Education
CAN slams Australia’s COP31 leadership, warns of weakening Just Transition ambition – EnviroNews
– Advertisement –
The Climate Action Network (CAN) International has criticised Australia’s leadership of negotiations at the ongoing 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31), warning that weakening ambition on the proposed Just Transition Mechanism could undermine support for workers and communities affected by the transition away from fossil fuels.
The criticism was made on Saturday, November 14, 2026, during a CAN International press conference in Antalya, Türkiye, where climate advocates from Australia, the United States and Latin America raised concerns about the direction of the negotiations and the growing emphasis on electrification without adequate climate justice safeguards.
Denise Cauchi, Chief Executive Officer of Climate Action Network Australia, accused the Australian government of missing an opportunity to provide the political leadership and ambition required to drive meaningful progress at COP31.
She particularly faulted Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to provide high-level political signals on climate finance and the need to transition away from fossil fuels.
“Our Prime Minister Albanese missed the opportunity to provide the high-level signals and vision that this COP needs. Failing to announce finance or even mention fossil fuels were avoidable mistakes, and we cannot afford any more of them,” Cauchi said.
She argued that Australia had arrived at the conference without building sufficient leadership momentum around the negotiations, urging the country to demonstrate greater ambition as the conference entered its second week.
“Austalia arrived at COP31 without having built a strong leadership narrative or momentum around the negotiations. We’re halfway through COP31. It’s time to stop dicking around and show some vision,” she said.
Concerns Over Just Transition Mechanism
Cauchi also expressed concern over the first draft of the Belém-Antalya Just Transition Mechanism, warning that the proposals lacked the institutional capacity, financial resources and ambition required to deliver practical assistance to workers and communities.
She called for a strong institutional framework capable of responding to requests for support, facilitating resource mobilisation and ensuring meaningful civil society participation in decision-making.
“We need a strong institution that can respond to requests for matchmaking and resource mobilisation, and that ensures meaningful participation of civil society in decision-making. Communities need a seat at the table,” she said.
According to her, assigning responsibilities to the proposed mechanism without providing the necessary resources and implementation capacity would leave vulnerable communities without the support they need.
She warned that civil society organisations would resist attempts to weaken the mechanism’s ambition during the negotiations.
“Giving a mechanism responsibilities without the means to carry them out will leave workers and communities waiting for help that will never arrive,” Cauchi added.
Executive Director of US Climate Action Network, Ife Kilimanjaro, similarly warned that the proposed mechanism risked becoming another bureaucratic initiative without delivering tangible benefits to workers and communities.
She expressed concern that discussions around a possible COP31 cover decision could divert attention from the need to establish an effective framework for implementing a just transition.
“Right now in Antalya, the promise of ambition is failing. A just transition must deliver secure jobs and new opportunities for workers and communities,” Kilimanjaro said.
She criticised the draft proposals for potentially creating additional administrative structures without addressing the practical needs of communities affected by climate and energy transitions.
“Instead, the current draft risks handing us more meetings, more reports and another website, things we already have, but nothing that pushes the work forward,” she said.
Kilimanjaro stressed that climate leadership should prioritise people, nature and the planet over corporate interests, insisting that a just transition must deliver meaningful economic and social opportunities.
Electrification Must Not Entrench Fossil Fuel Dependence
Meanwhile, Laura Restrepo Alameda of Climate Action Network Latin America (CANLA) warned that global electrification efforts would fail to deliver a fair and sustainable energy transition if they continued to reinforce fossil fuel dependence, extractive practices and violations of Indigenous rights.
She cautioned against treating electrification as automatically beneficial to the climate, arguing that the process must be guided by social justice, environmental protection and democratic participation.
“There is a massive push for electrification, often marketed as climate action. But electrification is not inherently just, nor is it automatically green,” Alameda said.
She called for decentralised and participatory renewable energy systems that recognise energy as a fundamental human right and a common good rather than a commodity controlled by wealthy interests or developed primarily for export.
“Fair electrification means participatory, decentralised and democratised renewable energy systems, with energy treated as a human right and a common good, not a commodity for export or for the richest,” she said.
Alameda further warned against energy transition pathways that rely on fossil gas, voluntary loopholes and extractive economic arrangements that undermine the rights and interests of communities in Latin America.
“Latin America will not accept a transition built on fossil gas, voluntary loopholes or neocolonial extractivism,” she added.
The interventions by the three climate advocates highlighted growing civil society concerns over the need to ensure that COP31 negotiations translate climate commitments into practical measures that protect workers, Indigenous peoples and vulnerable communities.
With negotiations entering their final week, CAN called for stronger political leadership, adequate financing and an ambitious Just Transition Mechanism capable of delivering concrete outcomes rather than additional institutional processes.
