COP31 talks in Antalya run 9 to 20 November, with fossil fuels and finance on the agenda

The summit and its agenda

The 31st UN climate conference, known as COP31, runs in Antalya, Turkey, from 9 to 20 November. Turkey and Australia co-preside over the talks, which aim to revive the goals set in the Paris Agreement, signed by 196 countries in 2015. Representatives of 197 Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change will negotiate measures on emissions cuts, climate finance and adaptation, with the energy transition at the centre. For the first time in more than three decades of climate summits, the Turkish presidency has placed zero waste and circularity among the ten priorities of its Action Agenda. Nobody will be legally bound to produce less waste, because that theme will move forward through voluntary coalitions rather than government negotiations.

A widening gap with the 1.5°C limit

A recent UN report warned that the world has already passed the 1.5°C limit set under the Paris Agreement. Portugal's environment minister cited the latest UN Environment Programme report, which says emissions have kept rising and sets out cuts of 18% by 2030 and 45% by 2035.

203018%

203545%

2030

18 %

2035

45 %

Data from the article text

The same programme's earlier findings say that keeping warming within 1.5°C is no longer possible, and that national commitments, even if fully met, would cut emissions by only 11% to 15%. Turkey has proposed that COP31 approve a target of 35% electricity as final consumption worldwide by 2035, and the EU agrees with that goal. The EU also plans to restate its call to triple renewable energy output and to triple adaptation finance by 2035, while leaving fossil fuels in a way it describes as fair, orderly and equitable.

Portugal's position

Portugal's minister for environment and energy, Maria da Graça Carvalho, will represent the country in the second week, while the state secretary for environment covers the first. In an interview with Agência Lusa, she said:

“We have targets, which are important targets, we have to meet them, and so we must move from grand declarations to action.”

She argued that Portugal does not need its own new target, because the storms earlier this year pushed funding for resilience and adaptation to more than triple. Her ministry, she said, has invested a little above €1,000 million in coastline repairs, rivers, dikes and power lines. She will also be responsible for linking the EU with Brazil and South Africa, and she is expected to negotiate the fair transition files.

Civil society demands

Environmental groups are pressing the government to bring its carbon neutrality target for the energy system forward to 2040. Greenpeace Portugal wants the National Energy and Climate Plan revised and proposes cuts of 77% in fossil gas and 68% in oil use by 2035.

Fossil gas77%

Oil68%

Fossil gas

77 %

Oil

68 %

Data from the article text

Its director, Toni Melajoki Roseiro, said:

“We demand the revision of the National Energy and Climate Plan so that we can achieve neutrality of the energy system already in 2040.”

Greenpeace also wants Portugal to formally join the Santa Marta process, an international initiative to speed up the phase-out of fossil fuels, and a national roadmap with set deadlines for ending oil, gas and coal use. The group argues that independence from fossil fuels could save about seven billion euros a year in imports. WWF Portugal's policy and climate coordinator, Bianca Mattos, said Portugal can use its renewable energy experience to influence other countries. Mattos said:

“It is essential to build resilience and energy security that do not depend on fossil fuels.”

Mattos also said that decarbonization of transport systems should be a priority, given its significant impact on the country.

Pre-COP and the oceans

A 13-year-old girl raised the warning at the pre-COP held in Fiji and Tuvalu, two of the countries most vulnerable to rising sea levels. Ocean health is expected to receive more attention at COP31 than at any previous conference. Turkey has said it will work to launch an Antalya Declaration on the Oceans. Discussions will also cover waste reduction, cuts in methane emissions and climate finance, which the articles list among the conference's main themes.