COP31 opening delayed amid climate finance fight

The opening of COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, was delayed by an hour Monday as negotiators from rich and developing countries argued over climate finance at the start of the UN climate talks.

Negotiators had been locked in discussions late Sunday over demands by developing nations to include climate finance items in the official agenda.

“This has already been a difficult start for COP31,” said Jasper Inventor, head of Greenpeace's COP31 delegation.

Under UN climate agreements, developed countries, which are historically responsible for most greenhouse gas emissions, have provided financial support to help developing nations adapt to climate impacts and move toward cleaner energy. Poorer countries say the money remains insufficient.

Inventor said developed countries were taking “a hard line” over whether to include a platform agreed at COP30 in Brazil last year, aimed at discussing how wealthy nations should provide funds to developing nations.

African countries are also pushing for the agenda to include discussions on tripling adaptation finance, which would help poorer nations pay for measures such as sea walls or drought-resistant crops. A senior European Union official warned last week that there would be “no political will” for extra funding pledges at COP31.

Turkey is presiding over COP31, with Australia leading negotiations under an unusual arrangement that settled a dispute over who would host the conference. The partners have branded the summit as the “implementation COP,” focused on turning previous commitments into concrete action.

Turkey is promoting a non-binding action agenda covering issues from artificial intelligence to waste management. Its central proposal is an electrification drive to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from around 20 percent today to 35 percent by 2035.

The European Union has called for “clean” electrification, a term that could prompt debate over the role of fossil fuels in Turkey's proposal.

Countries agreed at COP28 in Dubai in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels, but have struggled to agree on how to put that pledge into action. COP30 ended with a deal that made no explicit mention of fossil fuels after oil-producing countries opposed the language.

The talks follow a year of severe weather, including heatwaves in Europe, wildfires in Indonesia and a glacier collapse that triggered floods in Nepal. An exceptionally strong El Nino is forecast to peak later this year, adding to extreme weather and possibly helping make 2026 or 2027 the hottest year on record.

The United Nations warned in September that global temperatures were on course to exceed 1.5C above preindustrial levels, breaching the most ambitious threshold set by the Paris Agreement.

President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement and has not sent officials to COP31. A US congressional delegation is expected in Antalya.