UN chief urges Cop31 hosts Turkey and Australia to turn fossil fuel promises into action

António Guterres, the UN chief, called on the hosts of Cop31, Turkey and Australia, to provide tangible steps towards ending the use of fossil fuels during the crucial climate talks. Addressing the conference on the second day, Guterres emphasized the urgent need to progress from merely discussing the transition away from fossil fuels to organizing and financing it. The two countries hosting the summit are major exporters of fossil fuels.

Guterres urged the talks to conclude with "clear next steps" to advance a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, which Brazil, which chaired last year's talks, had presented to delegates. Guterres was supported by former US secretary of state John Kerry, UN chief climate negotiator Simon Stiell, and his predecessor, Mexican diplomat Patricia Espinosa.

Brazil announced at the conclusion of last year's Cop30 climate summit that it would develop the roadmap, emphasizing that transitioning away from fossil fuels would boost economies and help lift people out of poverty. This roadmap was expected to be presented at the conference, with Kerry asserting that "words in conversation don't cut a single tonne of emissions - action does."

The pressure on Cop31 to deliver has grown, as several years of summits have been criticized for a lack of progress. It took 28 years of annual UN Cop negotiations to include the first mention of a transition away from fossil fuels in a final decision, at Cop28 in Dubai in 2023. Activist Greta Thunberg, who attended the conference for the first time since 2021, criticized Cop31 as "greenwashed circuses."

The presentation of the roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels was described as an "incredible display of collective firepower." Alden Meyer, a senior associate at the climate thinktank E3G and a Cop veteran, stated that the presidencies of Australia and Turkey would likely take up the task of advancing the roadmap. However, reaching a consensus on the matter would be challenging, as it took 28 Cop meetings to include the need to transition away from fossil fuels in a Cop decision.