This year, World Environment Day is calling us to end plastic pollution, and across Africa, the signs couldn’t be more urgent.

In Uganda for example, plastic bags are everywhere. Once mostly seen in city streets and clogged drains in Kampala, they’ve now made their way into rural farmland. Farmers use plastic sheeting to retain moisture in the soil, wrap seedlings in plastic bags, and receive seeds coated in polymer films. It’s often their only option to deal with increasingly extreme weather, driven by climate change. But what feels like a lifeline is also becoming a long-term threat.

These plastics don’t just disappear. They break down into tiny microplastics that are now being found in the very soil we grow our food in, in the water we drink, and even in our bodies, from our lungs, into our blood, to our brain. They carry toxic chemicals that can impact our health in ways we’re only beginning to understand.

But here’s the deeper problem: plastic pollution isn’t just about waste, it’s about power.

Plastic is made from fossil fuels. The same corporations drilling for oil and gas are the ones churning out the plastic that ends up in our rivers, our fields, and our stomachs. And when communities don’t have access to clean, reliable, affordable alternatives, whether it’s energy, materials, or tools, plastic becomes a default solution, especially for farmers facing an increasingly unstable climate.

So when we talk about ending plastic pollution, we also have to talk about ending our reliance on fossil fuels, and building something better in its place.

That’s where our work at 350Africa.org and the REPower Afrika campaign comes in.

REPower Afrika is about shifting the power, literally and politically. It’s a campaign to push for socially owned, decentralized renewable energy across the continent. It’s not just about solar panels and wind turbines, it’s about communities taking control of the systems that shape their lives.

Imagine rural farmers with access to solar-powered irrigation instead of using plastic tarps to trap moisture. Imagine clinics powered by clean energy, not diesel generators wrapped in plastic waste. Imagine local cooperatives running microgrids, cutting ties to fossil fuel companies and reclaiming their right to energy that doesn’t pollute their land or bodies.

Plastic pollution and fossil fuel extraction are symptoms of the same broken system, one that prioritizes profit over people and pollution over protection. But across Africa, people are already fighting back with community-led solutions that work.

This World Environment Day, as we reflect on the damage plastics have done, let’s also dream bigger. Let’s build a future where our communities don’t have to rely on polluting industries to survive. Let’s fight for clean air, clean energy, and clean soil. Sign the REPower Afrika petition, and add your name to the movement.

Let’s end plastic pollution at its root, and REPower Afrika with people-powered solutions.

Anna Amar
350Africa Communications manager