World urged to tackle fossil fuels
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres denounced the oil and gas lobby during the 2026 UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkey. He warned that the climate crisis is progressing faster than our ability to address it. Despite nations agreeing in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels, little progress has been made at the annual UN conference.
Guterres criticized governments for continuing to expand fossil fuel production while claiming to support the fight against climate change. He emphasized that fossil fuels must be phased out, as they lack a lobby like the dinosaurs they are compared to. However, some key figures were absent from COP31, including British Prime Minister Andy Burnham, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Canadian President, Japanese Prime Minister, Indian Prime Minister, and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
President Donald Trump, who withdrew the United States from the Paris Agreement, also did not attend. The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, announced the discovery of new oil fields, while Saudi Arabia's Energy Minister expressed concerns about the quest for carbon neutrality without guaranteeing energy security. Finland announced plans to phase out fossil fuels, becoming the fourth country after France, Germany, and the Netherlands to do so.
COP31 host Turkey is promoting a voluntary initiative to accelerate the electrification of transport, buildings, and industry, aiming to increase electricity's share of global energy use to 35% by 2035. The EU stressed that this electrification must be clean, potentially sparking debate over the role of oil, gas, and coal in Turkey's proposal.
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