Key facts
- Observers said major producers and consumers at COP31 are resisting firm targets or a shift away from oil, gas and coal.
- Turkey's electrification proposal does not require the added electricity to come from renewable sources, the report said.
- Australia is taking further submissions until Saturday night and aims to formulate a draft text early next week.
- EU delegation head Diana Acconcia said the EU backs electrification achieved through clean energy sources.
- The United States has skipped the talks for the second year in a row under President Donald Trump, the report said.
Major fossil fuel producers and consumers at the COP31 climate talks in Antalya, Turkey, are resisting any deal that would specify firm new targets or a shift away from oil, gas and coal, observers said on November 13, 2026, as the first week of talks drew to a close.
The stance poses a challenge for summit host Turkey and lead negotiator Australia, which has another week to land an agreement. "Positions are still quite entrenched in terms of where they are, but that's pretty normal at this stage," said Cosima Cassel, an observer from environmental group E3G.
Major oil producers such as Saudi Arabia and Russia have traditionally resisted language constraining fossil fuels, while large developing economies such as India have opposed measures they say could limit their development and energy choices, the report said. Representatives from India, Saudi Arabia and Russia did not immediately comment.
The United States, the world's biggest oil consumer, has skipped the talks for the second year in a row under President Donald Trump, who has called global warming a hoax and promoted continued use of fossil fuels, according to the report.
A UN report last month found the world is on course to exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius warming limit countries agreed to pursue under the 2015 Paris Agreement, the report said. It said this year has been marked by extreme heatwaves across Western Europe and a glacier collapse in Nepal that triggered a flood killing more than 1,450 people, with thousands more still missing.
Turkey is striving to place a proposal to expand global electrification at the center of an eventual deal, saying the plan will lead to emissions cuts by speeding the shift away from fossil fuel-powered cars, boilers and other equipment. The proposal does not require the increased electricity use to come from renewable sources, although some countries, including last year's COP host Brazil, are advocating for progress on a plan to require countries to more clearly map out their transition away from fossil fuels.