‘Terrible backdrop’ looms over UN climate summit in Turkey

{"text":[[{"start":7.2,"text":"Countries concerned about global warming say they will have to “fight back against the climate deniers” as the UN COP31 talks kick off in Turkey this week against a “terribly difficult backdrop”."}],[{"start":19.34,"text":"As the world grapples with wars, economic strain and the second energy crisis of this decade, at the same time as two UN reports warn of a lack of progress in tackling climate change, ministers, negotiators and activists acknowledge there is huge pressure for this year’s climate summit to show that countries are serious about cutting greenhouse gas emissions."}],[{"start":40.34,"text":"The effects of global warming are already playing out. Scientists have linked climate change to a catastrophic rock and glacier ice collapse in Nepal in August that left more than 1,000 people dead and around 5,000 missing, while extreme heat in Europe caused widespread drought and an estimated 50,000 excess deaths this summer."}],[{"start":58.24,"text":"Ilana Seid, Palauan ambassador to the UN and chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), a group made up of 39 nations that are among the most vulnerable to climate change, says the context in which the two-week meetings are taking place is “tricky”, adding: “It’s a challenging geopolitical environment for sure. There are acute crises in different places.”"}],[{"start":79.68,"text":"Darragh O’Brien, climate minister in Ireland, which holds the rotating EU presidency, agrees but says the widespread challenges — and the devastating extreme weather events — could help prompt action. “We’ve got to fight back against climate deniers,” he adds."}],[{"start":null,"text":"

"}],[{"start":94.48,"text":"In recent years, climate science has come under attack including from US President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax and in January pulled the US out of the UN’s climate convention."}],[{"start":106.28,"text":"While a single big topic has often dominated past talks, such as finance at COP29 in Baku, there are almost 100 agenda items up for discussion this year. Australia will oversee the official negotiated segment of the summit following an agreement with Turkey last year."}],[{"start":121.64,"text":"Turkey, which is hosting COP31 and oversees the non-negotiated action agenda, has branded the summit an “implementation COP”, arguing countries have over the past decade agreed on much of the action needed to tackle climate change, and the focus now should be on putting these into practice."}],[{"start":138.72,"text":"Many ministers say they see this year’s summit in Antalya as a “transitional COP”, which could put the world back on a better footing ahead of the next stocktake of how countries are responding to climate change in 2028."}],[{"start":151.2,"text":"But huge divides still remain, with countries expected to clash over finance and the pace of so-called mitigation efforts to address climate change, among other issues. China has indicated it will push back against trade restrictions on clean tech, while the African group of nations says it wants more focus on adaptation."}],[{"start":170.16,"text":"Antwi-Boasiako Amoah, chair of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change, says a commitment made last year at the COP30 talks to at least triple adaptation finance needs a “clear delivery pathway”."}],[{"start":182.82,"text":"He adds: “COP31 must prove to be the moment where we move beyond commitments to implementation, with adequate, predictable and accessible finance that responds to the needs and priorities of climate-vulnerable countries.”"}],[{"start":195.96,"text":"Alongside greater access to finance, Seid says getting the world back on track for the 1.5C target will be a key focus for Aosis during the two-week summit."}],[{"start":206.68,"text":"During the landmark Paris Agreement talks in 2015, Aosis pushed successfully for a lower goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C above the pre-industrial level. But a UN report in September said this limit would likely be breached within a few years. Scientists have warned of the risks of devastating planetary effects above 1.5C."}],[{"start":229.88,"text":"The lack of cash in a UN-backed loss and damage fund, aimed at helping countries respond to climate change, is also expected to be a flashpoint, says Harjeet Singh, a COP veteran and global convener of the Fill the Fund campaign. To date, $822mn has been pledged, though the bill for loss and damage is likely to reach hundreds of billions a year by 2030. Nepal has requested support."}],[{"start":254.2,"text":"Singh says he expects a difficult set of talks, pointing out that for years countries focused on creating the Paris Agreement, followed by a decade of agreeing the “rule book” for implementing the accord. “The reason we are more stuck [at the talks now],” he says, is because now the focus is on the “hard stuff we ignored for decades”, such as phasing out fossil fuels."}],[{"start":null,"text":""}],[{"start":272.2,"text":"During last year’s fractious COP30 talks in Brazil, more than 80 nations pushed for an agreement on a so-called roadmap setting out how countries would wean themselves off fossil fuels. But this was blocked by a group led by fossil fuel-producing nations."}],[{"start":288.72,"text":"Last week, Brazil put forward a new global roadmap report, in which the COP30 host said that while some countries could move faster than others, all nations could start making steps to transition away from fossil fuels now. It urged rapid action in the years to 2033."}],[{"start":306.48,"text":"As host of this year’s talks, Turkey has remained largely quiet on fossil fuels, instead pushing countries to get behind a new global electrification target, for the share of global energy demand met by electricity to increase from roughly a fifth today to 35 per cent by 2035."}],[{"start":324.12,"text":"Ahead of the talks, negotiators and ministers say it is unclear whether there is wide enough support for the target to be a part of the final negotiated outcome, which would give it more weight."}],[{"start":334.36,"text":"Others, however, continue to question whether progress can truly be made at the UN talks, accusing countries that are big producers or users of fossil fuels of stalling negotiations in order to prop up their own economies. In the UN climate talks, one country can block an agreement despite widespread support from the majority, which can hinder more ambitious agreements."}],[{"start":356.68,"text":"Panama’s environment minister Juan Carlos Navarro says COP is an “exercise in futility and hypocrisy” and plans to push for voting rules to be changed. “COPs are being held hostage by a small group of rogue nations that don’t care for the environment,” he adds."}],[{"start":372.32,"text":"The final outcome “will be a bunch of watered-down nothing . . . because this voting mechanism guarantees we will be held hostage by petroleum-producing nations,” he says. “COPs are doomed until we change the voting procedures.”"}],[{"start":385.92,"text":"Frustration with this process has meant countries have begun attempting to bypass the official negotiations. Earlier this year, around 60 nations met in Colombia to discuss phasing out fossil fuels, away from the official UN process."}],[{"start":399.76,"text":"Others say the talks remain crucial, forcing countries to confront climate change together. Palau’s Seid feels more optimistic about this year’s summit after several meetings with counterparts from around the world, which led her to “really think that we still have a lot of ambition”."}],[{"start":417,"text":"She points out that the so-called pre-COP meeting, a set of negotiations that this year took place in the Pacific, was “different” from past iterations, which are often marred by political friction and text deadlocks. The October meetings, on the front line of rising sea levels, “really helped [attendees] understand how acute the climate crisis is,” she says."}],[{"start":439.96,"text":"O’Brien echoes this: “Is the backdrop terrible? Yes, it is. Does that mean we give up? No, it doesn’t. If anything, it reinforces the need for accelerated action.”"}],[{"start":453.01,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1794118662_8412.mp3"}