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UN climate summit opens in Turkey, with the US absent for a second year

Turkey and Australia seek a pledge to raise electricity's share of global energy to 35% by 2035, as poorer and richer nations disagree over climate funding.

16 news outlets reported this · Little coverage from conservative outlets
Liberal8 outletsClimate crisis, finance fights and the US absenceCenter6 outletsLow expectations, a US no-show and warming overshootConservative2 outletsTurkey's hosting deal, implementation theme and electrification worries
ABRAnews EditorialPublished 1 min read
Overview

The United Nations climate summit, COP31, opened Monday, Nov. 9, in Antalya, Turkey, and runs through Nov. 20. Turkey is the official host while Australia leads the negotiations, a compromise after both countries sought to host. The United States is absent for the second year in a row, after President Trump withdrew it from the Paris Agreement.

A U.N. report says the 1.5-degree warming limit set in Paris can no longer be kept, and Turkish Environment Minister Murat Kurum, the summit's president, said it is clear the world will overshoot it. Kurum wants the talks to put earlier pledges into practice rather than set new targets. Turkey and Australia are seeking a pledge to raise electricity's share of global energy use to 35% by 2035, from about 20% now.

Money is also in dispute. Developing countries want to know how rich countries will pay for climate action, and the European Union and Canada contested agenda proposals from the 54-country African Group, according to an adviser to African negotiators. The war in Iran has in practice shut the , driving up fuel prices and prompting governments to rethink energy policy.

Key figures
  • 35% by 2035proposed electricity share of global energy, up from about 20%Courthouse News
  • $305 billionyearly adaptation need of developing countries, by UN estimateThe Boston Globe
  • $300 billion a year by 2035aid wealthier nations pledged at the 2024 summitCourthouse News
  • 1.37 C (2.47 F)human-caused warming in 2025, per the Potsdam InstituteCourthouse News
  • 50,000estimated deaths in Europe from this summer's heatThe Boston Globe

Three sides of the story

8Liberal6Center2Conservative

16 news outlets reported this · Little coverage from conservative outlets

Tap a color or swipe sideways to switch sides.

Liberal8 outlets

Climate crisis, finance fights and the US absence

The Guardian builds its report on Australia's Chris Bowen, president of the negotiations, who says the summit needs "a tangible outcome" that people can see is real. It adds that the US sent no delegation and that 20 Democratic members of Congress made the trip. The AP wire report, carried by HuffPost, opens with leaders starting talks after a year of deadly heat in Europe and floods in Nepal.

It quotes UN climate chief Simon Stiell: "COP31 must supercharge solutions." A report run by The Boston Globe and The Seattle Times asks whether the summit will matter and quotes South Korean negotiator Choi Hanchang, who calls "survival and relevance" the main goals. Semafor's short item, headed "Hopes low," says the gathering is anticipated to offer little of real content as governments place energy security at the top.

Center6 outlets

Low expectations, a US no-show and warming overshoot

Courthouse News headlines the US as "once again a no-show" and says expectations are low amid geopolitical divisions and a leadership void. It cites a UN report saying the 1.5-degree limit can no longer be held and quotes UN Secretary-General António Guterres: "We have entered a new age of climate extremes." UPI sets the opening against wars in Iran and Ukraine and energy shortages, and quotes Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, on the fossil fuel industry not polluting for free.

The Christian Science Monitor says the summit opens with "modest goals" as rising costs distract governments, quoting Cara Horowitz of the Emmett Institute and Josh Freed of Third Way. The Seattle Times runs the same report as the Boston Globe, asking whether the summit will matter and quoting Choi Hanchang on "survival and relevance."

Conservative2 outlets

Turkey's hosting deal, implementation theme and electrification worries

Breitbart News headlines the summit a "U.N. Climate Alarmism Conference" drawing "Nearly 100,000 Activists, Lobbyists, and Politicians," and cites the Turkish environment ministry for almost 100,000 attendees, including 102 leaders from 95 countries. It describes the Turkey-Australia co-hosting as a compromise that disappointed Pacific Island nations, quotes Papua New Guinea Foreign Minister Justin Tkatchenko, and says it is unclear what Turkey got out of it. Kurum's "implementation" theme, Breitbart notes, is almost identical in wording to the COP30 and COP29 presidencies.

Breitbart reports worry that Turkey's "35 by 35" plan could lead countries to build more coal and gas plants to feed electric grids, and says activists are criticizing Australia for approving such plants. It also cites The National's suggestion to clear permitting delays that slow solar and wind farms and to reconsider nuclear power.

What a side did not mention
All sources: 30 articles from 16 outlets

Liberal (18)

Center (10)

Conservative (2)

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Strait of Hormuz

The narrow sea passage between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula through which tankers leave the Persian Gulf. About a fifth of the world's oil normally passes through it, so any threat there moves fuel prices worldwide.

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