UN climate summit highlights rising global temperatures and political clashes over clean energy

UPDATE - follow-up to Cop31 live: 'No one is coming to rescue us,' Greta Thunberg tells climate summit: Scientists announced that Earth is on track for an irrecoverable overshoot of the 1.5C target, with 2.7C of heating expected by the end of the century. UK prime minister Andy Burnham told the UN climate summit that Britain is back and ready to play its part, though his speech faced criticism at home for a lack of action. Leaders from poor and low-emitting countries urged rich polluters to provide more financial aid and make deeper emissions cuts.

International Clashes And Disasters

Former US secretary of state John Kerry called president Donald Trump the biggest loser we have seen in a long time for scrapping climate action and ceding the clean energy race to China. Nepal's environment minister Gita Chaudhary spoke about a catastrophic glacier collapse in August that claimed over 1,500 lives and devastated the Himalayan country, calling it a mountain tsunami and demanding financial aid from rich nations.

Rights Concerns And Activist Warnings

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg stated that the planet is not dying, it is being killed and we know by who. Meanwhile, civil society campaigners and NGOs wrote to the Cop31 joint presidency and UN climate chief Simon Stiell demanding answers regarding safety for LGBTQ visitors following a crackdown where police arrested dozens and held over 80 people in pretrial detention since September.

Context

Global climate summits bring together world leaders, scientists, and activists annually to negotiate emission targets and financial commitments to address climate change. These talks often highlight deep divisions between wealthy industrialized nations and developing countries most vulnerable to environmental disasters.