Third day of UN talks begin but leaders of many big polluting nations absent
As day three of the UN climate summit kicks off, world leaders from dozens of countries are expected. But heads of government from Canada, Japan and across Europe have got lost on the road, civil society observers report.
Today is the Cop31 leaders’ summit in Antalya, where world leaders are supposed to appear, hear each others’ concerns and pledge their commitment to solving the climate crisis.
But attendance is looking a little thin. Germany, France, Italy, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Canada, and Japan are among those countries whose leaders have chosen not to make an appearance. That is a heavyweight non-lineup. It means the UK will be the only member of the G7 whose leader has bothered to show.
Every day of the talks, civil society organisation Climate Action Network awards a “fossil of the day” to individuals, organisations or countries that have hindered progress the most. It’s a Cop tradition. Tuesday’s went to “the absent leaders of wealthy countries”.
Instead, notes CAN, several are headed for Dublin, where EU leaders will hold their first dedicated AI summit on Friday. “The future of AI is apparently worth showing up for, while the future of the planet can wait,” CAN says in a press statement.
UNFCCC Cops run in cycles, and it is fair to say that Antalya is not regarded as one of the really exciting, pivotal ones. However, after the relatively damp squib outcome of Cop30 in Belém, much remains to be thrashed out in Cop31. Splits over climate finance, the just transition and trade need smoothing over.
Of course, not everyone is staying away. Brazil’s president Lula will travel to Antalya. He is riding high after snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in a presidential election runoff vote last month. Brazil’s leadership developing roadmaps to end deforestation and transition away from fossil fuels have earned him a leading place in the sparse pantheon of climate heroes. Ursula von der Leyen, the powerful president of the European Commission, is also expected. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Turkey’s president, will attend.
