Climate needs same urgency as defense spending, COP31 chief says

Murat Kurum, Turkey's environment minister and president-designate of the upcoming COP31 climate summit, warned that action to address climate change must be taken with the same urgency as international defense spending. Speaking to reporters in Fiji, Kurum emphasized that countries must demonstrate the same responsibility and determination in tackling climate change as they do in defense.

He questioned the logic of investing heavily in defense while not ensuring a livable environment for the nation. NATO nations have pledged to spend at least 3.5% of their national economic output on defense, with the possibility of increasing that to 5%. The European Union, however, has stated that there is no room for new climate finance commitments at COP31.

The flow of climate finance to fund emission reduction and adaptation projects has been declining as nations cut overall aid budgets, and the U.S. has withdrawn from global warming efforts. Germany, Europe's largest economy, has fallen short of its climate financing pledge and saw a decrease in spending last year. Simon Stiell, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, stressed that COP31 must convert promises into real results by scaling up, speeding up, and broadening access to affordable climate finance.

Preparatory talks in Fiji have yielded some new pledges, such as $10 million from Fiji for the Pacific Resilience Facility and $13 million from the U.K. The $500 million target for the fund has not been met, but organizers are focusing on improving access to existing funding for vulnerable nations and seeking new support from development banks and other countries.