Leaders at COP31 Warn Climate Crisis Is Outrunning Global Response

The update

World leaders gathered in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday for the third day of COP31, warning that wars and trade disputes must not distract from climate action. Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine said overshooting the 1.5C Paris limit would bring waves and floods destroying towns, schools and hospitals, and that without an overwhelming response “the world we know is over.” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said the crisis is outrunning the world and called for a windfall tax on oil and gas profits.

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Why it matters

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said even delivered pledges point to 2.6C of warming, and current policies to 2.8C. Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said debate had shifted to weapons and tariffs over future generations, while Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said wars and crises increase the need for solidarity. Negotiators from nearly 200 countries are seeking a deal as the United States skipped the talks for a second year.

What to watch

Negotiators will test Turkey’s proposal to increase electricity’s share of global energy use and revive efforts to move away from fossil fuels. Attention will focus on implementation, finance for vulnerable countries, and whether Guterres’s windfall-tax call gains support.

Sources

• theguardian.com — confirms Heine, Mottley and Guterres speeches and the 1.5C overshoot warnings
• thehindu.com — confirms the Antalya leaders’ speeches, Lula and Erdoğan warnings, and the negotiators’ proposals

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