Antalya, Türkiye: World leaders will begin formal discussions on Wednesday at the United Nations climate change conference in Türkiye, hoping to agree on concrete actions to curb global warming after a year of deadly floods, heatwaves and other climate-related disasters.
But what can and will be accomplished at the Conference of the Parties, known as COP31, remains to be seen. Past talks have been criticised for producing promises that later fell short.
At the 2023 conference in Dubai, delegates agreed to transition away from fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas, the leading contributors to climate change. However, subsequent conferences in Azerbaijan and Brazil ended with little agreement on emissions reductions. Last year's conference in Brazil produced a compromise agreement pledging additional funding to help vulnerable nations adapt to climate change.
This year's conference, hosted by Türkiye with Australia leading the negotiations, officially began on Monday amid concerns that the world is not moving quickly enough to tackle climate change.
Scientists say global warming is likely to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels recorded in the early 1800s. Limiting the temperature rise to that threshold was a goal set under the 2015 Paris Agreement and has remained a focus of international negotiations.
The talks also come as the war in Iran has driven up global prices of petrol, oil and products made from them, such as fertilisers and pesticides. This has prompted governments to rethink energy policies and investment in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.
“We don't need more promises, we need plans,” said John Kerry, former US secretary of state and former presidential climate envoy. However, the US, the world's second-largest polluter after China, is noticeably absent for the second year in a row.
US President Donald Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, has targeted offshore wind projects and rolled back rules limiting power plant emissions.
