Antalya (TDI): United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged world leaders to intensify efforts to tackle climate change as the COP31 climate conference prepares to open in Türkiye, with negotiations already facing disagreements over financial support for developing countries.
Thousands of delegates have gathered at a major conference venue in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya for the annual UN climate negotiations, which come amid increasingly severe weather events and rising concerns over global temperatures.
“We have entered a new age of climate extremes,” Guterres said in a statement on Monday. He called on governments to “get serious” by accelerating emissions reductions, advancing a just transition away from fossil fuels and providing vulnerable countries with the financing and protection needed to address climate impacts.
The conference’s opening ceremony was delayed by an hour without an official explanation, as negotiators remained engaged in discussions over the inclusion of climate finance issues on the formal agenda.
The early disagreement centres on demands by developing countries for stronger commitments from wealthy nations to finance climate adaptation and the transition to cleaner energy.
Under international climate agreements, developed countries have provided financial assistance to developing nations, reflecting their historically greater contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. However, poorer countries argue that existing funding remains inadequate to meet their growing needs.
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Jasper Inventor, head of Greenpeace’s COP31 delegation, described the opening negotiations as difficult, saying developed countries were taking a hard line on proposals related to climate finance.
One major dispute concerns a platform agreed at COP30 in Brazil last year to discuss how wealthy nations should provide financial support to developing countries.
African countries are also seeking discussions on tripling adaptation finance to help vulnerable nations fund measures such as coastal protection, including sea walls, and climate-resilient agriculture.
However, a senior European Union official warned last week that there would be little political appetite for additional funding commitments at the conference.
Observers expect limited major breakthroughs at COP31 as governments confront economic pressures, energy market uncertainty and geopolitical tensions linked to the US war with Iran and Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
The negotiations are taking place against a backdrop of continued global temperature extremes, melting ice and rising sea levels. The World Meteorological Organization released a report indicating that 2026 has continued the trend of exceptionally high global temperatures.
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The European Union’s climate monitoring service warned last week that 2026 was likely to become the second-hottest year on record. Scientists have also warned that a strong El Niño weather phenomenon could push temperatures even higher in 2027.
The UN warned in September that global temperatures were on course to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, the threshold identified in the Paris Agreement as the most ambitious limit for global warming.
