Cop31 hosts Australia and Turkey put clean electricity at the centre of summit
The UN climate summit opens next week in Antalya with a target to meet 35% of final energy demand from electricity by 2035. Both hosts rely heavily on coal, and 50 frontline groups have called for an end to coal mining and use.
The Cop31 UN climate summit opens next week in Antalya, Turkey, under a presidency shared with Australia. The two hosts want the talks to shift away from fossil fuels and towards clean electricity, The Guardian reported. A target on the table aims to meet 35% of final energy demand from electricity by 2035. The Guardian says the hosts' records will face close scrutiny. Australia is a coal exporter. Turkey is a coal consumer, and coal remains its biggest source of power despite a push for renewables. Turkey's national climate plan allows its greenhouse gas emissions to rise rather than fall. The split presidency stems from a last-minute compromise struck at Cop30 in Belém last year. Australia and Turkey both wanted to host, and both bid from the same regional group as western Europe. The UN climate treaty has no way to settle a deadlock between two bidders. Nor does it provide for a majority vote. According to The Guardian, the two countries seem to have worked well together since then. Australia will chair the formal negotiations. Its brief covers the "just transition" for fossil fuel workers, the loss and damage fund, climate finance and emissions cuts. Turkey will run the "action agenda", a programme of voluntary pledges. Electrifying the global economy is…
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