'Stop dicking around': Bowen facing uphill battle amidst insufficient progress at COP31 climate talks
Greenpeace Australia Pacific
Antalya, Türkiye, Saturday 14 November 2026 — At the midway point of the COP31 climate talks where Australia is chairing negotiations, vital work is still needed to deliver real progress to phase out fossil fuels, protect the 1.5°C temperature goal, and to massively scale-up climate finance.
On Friday, the COP31 Presidency released a ‘summary of reflections’ on the proposed cover decision, providing a ‘Christmas list’ of options for the COP31 outcome, including proposals to advance the transition away from fossil fuels, recognition of the critical role of forests and oceans, and a response to the urgency of 1.5°C overshoot. But these are not yet agreed commitments, and they need to be strengthened in any cover decision, not diluted, says Greenpeace.
Speaking from Antalya, Dr Simon Bradshaw, COP31 Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “It’s time to stop dicking around. Australia must focus on the urgent task of accelerating the global transition away from fossil fuels. We are experiencing rapidly worsening climate impacts, and a crippling cost of living crisis driven by fossil fuel dependence, yet the negotiating rooms are becoming increasingly disconnected from the brutal realities faced by communities all around the world.
"In week two, there is everything left to play for. The COP31 Presidency can deliver an ambitious outcome the world desperately needs, but it’s going to take the very best of us. Our message to the Presidency is: Don’t stuff this up.”
Also in Antalya, Shiva Gounden, Head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: "Now that leaders have departed Antalya we can get down to the urgent work at hand — delivering real progress to end fossil fuels and defend the 1.5°C limit. We must refuse to let these rooms become detached from the Pacific’s reality, where a breached 1.5°C will drown our history and identities, every fraction of a degree of overshoot fuelling more irreversible harm for our communities.
“This crisis requires more than speeches; it requires Pacific courage. True leadership demands bravery to chart a course away from fossil fuels and to stop every new coal, oil and gas project in its tracks. The Presidency must deliver."
ENDS
COP31 images and video available here in Greenpeace Media Library
Media contact: Kate O’Callaghan in Antalya (GMT+3) on +61 406 231 892 (Whatsapp/Signal)