Amnesty International urged world leaders attending the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, to abandon support for the fossil‑fuel industry and to accelerate a “progressive, rapid and equitable” phase‑out of fossil fuels. In a statement released on the day of the summit, the human‑rights group called on governments to break the influence that fossil‑fuel companies exert over climate policy and to end the era of fossil fuels before it causes further harm. “The world is no longer short of warnings about climate change; what is running out are excuses,” Amnesty said. “After more than 30 years of climate negotiations, governments can no longer hide behind promises of future action or avoid confronting their fossil‑fuel industry allies.” The organization’s Climate, Economic Justice, Social Justice and Corporate Accountability Programme Director, Marta Schaaf, said the climate crisis is “not a failure of knowledge but a failure of political will.” She added that it is time to “break the strangulation that corporate power exerts on political decision‑making and end the fossil‑fuel era before it ends us.” Amnesty cited the latest assessment by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), which warns that the world is on track to exceed the 1.5 °C temperature threshold. The group highlighted that governments, especially those with the greatest responsibility for the crisis, remain far from adopting the measures needed to limit the magnitude and duration of the overshoot and to bring temperatures back down. “Communities are already suffering the devastating effects of droughts and forest fires, and every additional fraction of warming will worsen human‑rights abuses,” the statement said. It warned that the overshoot itself is dangerous, as it could trigger climate tipping points and irreversible damage, regardless of future temperature reductions. Schaaf cautioned that even if the 1.5 °C threshold is temporarily surpassed, it should never be used as an excuse to give up or delay action. “COP31 must limit the magnitude and duration of the overshoot, bring temperatures back down, and protect populations from even greater harm,” she said. The organization called for concrete outcomes from the summit, including a robust “Belém‑Antalya Mechanism for a Just Transition” and the implementation of a Gender Action Plan. It urged governments to accelerate a total, rapid, fair and financed phase‑out of fossil fuels, in line with their responsibilities and capacities, and to ensure that the transition to electrification is underpinned by renewable energy and protects workers, Indigenous peoples and communities most affected by the climate crisis. Amnesty also urged high‑income countries, which bear the greatest historical responsibility for greenhouse‑gas emissions, to massively increase climate finance through subsidies and other measures, including higher taxes on the ultra‑rich, fossil‑fuel companies and their financiers. The statement was issued by Amnesty International and reported by EFE.
Article source: El Nuevo Diario | Image credit: El Nuevo Diario