United Nations human rights experts have urged Australia to demonstrate stronger climate ambition through a human rights-based approach to environmental protection, warning that its role as co-president of the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) must be matched by concrete action to phase out fossil fuels.
The experts expressed serious concerns about Australia’s climate pledges, particularly its 2035 Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) under the Paris Agreement, which they claim is inconsistent with the path required to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
They also questioned the country’s continued approval of fossil fuel projects despite mounting evidence of their environmental, health and social consequences.
“Global leadership, particularly by an historically high-emitting country, should be backed up by the highest level of ambition, domestically and internationally, in climate change mitigation, notably the phasing out of fossil fuels, in line with applicable international obligations and human rights, including the human right to a healthy environment.”
UN Experts
The experts highlighted the gap between Australia’s international climate leadership ambitions and its domestic climate policies, raising questions about its commitment to regional cooperation with Pacific Island countries, which face severe climate impacts despite contributing relatively little to global emissions.
The concerns follow Australia’s organisation of the Pacific Pre-COP in October, where keeping the 1.5°C global warming limit within reach was a central priority.
The experts also pointed to the human consequences of climate change.
“Climate change is exposing children and young people in Australia to repeated traumatic climate events, severe disruptions of their education and family lives, undermining of cultural and recreational relationships with nature, along with ongoing climate anxiety and emotional distress about the future,” they said.
UN Experts
They added that children across the Pacific region have experienced even more prolonged, severe and widespread impacts.
Although the Australian Human Rights Commission’s first report on climate change called for a phase-out of fossil fuels, the government has approved more than a dozen new coal mines, expansions and other fossil fuel projects since 2022.
UN Experts Warn of Human Rights Costs of Fossil Fuels
The experts warned that continued reliance on fossil fuels poses foreseeable and intergenerational threats to human health, food systems and the environment, both on land and in the oceans.
They stressed that the risks extend across the entire fossil fuel lifecycle and include associated products such as plastics, pesticides and fertilisers.
The experts called for these consequences to be considered in decisions concerning energy transitions, climate technologies and carbon markets, including international climate cooperation.
“We welcome the recent court decision in New South Wales which clarified that all harm to the climate system, including as overseas emissions linked to coal mining in Australia, must be assessed by planning and licensing authorities before approving any project.”
UN Experts
They stressed that judicial institutions have an important responsibility in addressing the climate crisis and ensuring that environmental and human rights considerations are not overlooked in project approvals.
“We hope this is the first in a series of steps to ensure Australia’s compliance with its stringent due diligence obligations to prevent significant harm to the environment, the climate system and human rights, by phasing out fossil fuels.”
UN Experts
COP31 Challenged to Make Climate Solutions More Accessible
Meanwhile, developing countries continue to face significant financial barriers to the transition, raising questions about how the 2026 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) can make climate solutions more accessible to vulnerable economies.
Speaking ahead of the November 9–20 summit in Antalya, Türkiye, UN Special Adviser on Climate Action and Just Transition, Selwin Hart, indicated that the challenge is no longer simply developing solutions to climate change but ensuring countries have the capacity to benefit from them.
Hart identified the high cost of financing renewable energy projects as one of the major obstacles, noting that investments can cost several times more than comparable projects in wealthier economies, even when the technology is identical.
He stressed that removing these financial barriers must become a priority during the second decade of the Paris Agreement, particularly for countries struggling with heavy debt burdens and competing development needs.
“So, our task now, in this second decade of the Paris Agreement, is to ensure that we remove the barriers to implementation, the barriers to faster action in these economies.”
Selwin Hart
He added, “we need solutions on finance that will not increase debt.”
COP31 is expected to address climate change challenges through negotiations on climate finance, adaptation, emissions reductions and a proposed mechanism to support just transitions, alongside practical initiatives under the Global Climate Action Agenda.
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