Get Guardian on GoogleUnited Nations has challenged world leaders to move beyond climate pledges and accelerate the delivery of renewable energy, adaptation funding and emissions reduction measures, as vulnerable countries continue to bear the highest costs of global warming.
Opening the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye, yesterday, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Simon Stiell, said countries must translate existing climate targets and national commitments into practical measures, particularly by removing barriers preventing developing nations from accessing promised finance.
He said the conference must move beyond setting global targets and political direction to breaking down existing commitments into actionable steps, stressing that progress since the 2015 Paris Agreement remained too slow and unequal.
Stiell noted that about 90 per cent of large renewable energy projects were now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives, while adaptation was increasingly becoming part of mainstream development planning. However, he warned that these gains were insufficient to address the scale of the climate crisis.
According to him, coordinated action on methane reduction and electrification could cut projected global warming by half a degree Celsius.
On climate finance, Stiell said the negotiations must establish how countries would deliver the commitments made in Baku, including mobilising at least $300 billion annually for developing countries by 2035 and scaling up overall public and private climate finance to $1.3 trillion annually.
He cited disasters in the Himalayas and the threat of an intense El Niño phenomenon as evidence of escalating climate risks, warning that vulnerable communities were paying the highest price for a crisis they contributed least to creating.
COP31 President and Türkiye’s Minister of Environment, Urbanisation and Climate Change, Murat Kurum, said climate change could no longer be treated separately from food security, energy supply, migration, public health, urban development and economic stability.
He noted that droughts, floods, water shortages and extreme heat were disrupting agricultural production, industrial activities and livelihoods across national borders.
Kurum said Türkiye and Australia would work to bridge differences between developed and developing countries, strengthen cooperation and improve access to climate finance and technology, particularly for vulnerable nations.
He identified dialogue, consensus and action as the three principles guiding the Turkish presidency, arguing that decisions reached at the conference must produce measurable improvements in people’s lives.
The Turkish presidency also highlighted its 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge, which seeks to increase electricity’s share of global final energy consumption to 35 per cent by 2035.
The initiative covers renewable energy, electricity grids, storage systems, energy efficiency, clean transportation and green industrial development.
