COP31 opens in Turkey as climate goals face pressure from war, inflation
What's new: Turkey is pushing a pledge to electrify more than a third of the global economy by 2035, a target critics say is too loose.
COP31 opened Monday in Antalya, Turkey, with negotiators under pressure to turn climate pledges into concrete action as war, inflation and energy shocks compete for governments’ attention. The two-week UN climate conference runs through Nov. 20 and brings together leaders, senior officials, academics and civil society groups. UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell warned current progress is far too slow as the world heads past the 1.5C warming limit set in Paris. Turkey’s presidency is centering the summit on a plan to electrify more than one-third of the global economy by 2035, up from about one-fifth today. Supporters cast that as a practical shift away from fossil fuels, while critics argue the goal does not require the added electricity to come from low-carbon sources.