Pressure mounts on COP31 hosts over fossil-fuel transition

UPDATE - follow-up to COP31 hosts Australia and Türkiye face the fossil-fuel question: Organisers of the upcoming COP31 climate summit face growing pressure to include a clear transition away from fossil fuels in their official agenda. The United Nations climate change conference will take place in Antalya, Türkiye, in November, with Turkish environment minister Murat Kurum serving as president and Australian climate change minister Chris Bowen acting as vice-president.

Summit Priorities

Neither host nation has included fossil-fuel phase-out language, loss and damage financing, or broader climate finance among their priority themes. Instead, the primary goal centers on electrifying industry and vehicles to raise electricity's share of energy demand from just over 20 percent to 35 percent by 2035. Both countries rely heavily on fossil fuels, with Australia being the world's third-largest exporter after Russia and the U.S., and both nations generating a large majority of domestic energy from coal, gas, and oil. A pre-COP meeting is set for October 5-8 in Fiji, where Pacific Island nations and Australia will discuss negotiations.

Context

International pressure for fossil-fuel phase-outs has grown following past discussions at COP30 in Brazil and independent conferences held by nations like Colombia and the Netherlands. COP summits serve as the primary global forum where nearly 200 nations negotiate binding commitments and policy frameworks to curb greenhouse gas emissions and address planetary warming.