German minister seeks concrete results from COP31 climate summit

Federal Minister for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Carsten Schneider spoke at a press conference regarding Germany's priorities for the upcoming COP31 World Climate Conference in Antalya, Turkey. The conference, beginning on November 9, 2026, will focus on global electrification as a means to avoid the use of coal, oil, and gas.

Schneider expressed hope for concrete steps to curb global warming during the UN Climate Change Conference. He emphasized that faster global emissions reductions would enable the temperature curve to return to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, thus mitigating the worst impacts of climate change. This goal, established in the 2015 Paris climate accords, has been deemed increasingly challenging, as recent UN forecasts predict the threshold will be surpassed within this century due to insufficient emission reductions from most nations.

The summit will see nearly 200 countries discussing climate action strategies and supporting vulnerable nations affected by the climate crisis. Germany's Environment Minister, Schneider, will be the only German Cabinet member attending the meeting. Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who leads Europe's largest economy, has been criticized for skipping the event due to other commitments.

Schneider noted that recent fuel and gas price surges, driven by the Iran war, underscore the need for enhanced climate action. He highlighted electrification as the key approach to combating the fossil fuel crisis, pointing to Germany's support for Turkey's initiative to increase the share of electricity in final energy consumption from 20% to 35% by 2035.