{
  "id": 19377477,
  "title": "UN chief urges Cop31 hosts Turkey and Australia to turn fossil fuel promises into action",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/10/un-chief-urges-cop31-hosts-turkey-and-australia-to-turn-fossil-fuel",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-11-10T18:49:36.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Guardian Australia",
    "slug": "the-guardian-australia",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/nov/10/un-antonio-guterres-cop31-fossil-fuels-turkey-australia"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "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.\n\nGuterres 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.\n\nBrazil 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.\"\n\nThe 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.\"\n\nThe 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.",
  "summary": "António Guterres calls for ‘clear next steps’ as countries face pressure to agree concrete measures Turkey and Australia, the co-hosts of crucial climate talks, must urgently move from discussing the end of fossil fuels to delivering it, the UN chief has said. “It is long past time to stop treating the transition away from fossil fuels as taboo or intractable,” António Guterres said, in a…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 5,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "RFI English",
        "title": "Cop31 opens in Turkey as climate funding and fossil fuels divide nations",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/cop31-opens-in-turkey-as-climate-funding-and-fossil-fuels-divide",
        "published": "2026-11-09T05:45:11.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "CBC News",
        "title": "Canada heads to UN climate summit in Turkey with finance, fossil fuel transition on the agenda",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/canada-heads-to-un-climate-summit-in-turkey-with-finance-fossil-fuel",
        "published": "2026-11-09T09:01:21.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Premium Times",
        "title": "ANALYSIS: COP31 puts climate finance, fossil fuel transition, energy ambitions to test",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/analysis-cop31-puts-climate-finance-fossil-fuel-transition-energy",
        "published": "2026-11-09T11:16:56.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "Euronews",
        "title": "Europe talks green at COP31 – but scrambles for more fossil fuels",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/09/europe-talks-green-at-cop31-but-scrambles-for-more-fossil-fuels",
        "published": "2026-11-09T13:01:26.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}