Cop31 negotiators turn to cover decision as Guterres makes final climate summit plea
Summary
- The Cop31 UN climate summit runs in Antalya, Turkey, from 9 to 20 November 2026, co-presided by Australia and hosted by Türkiye.
- Negotiators are working toward a cover decision covering electrification, methane cuts, fossil fuel phaseout progress and climate finance.
- The central proposal is the '35 by 35' plan to raise electricity's share of global energy to 35 percent by 2035, without requiring renewables.
- It is UN secretary-general António Guterres's final Cop before he leaves office at the end of December.
- Russia and Saudi Arabia are reported to oppose a final cover decision, and the United States has again sent no delegation.
- A Climate Action Tracker report found progress in slowing warming has stalled for five years, ensuring overshoot of the 1.5C goal.
Reactions
- Guterres urged immediate, drastic emissions cuts, told leaders to end the 'fossil-fuel addiction' and called for taxing oil companies' windfall profits.
- Greta Thunberg called the annual talks hypocritical and full of lobbyists, saying the planet 'is being killed'.
- Adam Bandt and Bill Hare criticised Anthony Albanese for failing to mention fossil fuels in his Cop31 speech.
- Russia and Saudi Arabia were reported to be blocking a final cover decision document.
- Fatih Birol said the electrification resolution would send an unmistakable signal to markets and that most countries back it.
- Australia's opposition attacked a $32,000 coffee cart at the summit pavilion; Chris Bowen called the criticism hypocritical.
Timeline newest first
Analysis said Australia came to Cop31 seeking climate leadership with the Pacific at the centre of its diplomacy, as the Coalition attacked a $32,000 coffee cart at Australia's pavilion.
António Guterres, in his final climate summit, urged immediate and drastic cuts to fossil fuel emissions in Antalya, calling the overshoot of the 1.5C warming goal 'a recipe for catastrophe'.
Observers reported Russia and Saudi Arabia may be blocking adoption of a final Cop31 decision document, while some countries resisted the term 'clean electrification'.
Australia's Cop31 co-presidency issued a list of 'reflections' to form the loose basis for a first draft of the summit's cover decision.
Greta Thunberg said 'The planet is not dying, it is being killed' at Cop31 in Antalya, her first UN climate conference in five years.
UK prime minister Andy Burnham pledged a 'new era of British leadership' on climate at Cop31 and named Dame Madeleine Alessandri the world's first climate security representative.
Guterres told the Cop31 leaders' summit the climate crisis was 'outrunning us' as emissions reached an all-time high in 2025.
Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told the Cop31 leaders' summit that lack of consensus cannot be an obstacle to climate advances.
Thunberg and Guterres blasted fossil fuel companies for 'killing our planet' at the Cop31 talks, which run to 20 November.
Guterres criticised oil companies' record profits since the Iran war at Cop31, saying nine firms are on course for more than 95 billion euros in three months.
The Cop31 agenda was adopted after a short delay, with proposals on mountains and tripling adaptation finance left off and the EU and India clashing over the climate finance work programme.
Türkiye launched its non-binding 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge as Cop31 opened, aiming for electricity to make up at least 35 percent of global energy demand by 2035.
Europe entered Cop31 with lowered ambitions, resisting new climate finance and focusing on the 35 percent electrification target while conceding the 1.5C goal is likely to be exceeded.
Sources newest first
Albanese is caught between climate ambition and political reality at COP31
Clare Armstrong's analysis for ABC argues Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is caught between climate ambition and domestic politics at COP31 in Antalya, where he rallied for Pacific nations facing an existential threat after Guterres's final rebuke of fossil fuel expansion. The article says Australia aims to raise Pacific voices and claim climate leadership without overpromising on fossil fuels, while the Coalition's attacks on a $32,000 coffee cart show how far domestic debate sits from the geopolitical stakes.
UN chief says 'immediate and drastic' emissions cuts needed to avert climate change catastropheAP journalists report that at the 2026 U.N. climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, Secretary-General António Guterres, in his final climate summit, called for immediate and drastic emissions cuts, saying the overshoot of the 1.5-degree warming goal is "a recipe for catastrophe" and that wealthier countries must deliver promised finance. The summit introduced a goal of raising electricity's share of global energy use to 35% by 2035 without requiring renewables, which Climate TRACE estimates cuts emissions 14% versus 7% with fossil fuels; the U.S. skipped the talks for a second year, and a Climate Action Tracker report found warming progress has stalled for five years.
U.N. Leader Says People Power Is the Secret Weapon Against Global Warming - Inside Climate NewsIn an Inside Climate News article, outgoing U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres urged climate activists at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey not to give up hope, telling them civil society must counter powerful lobbies pressuring governments, a faith in collective action he traces to Portugal's 1974 Carnation Revolution. The article reports the conference is again far from addressing fossil fuels, with Russia and Saudi Arabia possibly blocking a final decision document, and some countries resisting the term "clean electrification."
As the world's calamities converge climate talks tread water
In an analysis for ABC, Laura Tingle argues the COP31 talks in Antalya are treading water, with the 1.5°C target conceded as blown and key leaders — including the US nationally, Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi and Mark Carney — absent. She judges the co-presidents' '35 by 35' electrification pledge starkly unambitious and non-binding, while Chris Bowen says meeting it would require quadrupling the pace of electrification and Matt Kean urges Australia to decarbonise its grid and electrify now.
Climate must remain priority, says António Guterres at last Cop as UN chiefThe Guardian reports on António Guterres's final Cop as UN secretary general, where he says climate action must remain central to global governance, arguing that peace, poverty eradication and young people's futures all depend on it. At Cop31 in Antalya, negotiators are working toward a cover decision covering electrification, methane cuts and fossil fuel phaseout, while fears grow his successor may downplay the climate crisis.
Cop31 live: Climate crisis negotiations heat up on fifth day of talksThe Guardian's live blog follows day five of the Cop31 climate talks in Antalya, where nearly all world leaders have departed and real negotiations are expected to begin on a draft cover decision covering fossil fuel transition, electrification, and finance. Alongside the electrification theme and IEA head Fatih Birol's "age of electricity" framing, it reports China's decision not to host Cop33, Sheldon Whitehouse as the only US senator attending without a Trump delegation, the UK's still-unpublished climate security report, and Greenpeace's Trojan horse protest against plastic.
World is now in ‘age of electricity’, energy agency chief says at Cop31In a Guardian exclusive interview at the Cop31 summit in Antalya, where 185 governments are weighing a resolution to derive 35% of final energy from electricity by 2035, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol says the world has left coal, oil and gas behind and entered "the age of electricity". He forecasts some 12,000 gigawatts of new generation in the next decade, says air conditioning, AI datacentres and transport are driving demand, and reports Saudi Arabia and Russia are said to oppose the resolution.
'The planet is not dying, it is being killed' - Thunberg at COP 31
Cop31: ‘The crisis is upon us now’, Burnham tells climate summitAjit Niranjan's Guardian liveblog tracks Cop31 in Antalya, where Andy Burnham arrives to address the summit, warning in quoted remarks that "the crisis is upon us now" and pledging a new era of British leadership on net zero. The UK plans a world-first climate security representative, while negotiators remain split over whether this year's meeting will produce a binding cover decision, with the Arab Group, Russia and like-minded countries reportedly opposed.
Andy Burnham pledges 'new era of British leadership' on climate in speech at COP31 summit - follow liveThe BBC live report covers Andy Burnham's COP31 speech in Antalya, where the UK prime minister — the only G7 leader attending — pledges a "new era of British leadership" on climate, names Dame Madeleine Alessandri the world's first special representative for climate security, and backs a £5bn clean energy finance programme. The report also tracks absent leaders including Donald Trump and Xi Jinping, Nepal's push for mountain issues after its deadly glacier-collapse flood, Tuvalu's climate visa ballot with Australia, and green criticism that Burnham's record on Rosebank and electric vehicle targets looks like "doublethink".
UN slams those who are 'making a killing' as the planet diesThe New Daily reports from the COP31 leaders' summit in Antalya, Turkey, where UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the climate crisis is "outrunning us" and that fossil fuel interests keep "making a killing while killing our planet," urging an end to the fossil-fuel addiction and more investment in renewables. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged world leaders to support the Pacific Resilience Facility, a fund raising $US500 million ($726 million) for Pacific nations facing rising seas and extreme weather.
‘The world we know is over’ without urgent climate action, Marshall Islands president tells Cop31At the Cop31 summit in Turkey, Marshall Islands president Hilda Heine warns that without an overwhelming response to the climate crisis "the world we know is over," telling leaders that overshooting 1.5C would bring waves eating away shores and floods destroying towns, schools and hospitals. Dozens of world leaders gathered, though Donald Trump and Xi Jinping were absent, and amid warnings from Mia Mottley and António Guterres — in one of his last speeches as UN secretary general — there is little sign of progress on phasing out fossil fuels.
ABC News reports that at the COP31 summit in Antalya, Türkiye, which Australia is co-leading, Anthony Albanese urged stepped-up climate action and support for Pacific nations while critics, including Adam Bandt and climate advocates, said new coal and gas approvals undermine the country's climate leadership. UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the world must stop building new fossil fuel infrastructure.
Lula: falta de consenso não pode ser obstáculo para avanço climáticoAn Agência Brasil article reports President Lula's speech at the opening of the COP31 Leaders' Summit in Antalya, Turkey, where he argued that lack of consensus cannot be an obstacle to climate progress, citing attacks on science and multilateralism. In quotes, he said it is no coincidence that climate agreements are targets of reactionary forces, called on rich countries to meet their commitments, and framed his recent reelection as the choice of a nation project with sustainability as its pillar.
Anthony Albanese fails to mention fossil fuels in Cop summit speechThe Guardian reports that Anthony Albanese's speech to the Cop31 summit in Antalya failed to mention fossil fuels, moments after António Guterres told leaders that keeping the 1.5C goal alive means no new coal and a phase-down of oil and gas. Critics including Adam Bandt and Bill Hare called the omission a snub, pointing to Australia's role as a top coal and LNG exporter and 38 fossil fuel projects approved since 2022.
Thunberg and Guterres blast oil companies for "fossil fuel addiction"Greta Thunberg and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres blasted fossil fuel companies for "killing our planet" at the COP31 talks in Turkey, where Thunberg — attending her first summit since 2021 — called the annual conference hypocritical and "full of lobbyists." Guterres urged governments to tax oil companies' windfall profits, while the negotiations, running to 20 November, face low expectations of breakthroughs amid the US war with Iran and Russia's war in Ukraine.
Cop31 live: World leaders to speak at climate crisis summitThe Guardian's Cop31 liveblog tracks the leaders' summit in Antalya, where dozens of world leaders are expected for speeches but most G7 heads are absent, including leaders of Germany, France, Italy, Canada and Japan; only the UK's leader is attending. Climate Action Network gave its "fossil of the day" to the absent leaders of wealthy countries, several reportedly headed for Dublin's AI summit instead.
VN-chef haalt op klimaattop uit naar megawinsten die oliebedrijven 'binnenharken'NOS reports that outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres lashed out at the climate summit in Antalya over oil companies' record profits since the Iran war, saying nine firms are on course to rake in more than 95 billion euros in three months while the EU alone paid over 100 billion in extra fossil fuel import costs, and urging that phasing out fossil fuels can no longer be a taboo. NOS doubts the summit's talk of phasing out will go differently than before, noting the absence of leaders such as Jetten, Xi and Modi shows it is not a priority for several influential countries.
UN chief urges Cop31 hosts Turkey and Australia to turn fossil fuel promises into actionThe Guardian reports that UN secretary general António Guterres urged Cop31's co-hosts, Turkey and Australia, to move from discussing the end of fossil fuels to delivering it, as Brazil presented a roadmap for the transition at the Antalya summit. Erdoğan extolled his country's oilfields before his appearance, more than 700 groups demanded a just-transition mechanism, and Greta Thunberg called the Cop talks greenwashed circuses.
Cop31 live: ‘Everything and everyone we love is at stake,’ Greta Thunberg warnsThe Guardian's live blog covers day two of the Cop31 UN climate summit in Antalya, where Greta Thunberg makes her first Cop appearance since Glasgow 2021, warning that everything and everyone we love is at stake, and scientists report fossil fuel emissions have flatlined for 2026. The blog also follows Turkey's announcement of two new Gabar oilfields that critics call contradictory, John Kerry's praise of China's clean-energy lead, more than 700 groups pushing for a just transition mechanism, and a steelworks explosion near Izmir that has killed 17.
‘Everything we love at stake’: Greta Thunberg arrives at UN climate talksscmp.com· 4d
What officials want to prioritize at this year’s U.N. climate conferencewashingtonpost.com· 4d
High fossil fuel prices spread inflation ‘like a cancer’, UN climate negotiator tells Cop31The Guardian reports on the opening of the Cop31 climate talks in Turkey, where UN negotiator Simon Stiell warned that high fossil fuel prices are spreading inflation "like a cancer" and pressed a renewable energy and electrification goal. Australia's Chris Bowen said the 1.5C target will be overshot but can be returned to, as vulnerable nations and scientists warned of accelerating warming.
COP31: Agenda adopted! - Conversations / Policy - Carbon Brief ConnectA Carbon Brief Connect forum post reports that the COP31 agenda was adopted in Antalya, Turkey, on 9 November 2026 after a short delay, with proposals on mountains, Green Climate Fund funding, and tripling adaptation finance left off, some deferred "without prejudice" by president Murat Kurum. The EU and India clashed over whether the climate finance work programme was meant to get a standalone agenda item.
U.N. climate talks begin today. Here are 3 things to knownpr.org· 5d
NPR previews COP31, the U.N. climate conference running November 9–20, 2026 in Antalya, Turkey, where an energy crisis from the ninth month of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has pushed countries toward China-made solar, batteries, and electric vehicles, and where analysts call the goal "35 by '35" — raising electrification from 23% to 35% by 2035. The U.S. won't send a delegation, though Democratic lawmakers including Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse plan to attend and keep focus on fossil fuels and carbon pricing.
Turkiye pushes electrification top of climate agenda as COP31 set to openAFP and Reuters report that Turkiye is launching its non-binding 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge as COP31 opens in Antalya on 9 November 2026, aiming for electricity to make up at least 35 percent of global energy demand by 2035. Climate advocates criticise the pledge for not requiring low-carbon electricity, while Murat Kurum says electrification protects communities from volatile markets and cuts emissions.
Europe lowers ambitions for UN climate summit after years of pushbackAn FT special report says Europe heads into the COP31 summit in Antalya with slimmed-down goals, resisting new climate finance for developing countries while focusing on an electrification target of 35 per cent of energy by 2035. Years of pushback from oil producers, China and India, and the EU's own rollback of climate policies, have lowered its ambitions; the bloc's mandate concedes the 1.5C goal is likely to be exceeded.
COP31 conference in Turkey aims to move climate up the agenda in a crisis-rocked worldlemonde.fr· 6d
Le Monde reports that expectations for COP31, opening Monday, November 9 in Antalya, Turkey, center on sending useful, concrete signals rather than formal negotiation outcomes. No landmark decision is expected at this transitional COP, and Ani Dasgupta of the World Resources Institute says the focus will be on practical barriers and collective problem-solving, while Li Shuo says it was shaping up as "low-tension." COP30 was held in Brazil in November 2025, marking the Paris Agreement's 10th anniversary, and COP33 is scheduled for 2028 with the second global stocktake.
Cop31 must deliver climate progress that people can see is real, host saysThe Guardian previews the start of the Cop31 UN climate talks in Antalya, Turkey, where close to 190 countries gather with Australia presiding over negotiations and the host calling for progress people can see is real. Record temperatures, a record El Niño, the US's absence, and fights over climate finance and a 35% electricity target loom over the talks.
En Turquie, un sommet climat pour éviter tout recul face à la surchauffe planétairemediapart.fr· 6d
Mickaël Correia reports on mediapart.fr ahead of the 31st international climate conference, to be held 9–20 November 2026 in Antalya, Turkey, amid an oil crisis and disasters including heat waves that killed more than 30,000 in Western Europe, a Nepal glacier collapse that killed 1,500, and mega-fires choking Southeast Asia. He argues the crisis, boosted by El Niño, keeps intensifying, writes that the world is on course to exceed 1.5 °C of warming, and expects states to deliberate on electrifying energy demand and adapting to climate change.
Background newest first
Newcastle climate protest goes ahead, no arrests made
More than 600 kayakers paddled into Newcastle Harbour for Rising Tide's 'Paddle for the Planet' protest against coal exports, with no arrests and a light police presence, after the NSW Supreme Court dismissed police attempts to block it. Rising Tide's Joe Hallenstein calls Albanese 'hypocritical' over coal approvals, and Greens MP Sue Higginson says the Mount Pleasant coalmine extension, defying a High Court ruling, faces a parliamentary debate, with a larger protest planned for February 2027.
Albanese, Bowen caught talking phones and 'dicks' in hot-mic gaffe
An ABC News article reports that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen were caught on a hot microphone at the COP31 summit in Antalya, joking that phones should be kept away from the heart and, in Bowen's case, his pants pocket, in an exchange later broadcast by Channel 7. The Coalition called the moment 'weird and gross', while Labor ministers said it was just a joke and defended Australia's presence at the summit.
California governor Gavin Newsom endorses global fossil fuel phaseoutMark Hertsgaard's Guardian article reports that California governor Gavin Newsom, the most prominent US politician at Cop31, has endorsed a global fossil fuel phaseout and says California is "100%" behind the Santa Marta coalition, whose roadmaps proceed after petrostates blocked a similar effort at Cop30. The article suggests his statement could add momentum to the summit and raises the possibility the US might join the coalition if Newsom, widely expected to run for president, wins in 2028.
Betrayedsubstack.com· 30h
Mark Chadbourn's Substack post argues COP31 in Antalya — where UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is the only G7 leader present and Thunberg makes her first attendance since Glasgow 2021 — shows everything wrong with the fight against the climate crisis, as Trump's absence gives other leaders cover to shirk commitments. Quoting Thunberg's line that the world "is not dying, it is being killed," he says governments' short-term thinking is sacrificing the future while a Climate Action Tracker report puts Earth on track for 2.7C of heating.
More than 100 companies and groups linked to fossil fuels represented at Cop31, study saysAn analysis found more than 100 fossil fuel-linked companies and industry groups sent delegations to the Cop31 climate summit in Antalya, among more than 92,000 delegates at what is thought to be the largest Cop ever. The Kick Big Polluters Out coalition counted 60 fossil fuel bodies and 16 financial firms funding fossil fuels, while campaigners including Senator Sheldon Whitehouse urged disclosure rules, and TotalEnergies defended its attendance as commitment to the energy transition.
Why even a fraction of a degree can escalate climate change impactsNPR's Lauren Sommer explains why fractions of a degree of warming matter, as countries meet at COP31 in Turkey with the 1.5-degree goal out of reach and temperatures near it already. Each tenth of a degree exposes 140 million more people to dangerous heat, and beyond 2 degrees the IPCC found 99% of corals would be lost.
“No one is coming to our rescue” Greta Thunberg says at UN summitEkō News' newsletter covers Greta Thunberg's COP31 speech in Antalya, quoting her lines that "no one is coming to our rescue" and that "the planet is not dying, it is being killed," while noting Andy Burnham was the only G7 leader to appear and judging his rhetoric words without action. It also decries the US trade in baby sloths as exotic pets, backs the SLOTHS Act banning imports, and asks readers to fight for it.
A new song gives Cop31 Eurovision vibes – but how should we score progress so far?A Down to Earth newsletter visits Cop31 in Antalya, where hosts played world leaders the Eurovision-flavoured song "Let's Cop" after dancers and a troupe costumed in plastic waste, and finds Trump, Macron and Merz absent from Wednesday's leaders' gathering. The newsletter scores progress "nul points" for Turkey and Australia's fossil-fuel use, slow emissions cuts, and lacking climate finance ahead of a looming El Niño.
‘I spend less, that’s all that matters’: life in the world’s most electrified countriesThe Guardian speaks to residents of Oslo, Kigali and Shanghai about daily life in the world's most electrified countries, as electrification emerges as a key theme at the UN climate summit in Antalya, where co-hosts want electricity at 35% of energy use by 2035. An Oslo communications worker says her bills are low and her buses and car are electric; a Kigali e-motorbike taxi driver says he earns $11.50 a day versus $6.09 on petrol; a Shanghai EV news founder says his family's scooters cost 7p to charge.
グレタさん5年ぶりCOP参加、被災ネパールの議員と気候危機訴え：朝日新聞asahi.com· 47h
Asahi Shimbun reports that Greta Thunberg, 23, held her first COP press conference since 2021 at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, voicing crisis over climate change alongside a Nepali lawmaker whose area was hit by an August 2026 debris flow. She said irreplaceable lives and ecosystems are being lost, warned the catastrophic trend will worsen exponentially, and urged that we must begin to act.
China rules out hosting Cop33 climate summit in 2028The Guardian reports that China has ruled out hosting the Cop33 climate summit in 2028, leaving the field open to other Asian countries after India also declined, with Uzbekistan, South Korea, Indonesia and Thailand mulling bids. It notes China's clean energy boom, US withdrawal under Trump, and Al Gore's regret.
Burnham urged to go further on climate pledges after COP 31 speech
independent.co.uk· 2d
The Independent reports that Andy Burnham, in his first COP31 summit as prime minister, told delegates in Antalya the climate crisis is a national security issue and pledged a new era of British leadership. Greenpeace, Zack Polanski and Friends of the Earth urge him to match the words with deeds, citing the Jackdaw approval, the looming Rosebank decision and possible cuts to electric vehicle targets, while Trump, Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi are absent from the summit.
Climate science says 1.5C is dead. No one wants to bury it.politico.eu· 2d
A Politico report from COP31 in Antalya says the 1.5C warming target is effectively dead — the United Nations says temperatures will overshoot it even with drastic emissions cuts — yet world leaders refuse to bury it, with Ursula von der Leyen, Mia Mottley, and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine urging they keep fighting for it. But the summit's hosts and others keep expanding fossil fuels: Australia invests in coal and gas, Erdoğan celebrated two new oil fields before his speech, and leaders expanded fossil fuel production right after Guterres warned them not to.
UK ministers have no plans to publish explosive report on climate crisisThe Guardian reports that UK ministers have no plans to publish the climate report on national security risks from collapsing ecosystems, which Keir Starmer's government suppressed and which warns of food shortages, mass migration and nuclear conflict if the Amazon and other ecosystems collapse. Andy Burnham told Cop31 in Antalya the climate crisis is a major national security threat and pledged net zero by 2050, though Greenpeace says his backing of the Jackdaw gasfield and possible Rosebank oilfield drowns out his words.
The planet ‘is being killed’, Greta Thunberg tells Cop31 climate summit
Berechnungen von Climate Action Tracker: Dem Planeten drohen 2,7 Gradtaz.de· 2d
A taz report from the COP31 climate conference in Antalya centers on Climate Action Tracker's new calculation that current policies put the world on course for 2.7 degrees of warming by 2100, while UN Secretary-General Guterres calls the climate crisis a "brutal truth" and the UN Environment Programme projects 2.8 degrees. Chancellor Merz draws criticism for staying away from the conference, and reviewers say a rapid exit from fossil energy, more renewables, and falling methane emissions are needed to keep the overshoot of the 1.5-degree limit short.
‘Start listening’: Indigenous activist implores Albanese to block new coal, oil and gasA Guardian article reports that Rikki Dank, a Gudanji and Wakaya traditional owner, urged Anthony Albanese at Cop31 in Antalya to stop speaking and start listening, demanding no new coal, oil and gas. Dank is among 10 Australians in the Hard Truths case before the UN human rights committee, and Albanese defended a Cop31 speech criticised for not saying "fossil fuels".
'No one is coming to our rescue,' Thunberg blasts world leaders at COPyahoo.com· 2d
Yahoo News reports that Greta Thunberg, returning to climate summits after years of staying away, blasted world leaders at a COP31 press conference in Antalya, saying "no one is coming to our rescue" and "the planet is not dying, it is being killed." She appeared alongside indigenous activist Rikki Dank, who says fracking is destroying her community's homeland and urged Anthony Albanese to stop speaking and start listening.
COP31: Burnham says climate consensus 'gone' but pledges 'new era of leadership'A BBC Climate and Science report on Andy Burnham's COP31 speech says he declared the climate consensus "gone" and pledged a new era of leadership, naming Dame Madeleine Alessandri the world's first climate security envoy. Burnham was the only G7 leader to attend, and critics say his warm words need stronger action.
Trump the ‘biggest loser’ for scrapping climate action, John Kerry says at Cop31A Guardian article from Cop31 in Antalya reports John Kerry calling Donald Trump the "biggest loser we've seen in a long time" for scrapping climate action and abandoning the clean energy race with China, at a summit the Trump administration is snubbing entirely. The UN secretary general urges phasing out fossil fuels, while Greta Thunberg calls the Cops "greenwashed circuses".
5 years of fighting climate change haven't done much and stronger targets are needed, report saysAn Associated Press article reports the Climate Action Tracker's finding, released at a UN climate meeting in Antalya, Turkey, that global climate action has stalled for five years and the world is headed toward an irrecoverable overshoot of 1.5 degrees Celsius. Island leaders, including Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine, warned of rising seas threatening their nations, and report lead author Sarah Heck says countries need to strengthen their targets.
World heading for ‘irrevocable overshoot’ of global temperature thresholds, analysis warnsA Guardian report on a Climate Action Tracker analysis warns the world is heading for an irrecoverable overshoot of the 1.5C threshold, which it says will be breached within a few years, with 2.7C of heating by 2100 under current policies. Delegates at UN talks in Antalya, joined by Greta Thunberg, face calls from António Guterres and Bill Hare to phase out fossil fuels.
UK appoints world’s first special representative for climate securityThe Guardian reports exclusively that the UK is appointing Madeleine Alessandri, chair of the joint intelligence committee, as the world's first special representative for climate security, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham set to announce the role at Cop31 in Antalya and confirm support for a 35% electrification target by 2035 and £5bn in clean energy finance. The appointment follows the UK's hottest summer on record, a suppressed intelligence committee report warning of food shortages, mass migration and conflict within five years, and campaigners' charges that Burnham preaches clean energy abroad while backing Jackdaw drilling and weakened EV targets at home.
Blue wave? Meh. It’s the Brazil election that matters at COP.
politico.com· 3d
Politico reports that at the COP climate talks in Antalya, diplomats' attention has centered on Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's reelection in Brazil's October 2026 presidential election — greeted with chants and hailed as vital for the mood — rather than the U.S. midterms, where victorious Democrats stayed notably silent on climate. The article notes deforestation under Lula has hit 40-year lows even as he pursues Amazon oil expansion, and that Politico predicts the Paris Agreement's 1.5-degree goal is now certain to be missed.
Weltklimakonferenz in Antalya: Kein Kuchen für MerzA taz.de report from the COP31 climate conference in Antalya has activists, led by Luisa Neubauer, eating a cake slice meant for the absent Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who drew the Climate Action Network's mocking 'Fossil of the Day' along with eight other skipping leaders. The Germanwatch Climate Protection Index has Germany slipping to 25th for the third year running, a slide Germanwatch's Jan Burck attributes to Economics Minister Katherina Reiche.
John Kerry: America must now follow China's lead on clean energymotherjones.com
A Guardian article carried on Mother Jones has John Kerry, the former US Secretary of State, saying China leads the world in moving away from fossil fuels and that America and others must now follow. It details China's dominance in clean-tech supply chains and what its role at Cop31 in Turkey may signal.
AI datacentres plan on-site power stations on huge scale despite climate risks, research revealsThe Guardian reports BloombergNEF research finding AI datacentre developers plan 181GW of on-site gas power — nearly four times Great Britain's peak demand — because grid connections are delayed. UK datacentres fast-tracked by the government can run temporary fossil fuel stations, though campaigners say these will lock in high emissions for years.
Ed Miliband says national security of all countries at risk from climate crisisA Guardian article reports Ed Miliband's warning at the Cop31 summit in Turkey that the climate crisis threatens every country's national security, that an overshoot of 1.5C of warming is now inevitable, and that fossil fuel shocks such as the Iran war's oil price surge are now the norm. Xi Jinping, Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz are skipping the talks, and campaigners say UK moves like approving the Jackdaw gasfield set a poor example.
Developing countries in limbo as rich nations delay new climate finance plansThe Guardian reports that developing countries are in limbo because rich nations, among them France, Germany and Australia, have yet to set out climate finance plans beyond 2026 or 2027, despite a promised $300bn a year by 2035; the Cop31 talks in Antalya are presided over by Australia, and the World Bank retired its climate finance target under pressure from Donald Trump's White House. Analysis by the NRDC and E3G suggests the developed world is broadly on track to meet the $300bn goal, while Carbon Brief warns bilateral finance could fall 70% if no new pledges follow.
‘Everything and everyone we love is at stake’: Thunberg slams COP31 talksAl Jazeera and the AP report that Greta Thunberg, arriving at COP31 in Antalya, condemns the UN climate talks as hypocritical and urges leaders to put people and planet before profit. She says host countries use the summit to whitewash themselves, and the talks follow a year of heatwaves, floods, and an energy shock from the US-Israel war on Iran.
Live updates: Democrat Scott Colom wins election to US Senate from Mississippiapnews.com· 3d
The Associated Press's live page reports that Democrat Scott Colom, a 43-year-old prosecutor, defeated Republican incumbent Cindy Hyde-Smith in Mississippi's Senate race by 4,669 votes after the final county updates, making him the state's first Black senator since Reconstruction and prompting her concession. The page also covers Democrats' planned oversight of Trump's wealth, proposed federal land sales and SNAP cuts, the UN climate summit in Turkey, Ukraine talks, the memorial arch lawsuits, Hegseth's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reprimand, Nvidia subpoenas, and ongoing deportations.
US and rest of world must follow China’s lead on green energy, says John KerryA Guardian news article reports John Kerry's warning, as the Cop31 climate summit opens in Turkey, that China leads the world in moving away from fossil fuels and the US and others must follow or lose out economically and endanger the climate. It details China's clean-tech dominance and its push to lead global climate governance, while analysts watch whether Beijing will act on that rhetoric.
Slight fall in carbon emissions from fossil fuels as Iran war drives renewables pushThe Guardian reports the Global Carbon Budget assessment, presented at Cop31 in Antalya, finding fossil fuel emissions edging down about 0.4% in 2026 as war-driven oil and gas prices and cheap solar and wind push countries off fossil fuels. But emissions from deforestation more than offset this, lifting total emissions from 42.8bn to a forecast 43.3bn tonnes, and scientists including Glen Peters and Bill Hare warn the dip may be temporary, with under four years left before the 1.5C carbon budget is exhausted.
COP31 is here. Will anyone finally say "fossil fuels"?Mother Jones previews the COP31 climate summit opening November 9, 2026 in Antalya, Turkey—hosted under an unusual compromise but presided over by Australia—and traces nearly 30 years of negotiations that avoided naming fossil fuels until COP28's 2023 agreement, which the article says neglected to say how or when a phaseout would happen. It reports a UN warning that the world is on track to overshoot 1.5 degrees of warming, quotes John Kerry calling the US absence under Trump a defeat of the meetings' purpose, and notes the second straight year without a US delegation.
Climate crisis now a health emergency of ‘pandemic scale’, UN warnsAt the COP31 summit in Antalya, Türkiye, UN climate chief Simon Stiell warns the climate crisis is a global health crisis of pandemic proportions, urging countries to embed health in climate plans. The Lancet Countdown links fossil fuels to 3.3 million deaths yearly, and the WMO reports the past 12 years were the warmest on record.
COP31 in Antalya: Keine geeignete Bühne für KlimaschutzIn a taz comment, Annika Reiß argues Turkey, host and agenda-setting presidency of the COP31 summit in Antalya, is no suitable stage for climate talks, calling it cynical to negotiate climate justice in a country where activist Esra Işık faces years in prison for protesting a coal mine expansion and courts have overridden European Court of Human Rights decisions. Turkey ranks 163rd of 180 in Reporters Without Borders' press freedom ranking, and Reiß hopes she will still be let in to report critically from the conference, where she finds the agreed payments to the Global South far short of what is needed.
気候変動：7000億円の請求書、宛先には日本も 気候災害のツケ誰が払う | 毎日新聞mainichi.jp· 5d
A Mainichi Shimbun in-depth article examines who pays for climate disasters, noting a US$4.71 billion recovery estimate Nepal gave for the August 2026 Himalayan debris flow, which warming is said to have heightened. It explains the COP27 loss-and-damage fund, and writes that COP31 shifts focus to implementation, with Japan among those sharing the bill.
COP : qui sont les saboteurs du climat ?bonpote.com· 5d
Bon Pote interviews climate governance researcher Stefan C. Aykut on his new book 'La mutation climatique', timed to the COP31 opening in Antalya on 9 November 2026. Aykut says climate governance is in deep crisis, blaming de facto alliances between authoritarian powers, far-right forces, and fossil lobbies — from Russian disinformation to TotalEnergies' obstruction — and proposes coalition accords beyond the consensus rule and a fight against climate obstruction that targets economic power, not just false claims.
El Niño pushes world towards record heat as COP31 opensCOP31 opens in Antalya with world leaders gathered for two weeks of negotiations as El Niño and climate change push temperatures to record levels, with scientists forecasting 2026 will be the hottest year on record and Berkeley Earth 95% confident it will surpass 2024's mark. The summit's focus broadens beyond cutting emissions to adapting to extremes, with wealthier nations far short of an $85bn adaptation pledge, past talks struggling on phasing out fossil fuels, and Turkey pushing a new electrification goal while governments also weigh AI's growing energy demands.
‘A new age of climate extremes’: Earth accumulating heat at accelerating rateAs Cop31 opens in Antalya, the Guardian reports the World Meteorological Organization's finding that heat is accumulating in Earth's systems at an accelerating rate, with 2026 surface temperatures about 1.47C above preindustrial levels, record ocean heat, and CO2 up 53% since 1750. António Guterres calls it a new age of climate extremes, and Bill McGuire warns the world will pass 1.5C permanently in 2028.
Democrats to attend Cop31 climate talks boosted by midterms and eager to make up for Trump-era setbacksThe Guardian reports that about 20 Democratic members of Congress will attend the Cop31 UN climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, starting the Monday after publication, the last Cop with the US as an official party and the second straight year with no official American presence. The article says Trump, who has called the climate crisis a "hoax," pulled the US from the international framework, forcing the lawmakers to fund the trip philanthropically, while attendees like Sean Casten and observers such as Susan Biniaz say the Democrats' midterm wins, giving them control of both chambers, lifted the summit's mood; forecasts see investigations and oversight ahead, though not sweeping legislation.
Hundreds of Thousands March in Amsterdam Demanding Action to Stop Gaza Genocidedemocracynow.org· 5d
Democracy Now! leads its November 9, 2026 news digest with the more than 200,000 protesters, many in red with "Stop the Genocide" signs, who marched through Amsterdam demanding Dutch action against Israel's attacks on Gaza. The digest also reports Democrats' midterm House gains, Trump's replacement of Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller, the disputed Taiz market missile strike in Yemen, Gadi Eisenkot's task of forming Israel's next government, Jensen Huang's spy-linked affair scandal, and UN climate talks opening in Antalya without the United States.
Why COP31 may be the EU’s last great climate hurrahPolitico.eu reports the EU arrives at COP31 in Antalya with a tighter negotiating stance, a single "EU village" pavilion and a first joint communications strategy, aiming to rebuild influence after isolation at COP30 and prepare for the 2028 Global Stocktake. But Politico warns that far-right gains looming in the 2026–2027 elections in Spain, France, Poland and Italy could crumble EU unity and derail that leadership bid.
Australia's export emissions under scrutiny ahead of climate talks
ABC News climate reporters Charlotte King and Romy Stephens report that Australia faces pressure over its fossil fuel exports as it prepares to lead negotiations at the UN climate conference in Türkiye, with estimated emissions from coal and gas burnt overseas almost doubling since 2005 to nearly 1,200 million tonnes for 2025-26. The article notes a High Court ruling that NSW must consider downstream emissions, activists' questions to BHP, an open letter from over 500 academics, and lawyer Harj Narulla's warning that continued expansions put Australia "squarely in the frame" under international law, while Chris Bowen defends exports as needed during buyers' energy transitions.
Hôte de la COP31, la Turquie continue à exploiter du charbon en balayant les protestations citoyennesMediapart publishes Yann Pouzols's 8 November 2026 article reporting that Turkey, host of COP31 in Antalya starting 9 November 2026, keeps mining coal over miner and resident deaths, and that the resisting village of Ikizköy faces a government pushing for ever more coal. Activists mockingly call the conference "ÇÖP31" — Turkish for trash — as Antalya hotel prices triple.
Turkish villagers demand COP31 leaders see for themselves devastation caused by coalreuters.com· 6d
Villagers near Ikizkoy, led by local official Nejla Isik, demand COP31 leaders gathering in Antalya from November 9 visit their coal-mined corner of Mugla province to see lignite extraction's toll, after years of protests, fines, and arrests. Isik's daughter Esra was sentenced to two years in prison over a protest, and Human Rights Watch says Turkey arbitrarily prosecutes environmental protesters.
How do you broker UN climate talks when your own country is a big coal and gas exporter? Chris Bowen is about to find outA Guardian article examines how Chris Bowen, Australia's climate change minister, will broker Cop31 negotiations in Antalya among nearly 200 countries while his own country is the world's second largest thermal coal exporter and a top gas exporter. Climate advocates question whether a major fossil fuel producer can lead the move away from coal, oil and gas — Bowen rejects the doubt — while more than 500 scientists urged Anthony Albanese to end coal and gas approvals.
What’s the point? Ten years after the Paris treaty, are climate talks getting anywhere?A Guardian article marking ten years of the Paris agreement argues climate action has reached an impasse: temperatures have exceeded the 1.5C threshold for two years, warming has accelerated to 0.4C a decade, the US has withdrawn under Donald Trump, and the Cop30 summit ended with a deal few loved. The paper questions whether the Cop process is fit for purpose, though experts including Johan Rockström and Juan Carlos Monterrey say Paris remains a vital moral compass, and electrification offers progress.
Friedrich Merz reist nicht zur Klimakonferenz: Grüne kritisieren Kanzlerspiegel.de· 10d
A spiegel.de article reports that German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will skip the world climate conference in Antalya, Turkey, running 9–20 November, citing other commitments. Greens, Luisa Neubauer, and Greenpeace's Martin Kaiser criticize the absence, with Kaiser calling it a disgrace and urging Merz to announce a climate policy turning point in person.
Brasilien veröffentlicht erste globale Roadmap für Ausstieg aus fossilen BrennstoffenBrazil has released the world's first global roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, a voluntary plan urging countries to start planning their exit from coal, oil and gas now, with a three-phase agenda from 2028 to 2033, published as Brazil's COP30 presidency ends and passes to Türkiye and Australia for COP31 in Antalya on 9 November 2026. COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago says the agreements already exist and what matters is implementing them, while critics warn the text does not specify energy sources and a new fossil fuel agreement is considered unlikely at COP31.
- Brazil releases global roadmap for fossil fuel phaseout ahead of COP31
Brazil has released the world's first voluntary global roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels, its final act as COP30 host, proposing a phased collective agenda from 2028 to 2033 and a plan to halt deforestation by 2030. A new fossil fuel agreement is considered unlikely at COP31 in Antalya from 9 November 2026, where critics warn a Türkiye- and Australia-backed electrification programme could mask fossil fuel expansion.
Brazil publishes first global ‘roadmap’ for phasing out fossil fuelsThe Guardian reports that Brazil, host of Cop30 in Belém, has published the world's first global roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels ahead of Cop31 in Antalya, Turkey — a non-binding document with no deadlines that proposes steps such as cutting methane flaring and reducing fossil fuel subsidies. Brazil says countries can break their fossil fuel dependence now, but Joeri Rogelj of Imperial College London says the roadmaps lack the timeline and benchmarks needed to show the pace of change.
