Antalya, Turkiye(National Times)- The COP31 climate talks kicked off on Monday with an early fight over money as the UN\u2019s chief urged world leaders to \u201cget serious\u201d about tackling the crisis after a year of devastating weather extremes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Antonio Guterres made his plea as thousands of participants descended on a sprawling expo centre in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya for the UN\u2019s annual two-week climate conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The summit comes after a year of punishing heatwaves in Europe, major wildfires in Indonesia and catastrophic floods in Nepal, with an exceptionally strong El Nino weather phenomenon fuelling more climate chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The summit comes after a year of punishing heatwaves in Europe, major wildfires in Indonesia and catastrophic floods in Nepal, with an exceptionally strong El Nino weather phenomenon fuelling more climate chaos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe have entered a new age of climate extremes,\u201d Guterres said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He urged leaders to \u201cget serious by cutting emissions faster, accelerating a just transition from fossil fuels and delivering the finance and protection vulnerable countries need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The COP31 opening ceremony opened an hour-and-a-half late without explanation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Negotiators had been locked in discussions late Sunday over demands by developing nations to include items on climate finance in the official agenda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis has already been a difficult start for COP31,\u201d said Jasper Inventor, head of Greenpeace\u2019s COP31 delegation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Under UN climate agreements, developed countries, which are historically responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, have provided financial support to help developing nations adapt to climate impacts and transition to cleaner energy. But poorer countries say the sums remain insufficient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inventor said developed countries were \u201ctaking a hard line\u201d over whether to include a platform, agreed at COP30 in Brazil last year, aimed at discussing how wealthy nations should provide funds to developing nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
African countries are also pushing for the agenda to include discussions on the tripling of adaptation finance, which aims to help poorer nations pay for measures such as building sea walls or planting drought-resistant crops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But that point was not made a standalone agenda item.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A senior European Union official warned last week that there would be \u201cno political will\u201d for extra funding pledges at COP31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Observers say few major breakthroughs are expected at COP31 as countries grapple with an oil price shock and geopolitical tensions fuelled by the US war with Iran and Russia\u2019s conflict in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hottest year?
As negotiators tussled in Antalya, the UN\u2019s World Meteorological Organisation released a report indicating that 2026 has continued a streak of exceptional global temperatures, melting ice and rising sea levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU\u2019s climate monitor warned last week that 2026 would most likely be the second-hottest year ever recorded, while scientists say 2027 could top the chart, fuelled by El Nino.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The long-term outlook is bleak: the UN warned in September that global temperatures were on course to exceed 1.5\u00b0C above preindustrial levels, breaching the most ambitious threshold set by the Paris Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGlobal leaders must pull us back from the brink and commit to rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels and expanding renewable energy, an imperative reinforced by the current energy affordability crisis,\u201d said Rachel Cleetus, climate programme director at the Union of Concerned Scientists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fossil fuel fight
Turkiye is presiding over COP31, with Australia leading negotiations under an unusual arrangement that settled a dispute over who would host the conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The partners have branded the summit as the \u201cimplementation COP\u201d, focusing on turning commitments into concrete action after years of pledges and ambitious announcements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turkiye is promoting an \u201caction agenda\u201d alongside the formal negotiations that encourages countries to support non-binding pledges on issues from artificial intelligence to waste management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its centrepiece is an \u201celectrification\u201d drive to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from around 20 per cent today to 35pc by 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the initiative could become a source of friction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The EU has called for \u201cclean\u201d electrification, a term that could spark debate over the role of fossil fuels in the Turkish proposal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Countries committed to transition away from fossil fuels in a landmark pact at COP28 in Dubai in 2023 but have struggled to agree on how to turn that pledge into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
COP30 ended with a deal that made no explicit mention of fossil fuels after oil-producing countries opposed the language.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, Brazil produced a voluntary \u201croadmap\u201d with proposals for phasing out fossil fuels that each country can tailor to their circumstances.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Climate diplomacy is still missing a major player, as climate-sceptic President Donald Trump has not sent officials to COP31.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A US congressional delegation, however, will come to Antalya, with Democrats beaming after last week\u2019s historic US midterm election win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Antalya, Turkiye(National Times)- The COP31 climate talks kicked off on Monday with an early fight over money as the UN\u2019s chief urged world leaders to \u201cget serious\u201d about tackling the crisis after a year of devastating weather extremes. Antonio Guterres made his plea as thousands of participants descended on a sprawling expo centre in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136179,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n