Climate clash clouds COP31 opening as rich nations buck calls for more funding

ANTALYA, Turkey – The United Nations’ climate talks were due to open on Nov 9 with countries under pressure to take action after a year of extreme weather calamities, but negotiators from rich and developing nations were tangled in an early fight over money.The opening ceremony of COP31 in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya was delayed by an hour without explanation.Negotiators were locked in discussions late on Nov 8 over demands by developing nations to include items on climate finance in the official agenda.“This has already been a difficult start for COP31,” said Jasper Inventor, head of Greenpeace’s COP31 delegation.Under UN climate agreements, developed countries, which are historically responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, have provided financial support to help developing nations adapt to climate impacts and transition to cleaner energy. But poorer countries say the sums remain insufficient.Inventor said developed countries are “taking a hard line” over whether to include a platform, agreed at COP30 in Brazil in 2025, aimed at discussing how wealthy nations should provide funds to developing nations.African countries are also pushing for the agenda to include discussions on the tripling of adaptation finance, which aims to help poorer nations pay for measures such as building sea walls or planting drought-resistant crops.A senior European Union official warned last week that there would be “no political will” for extra funding pledges at COP31.Year of disastersObservers say few major breakthroughs are expected at COP31, as countries grapple with an oil price shock and geopolitical tensions fuelled by the American war with Iran and Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.The climate emergency, meanwhile, has wreaked havoc in 2026 as punishing heatwaves baked Europe, wildfires raged in Indonesia and a glacier collapse triggered devastating floods in Nepal.An exceptionally strong El Nino climate phenomenon is forecast to peak later in 2026, adding to extreme weather and possibly helping to make 2026 or 2027 the hottest year on record.The outlook is bleak: The UN warned in September that global temperatures were on course to exceed 1.5 deg C above pre-industrial levels, breaching the most ambitious threshold set by the Paris Agreement.“Global leaders must pull us back from the brink and commit to rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels and expanding renewable energy, an imperative reinforced by the current energy affordability crisis,” said Rachel Cleetus, climate programme director at the Union of Concerned Scientists.‘Clean’ electrification?Turkey is presiding over COP31, with Australia leading negotiations under an unusual arrangement that settled a dispute over who would host the conference.The partners have branded the summit as the “implementation COP”, focusing on turning commitments into concrete action after years of pledges and ambitious announcements.Turkey is promoting an “action agenda” alongside the formal negotiations that encourages countries to support non-binding pledges on issues from artificial intelligence to waste management.Its centrepiece is an “electrification” drive to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from around 20% today to 35% by 2035.But the initiative could become a source of friction.The European Union has called for “clean” electrification, a term that could spark debate over the role of fossil fuels in the Turkish proposal.Countries committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels in a landmark pact at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, but they have struggled to agree on how to turn that pledge into action.COP30 ended with a deal that made no explicit mention of fossil fuels after oil-producing countries opposed the language.Instead, Brazil produced a voluntary “roadmap” with proposals for phasing out fossil fuels that each country can tailor to their circumstances.Climate diplomacy is still missing a major player as President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement and has not sent officials to COP31.A US congressional delegation, however, will come to Antalya, with Democrats beaming after their historic US midterm election win. AFP