Fair Start Movement Challenges Climate Progress Claims at COP31
News related to:Fair Start Movement · 2 min read
NEW YORK CITY, NY, UNITED STATES, November 12, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- At the upcoming COP31 conference in Antalya, Turkey, the Fair Start Movement and Truth Alliance are set to challenge the climate progress claims made by various organizations. These groups argue that current climate initiatives often overlook the significant harms to children, vulnerable communities, animals, and future generations.
Indigenous advocate June Bartuin, founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Peoples for Peace and Climate Justice in Kenya, will represent the Fair Start Movement and Truth Alliance at COP31. Bartuin plans to bring a call for birth equity, ensuring that every child is born into a safe, empowered, and ecologically sustainable world.
The organizations are preparing a formal notice to the European Commission, demanding that institutions claiming climate progress must account for the ongoing harm to children, communities, animals, and ecosystems. They also want to see how these institutions empower those affected by climate change.
The Fair Start Movement and Truth Alliance argue that claims of overall environmental progress often coexist with rising total harm. They believe that institutions must disclose countervailing costs, including the burdens shifted onto children born without adequate resources or meaningful opportunities to influence their futures.
Pierrette Kengela, a public health and human rights advocate and founder of JOY4ALL, connects this accountability question to the rights of future generations. She argues that political legitimacy must begin with measurable birth equity and the empowerment of children to shape the systems governing their lives.
The Fair Start Movement and Truth Alliance are also challenging statements by COP and UN officials that they argue present a misleading picture of progress by omitting the cumulative impacts of population and economic growth. These omissions can conceal rising emissions, animal suffering, and disproportionate harm to communities of color and children born without the resources or political influence to protect themselves.
In their May 20 joint letter, COP31 President-designate Murat Kurum and President of Negotiations Chris Bowen outlined commitments to implementation and inclusion. The Fair Start Movement and Truth Alliance ask how these outcomes will account for children's starting conditions and affected communities' actual power over decisions.
The proposed EU notice also examines an October 8 United Nations Human Rights post discussing the Human Rights Council's recognition of environmental rights. The organizations argue that closing, and measuring, that gap must be central to any assessment of progress.
The notice asks the European Commission to explain how environmental claim standards address aggregate harm, material omissions, equality, and children's rights. It also requests meaningful participation by affected communities in correcting deficiencies.
Through Bartuin's participation at COP31, the campaign connects these institutional questions to the communities living with their consequences.