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CAN urges govts to turn climate promises into action at COP31 – EnviroNews
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The Climate Action Network (CAN) has challenged governments attending the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, to translate their climate commitments into concrete measures that create decent jobs, protect vulnerable communities from climate disasters and expand access to affordable, reliable and safe energy.
The international climate advocacy network said governments must use the November conference to demonstrate that international cooperation could still deliver equitable and effective climate action amid growing conflicts, economic inequality and declining trust in international institutions.
In a statement ahead of COP31, CAN stressed that governments must move beyond making promises at successive climate summits and fulfil existing commitments to protect people’s lives, livelihoods and human rights.
Tasneem Essop, Executive Director of Climate Action Network International, said people across the world were demanding an end to policies that prioritised wars, fossil fuel subsidies and powerful economic interests over human welfare and environmental protection.
“People everywhere are saying enough. Enough of wars, enough of watching their homes and livelihoods destroyed, enough of governments claiming there is no money to protect them – while finding trillions for weapons and fossil fuel subsidies,” Essop said.
She maintained that governments already had the knowledge and solutions needed to protect communities from climate disasters, create decent employment and provide affordable and safe energy.
According to her, international law and adequate financing, rather than repeated political declarations, are essential to delivering meaningful protection for vulnerable populations.
“Governments meeting in Antalya must decide whose interests they serve. They can either keep defending a system that is failing people and the planet, or start delivering the protection and prosperity that people are calling out for,” she added.
CAN argued that climate breakdown, armed conflicts and economic insecurity were interconnected challenges arising from economic and political systems that place profit and powerful interests above people and the environment.
It noted that the International Court of Justice, in its 2025 advisory opinion, had affirmed governments’ legal obligations to address climate change.
The organisation said COP31 should therefore provide an opportunity for governments to demonstrate their commitment to international legal and financial obligations, while placing justice, equity and human rights at the centre of climate action.
Four Priorities for COP31
Outlining its key demands, CAN identified four priority areas requiring urgent attention during the negotiations.
First, it called for the establishment of the Belém-Antalya Mechanism (BAM), a proposed framework to support a just transition that protects workers, young people and communities.
The mechanism follows governments’ agreement at COP30 in Belém to develop a Just Transition Mechanism.
CAN said the proposed framework should help countries transform their economies in ways that create decent jobs, protect livelihoods and labour rights, and ensure that workers and affected communities participate in decisions about their futures.
It further called for the mechanism to mobilise accessible, grant-based public financing and practical support, particularly for developing countries in the Global South.
Second, the organisation demanded increased adaptation financing to protect communities from worsening climate impacts.
It urged governments to honour their 2025 commitment to at least triple adaptation finance by 2035, while developing a credible plan to deliver at least $120 billion annually well before that deadline.
Citing the UN Environment Programme’s Adaptation Gap Report 2026, CAN warned that even if developed countries fulfil the tripling commitment, more than 70 per cent of developing countries’ adaptation needs would remain unmet.
It said the funding gap threatened efforts to build flood defences, strengthen early warning systems, secure water supplies and promote drought-resistant agriculture.
The organisation called for additional grant-based public financing to close the remaining gap and ensure that resources reach communities facing climate threats.
It also urged developed countries to fulfil their pledges to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage, provide substantial new funding and urgently establish a process for replenishing the fund.
CAN maintained that communities devastated by climate disasters should not be left to bear the financial burden of rebuilding their homes and livelihoods.
Third, it called for predictable, accessible and adequate public climate finance, insisting that governments must prioritise grants over loans that could deepen the debt burden of developing countries.
The organisation argued that available financial resources should be redirected from fossil fuel subsidies and military spending towards protecting communities, supporting workers through the energy transition and expanding renewable energy access.
It stressed that financing remained central to the successful implementation of commitments on adaptation, loss and damage, just transition and electrification.
Fourth, CAN called for accelerated electrification and emissions reduction through a transition away from fossil fuels.
It highlighted the energy access challenges facing hundreds of millions of people, particularly in Africa, where many communities still lack access to electricity.
The organisation urged COP31 to advance equitable electrification by expanding affordable and reliable renewable electricity to homes, schools and hospitals, while ensuring that communities participate in decisions about energy development and benefit from the transition.
It added that in countries already dependent on coal, oil and gas, electrification should replace fossil fuel use rather than simply add to existing electricity demand.
CAN also called for the extension and strengthening of the Mitigation Work Programme until 2030 to ensure that national climate commitments translate into measurable emissions reductions through clear implementation plans and accountability mechanisms.
The organisation maintained that many of the solutions required to address the climate crisis already existed, but governments needed to demonstrate the political will to implement them.
It said the success of COP31 would ultimately depend on whether countries could agree on practical measures that make people’s lives safer, strengthen economic security and give communities greater control over their futures.
