COP31 opens in Antalya amid a financial tug-of-war
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on France 24 and Vanguard
La COP31 s’est ouverte lundi 9 novembre à Antalya, en Turquie, sur fond de bataille autour du financement climatique. Le secrétaire général de l’ONU, Antonio Guterres, a appelé les dirigeants à agir plus vite face à la crise climatique, alors que des milliers de participants entament deux semaines de négociations, selon France 24.
The opening of COP31 was delayed by an hour and a half, as negotiators had been discussing developing countries' demands on climate finance since Sunday. A work programme devoted to climate finance is to be on the agenda, according to a source close to the negotiations. African countries were also calling for the tripling of funding for adaptation, which will be discussed under other agenda items.
Antonio Guterres called on leaders to cut emissions faster, speed up the transition away from fossil fuels and provide more funding and protection to vulnerable countries. He described a new era of extreme climate events, after a year marked in particular by heatwaves in Europe, major fires in Indonesia and catastrophic floods in Nepal.
Turkey holds the COP31 presidency while Australia leads the negotiations, an arrangement intended to settle a dispute over the organisation of the summit. The COP31 president, Murat Kurum, announced a voluntary initiative aimed at raising the share of electricity in global energy demand to 35% by 2035, against about 20% at present. The European Union wants this electrification to be “clean”, which could fuel debates on oil, gas and coal.
Few major breakthroughs are expected, in a context marked by an oil price shock and geopolitical tensions. The UN warned in September that global temperatures were on course to exceed 1.5 °C compared with the pre-industrial era, while US President Donald Trump has sent no official to Antalya. A US Congress delegation is nevertheless due to take part in the summit.
