COP31 climate talks have entered their second and final week in Antalya, Türkiye, with the United Nations climate chief urging negotiators to move faster as disputes over fossil fuels threaten to stall a final agreement. The summit, which runs until November 20, has yet to produce a draft deal text, and Australia’s negotiations president expects the first draft to emerge early next week.
Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, called on delegates on Saturday to take on the hardest issues now rather than leave them to the closing days, warning that tactical delays could derail a global warming pact. More than 190 countries are represented at the talks, which are being hosted by Türkiye at the Antalya Expo Center with Australia leading the formal negotiations.
The fossil fuel divide
Countries remain divided over whether the eventual COP31 agreement should set more explicit targets for moving away from oil, gas and coal. Large fossil-fuel producers are resisting firm new targets, while a UN report released last month warned that the world is on track to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit set by the Paris Agreement.
Host nation Türkiye is promoting a proposal to expand global electrification as a way to speed the shift away from fossil-fuel-powered equipment. Negotiators have also released a preliminary list of priorities for a possible final political agreement, known as a cover decision, though that push is not universally supported among delegations.
America stays away
The United States has not sent an official delegation to the talks, according to Reuters, adding another dimension to the negotiations. More than 100 US governors, senators and mayors are attending in a private capacity despite the American withdrawal from the Paris Agreement.
The finance fight also looms large. Developing nations want far more climate finance than the $305 billion annual figure debated at the summit, while richer countries argue that private capital must do more of the work. Sixteen nations signed a statement at the summit aiming to quadruple the international carbon credit market to $21 billion by 2035.
Outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres used his final climate summit in office to call for a tax on oil companies’ windfall profits to fund recovery in vulnerable countries. A first draft of the potential deal is expected on Monday, though climate summits are historically prone to running beyond their official end dates.
