As global leaders gather in Antalya for COP31, international climate group 350.org has issued a stark warning: the planet cannot survive another decade of stalled action on transitioning away from fossil fuels.
The United Nations climate summit opens against the backdrop of an unprecedented fossil fuel crisis. Communities worldwide face increasingly devastating climate impacts, even as energy conglomerates continue to log record profits.
In response, campaigners are calling on joint COP31 hosts Türkiye and Australia to secure a credible, time-bound framework to phase out fossil fuels, backed by strict accountability and robust finance.
Türkiye Program Manager Efe Baysal stressed that hosting the summit carries a heavy obligation to challenge polluters.
“Communities in Türkiye and across the region are already experiencing the consequences of climate change, from extreme heat to water stress and wildfires,” Baysal said, adding that the conference must put renewable energy and local livelihoods at its heart.
The imperative for decisive measures is equally urgent across frontline regions.
Fenton Lutunatabua, Pacific and Caribbean Program Manager at 350.org, highlighted that island nations are grappling with an immediate existential threat to their homes and cultures.
“For Pacific communities, the climate crisis is not a future scenario being debated in negotiation rooms. It is an immediate threat to our homes, cultures, livelihoods and very existence,” Lutunatabua.
“Our islands are on the frontline of a crisis we did little to create, while the companies most responsible continue to extract and profit. We need governments to listen to the communities already living with these consequences.”
Echoing these concerns, East Africa Program Manager Rukiya Khamis drew attention to the severe droughts and destructive floods crippling her region.
She called out the fundamental injustice of leaving those least responsible for emissions to bear the heaviest economic and social burdens.
“COP31 must make climate justice a reality,” Khamis insisted.
“We can’t wait until COP32 in Ethiopia to fix what needs fixing now. By the time countries arrive in Addis Ababa next year, we should be negotiating deadlines and binding targets, not vague promises full of ‘ifs’ and ‘maybes’.”