, the London Renters Union, and Living Rent are organizing in a much harsher landscape, where rent strikes are criminalized and tenant protections are eroded. But as the review rightly points out, our confrontational actions, occupying banks, storming letting agents, and naming and shaming exploitative landlords shine a necessary light on the power imbalance at the heart of the housing crisis. For renters like Ruby, community unions like ACORN offer resistance need to combat the housing crisis’s in our communities .
Bano’s book and Shenker’s review both make one thing clear: landlordism in Britain has become a national industry, bolstered by MPs, corporations, even charities. But the fight is far from over. As Bano says, “The solutions are already in our neighborhoods.”
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