Emissions cuts and climate finance took centre stage on the second day of COP31 in Türkiye on Tuesday, as developing nations pushed for greater financial support from wealthier countries.
Negotiators from around 200 countries gathered at the Antalya EXPO Centre amid warnings that current national climate policies are not enough to limit global warming.
A recent UN Environment Programme report warned that the world is likely to exceed the Paris Agreement’s target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels.
The focus is now shifting to how far temperatures could exceed that limit, how long the overshoot might last and how quickly emissions can be brought down.
Jasper Inventor, head of Greenpeace’s COP31 delegation, said governments must acknowledge the likelihood of an overshoot and work to minimise its scale and duration.
“We expect a lot of debate about climate change here,” Inventor said, referring to the summit, which opened on Monday in Antalya, Türkiye, and is the first since the UN report issued its warning.
Türkiye, which holds the COP31 presidency, is championing a plan to increase electricity’s share of total energy consumption from around 20 per cent to 35 per cent by 2035.
The initiative aims to speed up the transition away from fossil fuels in transport, heating and industry.
However, climate campaigners warn that electrification will only significantly cut emissions if electricity increasingly comes from renewable and other low-carbon sources.
Funding remained a major sticking point, with developing nations demanding more support to cut emissions, adapt to climate change and recover from disasters without accumulating unsustainable debt.
Inventor said tensions between wealthy and developing countries had surfaced over whether an agreed climate finance work programme should be included on the summit’s agenda.
Wealthier nations initially opposed the move, while developing countries pushed for its inclusion.
Inventor welcomed its addition as “a good first step”, but cautioned that it offered no guarantee of agreement on how much funding would be provided, where it would come from or how it would be distributed.
The scale of the funding gap remains stark. The UN estimates that developed-country funding for climate adaptation reached around $28.2 billion in 2024, well short of the $305 billion developing nations could need annually.
Tuesday’s discussions centred on energy and transport, two key sectors in efforts to reduce global emissions.
COP31 runs until 20 November, with national leaders expected to gather for a high-level summit on Wednesday.
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