World leaders press for urgent climate finance and emission cuts on third day of UN summit

UPDATE - follow-up to Cop31 live: 'Fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs' - UN chief hits out at industry lobbying: World leaders addressed the third day of UN climate talks, where outgoing UN chief António Guterres urged nations to speed up emission cuts and dismantle powerful industry lobbies.

Global Leaders Speak

Norway, Canada, and the UK launched a joint plan to raise 10 billion dollars in climate funds by 2030. Eswatini Prime Minister Russell Dlamini stated that 20 percent of his country faces severe food shortages due to a major El Nino event. Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley demanded debt pause clauses for natural disasters in all international loans, noting that global warming ignores politics. Leaders from Botswana, the Kyrgyz Republic, Iran, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Micronesia, and Palau also pressed for stronger financial aid and environmental protections.

Human Impact

Amid the high-level speeches, personal stories highlighted the crisis. A London teacher named Gill suffered a seizure from heat exhaustion inside a poorly ventilated 30-degree classroom during the record-breaking summer heatwave.

Context

These speeches at the ongoing UN climate summit highlight the growing friction between developing nations facing severe weather impacts and wealthy industrial economies lagging on financial aid. Island nations and smaller states continue to warn that delayed action threatens their very existence.