FACTS
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders at the COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Nov. 11 that “the climate crisis is outrunning us” and that “fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs.” He called for global emissions to fall about 6% a year. The top leaders of the United States, China and India, which together produce more than half of global carbon dioxide emissions, did not attend.
What Guterres asked of the COP31 climate summit
In his speech to the leaders’ summit, published by the U.N. climate secretariat, Guterres said current national climate plans deliver at most one-third of the emissions cuts needed. Even fully carried out, he said, they would leave the world more than 2.5 degrees Celsius warmer by 2100.
He said science shows that overshooting the 1.5-degree limit set in the Paris Agreement is now inevitable. “Our first climate duty is to tell the truth,” he said.
Guterres set out targets for the next 15 years:
- Renewables: at least triple renewable power capacity from 2025 levels by 2035.
- Coal: cut unabated coal power at least 75% by 2035 and nearly end it by 2040.
- Oil and gas: cut use by roughly a third by 2040.
- Finance: developed countries should provide at least $300 billion a year to developing countries by 2035 and triple money for adaptation.
“The dinosaurs did not have a lobby. But fossil fuels do,” he said.
A call to tax oil company profits
Guterres said the nine largest oil companies earned $95 billion in profit in the last quarter, while the international fund for climate loss and damage has received about $600 million. He urged governments to tax such windfall profits. “Polluters must pay,” he said.
He also said developing and emerging economies outside China are home to nearly two-thirds of humanity but receive less than one-fifth of global clean-energy investment.
Who came and who stayed away
More than 70 world leaders and senior officials were scheduled to speak, according to the Associated Press, in a report published by The Korea Times. Turkey is hosting the talks, and Australia is leading the negotiations.
The AP said the United States is absent for the second year in a row. President Donald Trump has called climate change a hoax. China sent Vice President Han Zheng. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attended, though many European leaders did not.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said wars, inflation and geopolitical conflicts have overshadowed climate action. “Brazil is back to defend the continuity of a healthy planet,” he said.
Mohamed Adow of the group Power Shift Africa called the low attendance a disgrace, the AP reported. The AP also noted that higher oil, gas and fertilizer prices tied to the war in Iran are leading some governments to rethink their energy plans.
More coverage is in the Stay Current News Science section.
