COP31: UN Climate Chief Urges Negotiators To Avoid Delays As Talks Enter Final Week

U.N. Climate Chief Simon Stiell urged negotiators at COP31 on Saturday to tackle the toughest issues and avoid delaying a deal as the summit heads into its second and final week, Reuters reported.

“As we head into the second week, I urge parties to move swiftly to the hardest issues and to avoid tactical delays,” said Stiell, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

“There is no collective success without compromise from every party,” he said.

The annual U.N. climate conference comes as wars and inflation compete for governments’ attention. Major fossil fuel producers and consumers are resisting firm new targets and language calling for a shift away from oil, gas and coal, observers said.

The opposition poses a challenge for host Turkey and lead negotiator Australia as they seek an agreement.

A U.N. report last month found that the world was on course to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) of warming above pre-industrial levels, a threshold scientists say is critical to limiting the worst effects of climate change.

Turkey wants to put a proposal to expand electrification at the centre of any deal. It says switching vehicles, boilers, furnaces and other equipment from fossil fuels to electricity could accelerate emissions cuts.

The proposal sets no requirement for the additional electricity to come from renewable sources, disappointing some observers and delegations that want a clearer plan for moving away from fossil fuels.

Major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia have traditionally resisted language that would curb fossil fuel use. Large developing economies such as India have opposed measures, they say could restrict their development and energy choices.

The United States, the world’s largest oil consumer, has skipped the talks for a second consecutive year under President Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax and promoted continued fossil fuel use.

Asked about progress in the talks, Stiell said: “All I can say at this stage is engagement has been constructive. We know where those natural tensions lie.”