The Climate Network Türkiye, composed of 16 civil society organisations working in the climate sector, stated in its announcement ahead of May 1 that, in order to protect both workers and the climate, Türkiye—President of COP31—must first establish a national just transition mechanism at home that safeguards the rights of every worker.
The statement from the Climate Network Türkiye reads as follows:
“As the Climate Network, on May 1—International Workers’ Day—we stand in solidarity with the struggle for labour rights and reiterate our demand for a future in which fossil fuels, which exploit both nature and labour and cause fuel conflicts, are left behind. To achieve this, we urgently call for a national just transition mechanism that protects both the climate and workers.
In recent years, coal miners and power plant workers in Afşin-Elbistan, Soma, Yatağan, and Çayırhan have either been laid off due to privatisation, production cuts, or closures, or have been forced into even worse working conditions in an already unsafe sector—facing issues such as unpaid wages and low salaries. We saw a very recent example of this in the case of the miners who began their campaign in Eskişehir and continued to fight for their rights in Ankara until just two days ago. We would like to take this opportunity to express our solidarity with the miners and once again call for the immediate implementation of a just transition process that enables workers to secure their rights.
Unfortunately, the situation faced by workers stems from the lack of just transition planning and the abandonment of the coal sector due to market conditions, leading to violations of workers’ rights. While the fight against the climate crisis requires restructuring fossil fuel-based sectors such as coal and creates new employment opportunities, if this transformation occurs without adequate preparation and planning, workers are left in precarious conditions.
Instead of preventing this and establishing a just transition mechanism in which no worker is left unemployed, the government continues to introduce new incentives to keep the struggling coal sector afloat. With the incentive package introduced in October 2025, an additional USD 133 million in public funds will be allocated annually to coal. This funding could be used to create clean and decent jobs in coal regions instead.
One of the key agenda items of the COP31 Climate Summit, which Türkiye will host and preside over, is also the just transition mechanism. At COP30, a landmark decision established the Just Transition Mechanism. We expect COP31 to operationalise this new mechanism with concrete details on financing, timelines, and implementation. In this context, Türkiye, as COP31 President, must first initiate change at home by announcing a coal phase-out timeline and establishing a participatory national just transition mechanism. By doing so, it will demonstrate its commitment to just transition during its COP31 presidency.”
