New deal: On COP31 and lofty climate goals

The 31st Conference of Parties (COP) began this week in Antalya, Türkiye. Hosted by Türkiye and negotiations presided over by Australia, the run-up to the gathering saw ministerial delegations visit Fiji and Tuvalu. This was to serve as a stark reminder of the purpose of COPs, namely that it was small island nations that are most vulnerable to warming from rising greenhouse gas emissions.

However, the opening days have belied this sense of urgency. Prominent world leaders, even from the European countries who as a group champion the cause most vociferously, have chosen to skip the meet. The agenda and pre-summit expectations suggest that the main concerns this year are likely to be about delivering on existing commitments such as delivering $300 billion a year by 2035, which was decided at COP29 in Baku, as well as the COP30 call to triple the adaptation finance during that interval.

However, deciding how these climate funds will practically flow has been deferred to COP32.