Protest at the COP in Antalya: More climate justice demanded

Thousands demand more climate justice at COP31 protests in Antalya As of: November 14, 2026 • 7:47 p.m

Halfway through the UN Climate Change Conference, but so far there have been few results - to the frustration of the thousands of activists who took part in a protest march in Antalya. They want to make the industrialized countries pay more.

It is a colorful and loud demonstration marching through downtown Antalya - half an hour's drive from the venue of the UN climate conference COP31. According to the organizers, around ten thousand participants are demanding more climate justice.

Climate activists from all over the world use large puppets, banners and posters to underline their demands for more climate protection. And they criticize the COP. Far too little happened in the first week. "Nobody wants to talk about money. People seem very interested in creating a framework and saying, 'This is what we have to do.' But no one says how it will be implemented, when and who will finance it," criticizes Tendai Makanza, an economist from Zimbabwe. The effects of climate change have long been felt in sub-Saharan Africa.

"Climate Summit of the Nations" as a counter-event to COP31 Gabriele Dunkel, ARD Istanbul, currently Antalya, tagesschau, Das Erste, November 14, 2026 • 3:30 p.m. Criticism of sponsors of COP31 It is a central demand at the climate demo in Antalya: more justice. Industrialized countries would finally have to pay more - as they are responsible for a large part of the climate-damaging emissions. It is said that the poorest countries, which suffer the most from climate change, cannot pay for adaptation and climate protection on their own.

Turkish organizations are also represented. "We come from local environmental and climate struggles. The Kaz Dağları Mountains are threatened by coal-fired power plants, gold mines and geothermal energy projects. Unfortunately, the companies that are destroying our nature are among the sponsors of COP31. We want justice. We reject climate policies that are controlled by companies," says an activist.

Benjamin Weber, ARD Istanbul, currently Antalya, on the People's Climate Summit tagesschau, Das Erste, November 14th, 2026 • 12:00 p.m. Police allow protest Human rights organizations had previously been concerned about the brutal behavior of the Turkish police. It usually takes regular action against environmental protests and other demonstrations. Today the protest march remains unmolested, even though all participants are strictly searched.

If climate protection measures remain as they are now, the earth will warm up to 2.7 degrees by 2100 - this is what the "Climate Action Tracker" study, which was presented in Antalya this week, has calculated. The activists in Antalya are calling for an end to fossil fuels.

Henriette Held also demonstrated. She is one of the two federal chairmen of the Young Greens. “We finally need a very clear goal for phasing out coal, oil and gas,” she demands. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke about a new oil field during the COP. Held criticizes this. “We finally have to wake up and understand what an existential crisis we are in.”

The alternative event to COP31 - the Peoples' Climate Summit - begins with the climate march in Antalya. Civil society will meet here for four days and continue to raise demands for more climate protection and more climate justice.

This topic in the program: tagesschau.de | International civil society protest march in Antalya | 11/14/2026 | 6:22 p.m. Das Erste | daily news | 11/14/2026 | 3:30 p.m