The annual United Nations climate conference began Monday with the first disputes over how much money to spend on climate change, with the UN chief calling on states to rise to the occasion in the face of the warming emergency. “We have entered a new era of climate extremes,” recalled UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The leaders present at COP31 “must rise to the occasion: by reducing emissions more quickly, by accelerating a just transition away from fossil fuels and by providing vulnerable countries with the financing and protection they need,” he said.
The opening ceremony began almost an hour and a half late, for no official reason, with a speech by the president of the previous edition of the COP, the Brazilian Andre Correa do Lago. He transmitted to his Turkish counterpart, Murat Kurum, Minister of the Environment in his country, the hammer having marked the decisions of the conference.
“Whatever we do, we must never lose our moral bearings,” said Andre Correa do Lago, according to whom “the world is looking at us to obtain rules, justice, solutions, so many things.”
The delegations were still stumbling late on Sunday over the agenda to be established, in particular over the funding that developed countries, historically responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, have committed to paying to developing countries to deal with the consequences of climate change.
“The start is difficult for COP31,” observes Jasper Inventor, head of the delegation of the NGO Greenpeace, in a message to AFP. According to him, the Europeans notably refused to include certain elements on financing on the agenda.
A mechanism to discuss financing, decided in 2025, will ultimately be on the agenda, indicated two sources close to the negotiations.
Climate ambitions overtaken by crises
However, there will be no official registration of the tripling of funding intended for adaptation to climate change, essential to protect the most vulnerable countries in the face of droughts, floods or rising ocean levels. A request from African countries. This point could, however, be addressed under other subjects on the agenda, these sources specified.
In the vast exhibition center of the seaside resort of Antalya, the atmosphere is less euphoric than realism. Many people talk about a conference intended above all to transform the commitments made during previous editions into concrete actions.
The year was once again marked by a succession of climatic disasters, between deadly floods in Nepal, heat waves in Europe and suffocating fires in Indonesia.
At the same time, the energy crisis fueled by the war in the Middle East, rising prices and the budgetary difficulties of many governments are weighing on climate ambition.
The scientific findings continue to deteriorate. In September, the UN warned that the planet remained on a trajectory inconsistent with the most ambitious goal of the 2015 Paris agreement, when countries committed to trying to limit warming to 1.5°C compared to the pre-industrial era.
Electrification at the heart of disagreements
Turkey is chairing this COP31, with the support of Australia, responsible for leading the negotiations, following an unprecedented compromise on the organization of the conference.
“From the first day, we have worked in a team spirit,” assured Mr. Kurum in Turkish in a plenary session on Monday, calling on stage Chris Bowen, the president of the COP31 negotiations and Australian minister.
Ankara intends to make electrification a key theme. Its objective: for countries to agree to increase the share of electricity in global energy consumption to 35% by 2035, compared to around 20% today. This initiative could itself become a point of contention.
The European Union is calling for “clean” electrification, implying electricity production free of coal, oil and gas. Several fossil fuel producing countries should be more reluctant to this formulation.
Another shadow over the conference: the absence of the administration of American President Donald Trump. However, the United States remains the world’s largest economy and the second largest emitter of greenhouse gases behind China.
The effectiveness of role sharing between Turkey and Australia will also be scrutinized. What if there is disagreement on a subject? Can the tandem, with its different allies, not on the contrary facilitate the search for compromise?
