COP31 in Antalya: Guterres warns fossil fuel lobby as he opens his last climate summit

Opening of the Antalya summit

The COP31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey, is expected to draw about 90,000 people from around 190 countries, including heads of government, ministers and a few princes. Representatives of banks, airlines, construction firms, mining companies and arms manufacturers are also taking part, some on panels and some as sponsors of the event. The gathering runs for 12 days. Civil society groups say that limited channels for their participation weaken the summit's representativeness, according to Özlem Altiparmak of Iklim Ag, a network of NGOs and environmental organisations.

Guterres's final climate summit

António Guterres received an award from the coalition 'Let the Polluters Pay' on Friday, 13 November, for his calls to abandon fossil fuels and hold the industry accountable, the NGO 350.org said. Coordinator Louise Hutchins praised his leadership in using the authority of the UN to confront one of the world's most powerful industries. Antalya is his last climate summit as UN Secretary-General, since he leaves the post at the end of the year. In his final COP intervention he said:

“The future of our planet cannot be negotiated on the terms of those who profit from its destruction.”

He warned that insufficient government action is pushing the world past the 1.5°C warming limit and called for the overshoot to be kept as small and short as possible. He also urged a just transition away from fossil fuels, arguing that dependence on oil and gas exposes countries to price shocks and geopolitical instability.

A dispute over IPCC report timing

The European Union has promised to fight for science at the summit after accusing some countries of trying to undermine the IPCC, the UN's scientific body on global warming. The dispute concerns when the IPCC publishes its next reports. The EU and dozens of other countries want them out before the second global assessment of emission-cutting steps at the 2028 COP, while Saudi Arabia, China and India, among others, push for 2029. Diana Acconcia, a senior EU climate official, said the bloc would fight for that outcome while acknowledging it will not be easy. She added:

“Some parties are trying to undermine what science tells us, because they are not willing to do what is necessary to address climate change.”

Guterres praised the IPCC's 'extraordinary' work and said he hopes its report will be published 'ideally before the next global assessment' in 2028. The IPCC, created in 1988 on a UN initiative, publishes its reports every seven years.

Civil society and the arrests

On the night of Sunday 8 to Monday 9 November, police raided dozens of homes in Istanbul and Izmir, hours before the summit opened, and detained 23 activists and members of leftist parties and organisations. The arrests were not, in principle, related to organising the summit, yet they fed fears of a repeat of the July NATO summit in Ankara, when authorities preventively detained more than 200 activists to stop protests. Human Rights Watch said in a statement that people facing climate impacts are often excluded from the decisions that shape their future.

Faith groups and Spain's procurement plan

The Vatican has sent a delegation to take part directly in the negotiations, and 286 religious organisations are registered for the conference. They include Catholic bodies such as Caritas Internacional, Lutheran and Protestant groups such as the Lutheran World Federation and the World Council of Churches, Muslim and Buddhist organisations, and Religions for Peace. The Spanish Episcopal Conference has issued statements calling for 'binding decisions' that defend life, equity and the common good.

Spain's Marta Martínez Guerra, director general of services at the Ministry for the Ecological Transition (MITECO), presented the Ecological Public Procurement Plan 2026-2033 at the summit, in a video sent to media. The plan sets targets for building sustainability criteria into public purchases and works, including low-emission building materials and designs that withstand climate change. She said:

“If we manage to change the way we tender, we have a big impact on sustainability.”

In an opinion column, Josep Borrell wrote that many leaders have not attended the summit and that the geopolitical climate, including an oil shock, the US war with Iran and the invasion of Ukraine, does not help.