‘Let’s organise for climate justice’

Çiftçi-Sen issued a call: ‘Let’s organise for climate justice’

Capital’s commodification of nature has played a decisive role in driving the climate crisis. Pastures, grazing lands, rivers, farmland and forests have been opened up to mining and to new energy projects under the banner of “renewable” and “clean” energy, in order to serve the needs of capital. Through COP processes, countries and corporations implementing these systems have been granted international financial incentives on the pretext that they “do not emit carbon.”

Our country is among those where the damage caused by these new energy systems is most evident. In the Black Sea region in particular, hydroelectric plants have made water access more difficult for farmers and rural communities, placing additional strain on agricultural production. Water resources have been restricted for all living beings, ecological balance disrupted, and harmful insect populations have increased at the expense of beneficial ones, further undermining agricultural production.

Geothermal plants contribute to greenhouse gas emissions by releasing harmful gases into the atmosphere and by discharging chemicals underground that contaminate surface and groundwater, making them unsafe for plant life and all living beings.

The ecological damage caused by wind and solar power plants is becoming increasingly clear. These systems rely on large quantities of rare earth elements, extracted from vast areas of agricultural land through intensive chemical processes. The chemicals involved, along with the waste pools they generate, contaminate water, soil and air, further escalating the climate crisis. These plants are often built on forests or farmland, through the seizure of land from farmers and rural communities, driving them from their homes. In this sense, climate displacement is already underway. We oppose energy policies shaped by the needs of capital and call for “Energy Justice and Energy Democracy”.

War plays a central role in the climate crisis. Bombs, weapons and military operations destroy ecosystems, wipe out vegetation essential to oxygen cycles, and tear apart the ecological fabric. The gases released in wartime — from explosions, burning buildings and devastated forests — further increase greenhouse gas emissions and deepen the crisis.

Yet within COP processes, states refuse to confront these realities. Instead, they continue to debate and endorse market-based solutions shaped by capital, while engaging in greenwashing.

We, as farmers and peasants affected by capital’s energy, mining, water and food policies and by the climate crisis, do not limit ourselves to observing COP processes. Together with workers, urban communities and ecologists impacted by these policies, we stand ready to defend the right to life of all living beings, the rights of nature, and the right to earn a living; to build policies shaped by the people themselves, and to establish Food Sovereignty.

From different parts of the world, those affected by the climate crisis will come to Antalya for COP31 to challenge the policies of states and capital that ignore them. They will demand Climate Justice, convene international forums and build an Alternative Summit.

As those affected by capital’s policies in mining, energy, water and food—and by the climate crisis they generate—we will be there. We will bring these forums and events to life through international solidarity.

We must move forward through a process built from the ground up, in which people, local movements and international networks come together and strengthen one another. If we are fighting for a future in which people hold real power, then this process must also be built from below.

The false, greenwashed solutions proposed by states and capital can only be countered through collective action and international solidarity. Together, we can build a more liveable world. We support the approach of the Climate Justice Forum held in Antalya on 28 January and will take responsibility for organising similar forums wherever we are.

Join the struggle! Rise to Justice!

No to imperialist aggression!
No to the misuse of agricultural land!
No to the commodification of nature!
No to carbon trading!
No to greenwashing!

Energy Justice and Democracy — Now!
Food Sovereignty — Now!
Peasants’ Rights — Now!

FARMERS’ UNION (ÇİFTÇİ-SEN)