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350.org, CAN International demand stronger fossil fuel phase-out, climate finance action at COP31 – EnviroNews
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Climate advocacy groups 350.org and Climate Action Network International (CAN International) have called for stronger commitments on fossil fuel phase-out, renewable energy, adaptation finance and climate action ahead of COP31 in Antalya, Türkiye, following the conclusion of the Pacific Pre-COP in Fiji.
The groups welcomed the attention given to Pacific priorities during the four-day Pre-COP but warned that recognition of the region’s vulnerability must translate into stronger decisions and concrete implementation at the November climate summit.
350.org said the Pacific had set clear expectations for keeping the 1.5°C temperature goal within reach, arguing that global electrification must be driven by renewable energy rather than continued reliance on fossil fuels.
Fenton Lutunatabua, Pacific and Caribbean Programme Manager at 350.org, said leaders who travelled to the Pacific had witnessed the impacts of the fossil-fuel-driven climate crisis and would now carry that experience and responsibility into COP31.
“Leaders have come to the Pacific and witnessed the extent of the fossil-fueled climate crisis. They now carry that mantle of witness-bearing and accountability into COP31,” he said.
Lutunatabua said the organisation welcomed commitments by the COP31 co-presidency towards a global electrification goal but insisted that the transition must be based on renewable energy.
“We commend the commitments of the co-presidency to the global electrification goal but maintain that any hope of keeping 1.5 degrees alive requires this goal be built by renewables, not the broken, expensive systems of the past,” he said.
He urged Australia and Türkiye to translate their stated commitment to implementation into concrete action at COP31, saying the outcome would be important not only for Pacific countries but for the wider global community.
Efe Baysal, Türkiye Lead at 350.org, similarly warned against what he described as complacency and unfulfilled climate commitments.
He called on Türkiye, Australia and other governments to establish credible pathways away from coal, oil and gas while accelerating a just transition to renewable energy.
Baysal said COP31 should demonstrate that “implementation” means turning existing commitments into concrete plans to phase out fossil fuels and support a safer and fairer transition.
CAN International also expressed concern that the recognition of Pacific vulnerability at the Pre-COP had not yet translated into sufficiently ambitious plans for emissions reductions and adaptation.
Jacobo Ocharan, Head of Political Strategies at CAN International, said accelerating climate impacts were increasing the urgency for governments to strengthen support for communities facing climate risks.
He pointed to disasters and emerging climate threats, including deadly floods in Nepal and the prospect of a Super El Niño, while criticising reductions in adaptation finance and development aid.
“The money exists. Governments are choosing where the money goes and it’s not on the climate crisis,” Ocharan said.
With COP31 only weeks away, he called for concrete outcomes in several areas, including the Belém-Antalya Mechanism for Just Transition, stronger commitments on adaptation finance and a credible climate finance work programme anchored in developed countries’ obligations under the Paris Agreement.
He also urged governments to demonstrate how they intend to close the gap between current climate action and the 1.5°C temperature limit.
Both organisations focused particular attention on the implementation of climate finance commitments and the direction of the global electrification agenda.
CAN International welcomed new pledges aimed at improving access to climate finance but cautioned that improved access would have limited impact without sufficient resources being made available.
Ocharan also warned that new electrification commitments should accelerate renewable energy deployment rather than create opportunities for continued fossil fuel use.
“The Pacific has shown the world what is at stake. Now governments must show they are ready to act,” he said.
“Words of concern will not protect anyone. Antalya must deliver decisions that change people’s lives for the better.”
The reactions from the two climate networks add pressure on the COP31 co-presidency to turn the priorities highlighted at the Pacific Pre-COP—including keeping 1.5°C within reach, accelerating renewable energy, strengthening adaptation and improving access to climate finance—into concrete outcomes when governments meet in Antalya. For the Pacific, the groups said, the credibility of COP31 will ultimately be measured not by statements of solidarity but by whether decisions taken there result in faster climate action and tangible support for communities already experiencing the impacts of climate change.
