As COP31 Antalya kicks off, can world move beyond big promises?
Droughts, floods and extreme heat are upping the pressure on delegates at the UN climate talks in Antalya, Turkey. Can countries move beyond pledges to concrete action?
The 31st edition of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, known as COP31, opened in Antalya, Turkey on November 9. The host country, Turkey, aims to present itself as modern and environmentally conscious through its marketing campaigns. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his wife, Emine, appeared in the opening video, emphasizing climate change as a significant issue.
Delegates from nearly every nation are gathered in the Mediterranean city to address the climate crisis. While Turkey is the official host, Australia will lead the negotiations. However, the challenges they face are far greater than the marketing campaign suggests. The region has experienced severe drought, extreme heat, wildfires, and record-low water levels in European waterways.
In late August, flash floods triggered by a rock-ice avalanche in Nepal and Tibet resulted in over 1,400 deaths and thousands more missing, linking the disaster to climate change.
Even though carbon emissions continue to rise, global temperature rise must not exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as agreed upon at COP21 in 2015. Transitioning away from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas is a central focus in Antalya. While there is no consensus on how to rapidly transition away from fossil fuels, some progress has been made since the 2015 Paris Agreement.
According to David Victor, a climate expert at the University of California San Diego, global warming could be limited to up to 2.6 degrees Celsius if current commitments are met. However, individual countries' resistance, ongoing conflicts, and economic issues pose challenges to these resolutions.
Victor suggests that smaller alliances, called "clubs," of governments and companies could be more effective in advancing solutions, rather than waiting for unanimous agreements. Turkey and Australia have set goals to increase the share of electricity in global energy consumption to 35% by 2035. This could potentially reduce energy bills for fuel-importing countries by over $400 billion by 2035.
Despite these efforts, oil-producing states like Saudi Arabia and China, which heavily rely on fossil fuels, remain skeptical of drastic changes to their energy policies. The economic impacts and the need to support vulnerable nations affected by climate change are also considerations in the negotiations.
Written by urgent.news from DW English (Top Stories)'s reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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