Contentious items on trade and tripling finance for adaptation were left out of the UN Cop 31 agenda adopted today, but countries reached a compromise on the addition of a specific climate finance work programme so negotiations could start swiftly.
The climate finance work programme will focus on the provision of climate finance by developed to developing nations and could be the space under which countries discuss adaptation finance in official negotiations at Cop 31. Adaptation refers to adjusting to the effects of climate change where possible. The agenda items on trade and finance had been put forward by African countries.
The Brazilian presidency of last year's Cop 30 released yesterday a report setting out how climate finance for developing countries could be ramped up to between $1.27 trillion and $1.41 trillion annually by 2035. Countries agreed at Cop 29 in 2024 "to enable the scaling up of financing" for developing countries, from all public and private sources, to at least $1.3 trillion/yr by 2035.
The swift adoption of the agenda is a "good start" to the conference, climate envoy for the Marshall Islands Tina Stege said today. Stege is one of three officials picked by Pacific Ocean nations to serve as "champions" for the region's priorities in Antalya. "We really need to take that momentum forward", she said.
Pacific island nations want Antalya to result in a "pathway back" to the 1.5°C goal of the Paris Climate agreement. The Paris accord seeks to curb the global rise in temperature to "well below" 2°C above pre-industrial levels, and pursues a 1.5°C limit. The UN warned in September that an overshoot of the 1.5°C target is inevitable.
"If the world allows 1.5[°C] to slip permanently out of reach, the consequences for the Pacific will be severe", Stege said. To keep the overshoot temporary, countries need to come up with more ambitious mitigation commitments, accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels, scale up clean energy and deliver "predictable and accessible" climate finance, according to Stege.
"We all need to double down and make sure that we're leaving this Cop with a credible response to the overshoot", Stege said.
Some parties at Cop 31 eye actions on electrification — through the Turkish presidency electrification pledge — and on methane, which are both discussed under the summit's informal action agenda, as part of the response to the overshoot.
"At this Cop, nations face a choice: electric or shock", UN climate body UNFCCC executive secretary Simon Stiell said. "Rewire the global economy for the electric age, or accept ongoing fossil fuel cost pain for families, firms, and governments, and of course that includes health systems," he added.
A draft cover decision for Cop 31 may be circulated as early as tomorrow, observers said. The cover decision is an overarching text led by the event's presidency, and can address themes that are not part of official negotiations. It still needs to be adopted by consensus.
Australian energy minister Chris Bowen, who leads the negotiations at Cop 31, said last month that the cover decision could recognise climate resilience and adaptation, as well as the "urgent need for climate action, support and international co-operation" in the face of overshooting the 1.5°C target.
Cop 31 has a dual presidency — Turkey is presiding over the summit while Australia leads negotiations
