Conflict must not distract from climate action, leaders warn COP31

Wars and trade disputes should not be allowed to distract the world from its struggle to combat global warming, leaders told the COP31 climate conference on Wednesday, as negotiators prepared to hash out a new deal to try to limit climate change. COP31 ‌host Turkey has been pushing countries to put a goal to expand electrification at the centre of a final deal, even as critics say it may do little to curb warming without a clearer plan to reduce the use of fossil fuels.

Heads of state gave back-to-back speeches on Wednesday to lay out their positions. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, whose country hosted last year's conference, told the summit that climate change had since slipped down the global agenda.

"We started ‌talking more about weapons and tariffs than the survival of future generations," he said. "The planet cannot be at the mercy of hegemonic struggles." Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan echoed the comment.

"Wars, crises, migration, famine and poverty increase the need ‌for international solidarity each day," he said. OIL SUPPLY DISRUPTION

The US and Israeli war on Iran this year has disrupted Middle East crude oil shipments and sent fuel prices soaring around the globe, triggering a scramble for reliable supplies. Those dynamics have pushed global warming down the list of urgent priorities for some governments, even as climate advocates argue they make the perfect case for a more rapid adoption of clean energy alternatives to oil.

Saudi Arabia's energy minister, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, had a different take, arguing the existing geopolitical situation reflects the importance of the ⁠free flow of ​all types of energy. "Measures that are aimed at protecting the ⁠climate should not constitute barriers facing countries and impeding their achievements of economic development," he said.

Negotiators from nearly 200 countries are seeking agreement at COP31 on a proposal from Turkey to increase the share of electricity in global energy use to 35% by 2035, from a little over ⁠20% now, and revive stalled efforts to move away from fossil fuels. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told world leaders earlier in the day that the slow international response to climate change so far had placed the world on a path to destruction, and that fast ​action was needed to avert it.

"The brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us. This is the path to mutually assured destruction," Guterres said, pointing to rising emissions, global temperatures and worsening ⁠climate-driven disasters. Leader speeches will continue into Thursday.

YEAR OF EXTREME WEATHER A UN report last month found the world on course to break through the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming limit that countries had agreed to pursue under the Paris Agreement to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

Meanwhile, ⁠2026 ​has also stood out with a series of extreme heatwaves across Western Europe and a glacier collapse in Nepal that triggered a catastrophic flood, killing more than 1,450 people, with thousands still missing. Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, who presided over the 2015 Paris climate conference and leads an advisory council of former COP presidents, said the leaders' speeches should give political impetus to the negotiations.

"It is an opportunity for leaders to make some announcements, and more ⁠this time, to explain how they will implement, because the key word in Antalya is implementation," he told Reuters. Many nations will not be represented, though.

The United States, the world's largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, has skipped ⁠the talks for the second year in a row after President ⁠Donald Trump – who has called global warming a hoax – withdrew the US from climate cooperation following his return to office in 2025. Other G7 countries France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada did not send their top leaders to the talks this year.

"The world's biggest economies should be leading the response to the climate crisis, not leaving it ‌to others," said Mohamed Adow, director of ‌climate and energy think tank Power Shift Africa.