Key facts
- Fu said negotiators have "enough to work on" within the Paris Agreement without new mitigation targets.
- Fu said talks to move away from fossil fuels will be "as difficult, if not more difficult, than before".
- Fu cited energy security, inflation, jobs and security as competing priorities for governments.
- Singapore will send a delegation of businesses, policymakers and university researchers to COP31, Fu said.
- Fu said Singapore wants to help shape how adaptation indicators are finalised and implemented.
Singapore's Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, Grace Fu, told reporters that she did not expect "a major upgrade in mitigation targets" at the annual UN climate talks in Turkey. She said the Paris Agreement already contains enough agreed material for negotiators to work with. "There is enough to work on," she said.
COP31 runs from November 9 to November 20 in Antalya, Turkey, with nearly 200 countries attending. Fu said the talks would be tougher than in previous years, citing a more fragmented world, the Middle East conflict and its effect on inflation, social unrest, job concerns and security. She said the shift away from fossil fuels would be "as difficult, if not more difficult, than before".
Fu said some countries have turned to cheaper fossil fuels such as coal, reviving older plants or extending their use, while shortages have spurred a shift toward renewable energy elsewhere. She said Singapore's priorities include adaptation, the actions taken to deal with damage caused by climate change, and that oceans and sea level rise would draw attention at the talks. Singapore wants to help shape how adaptation indicators are finalised and implemented, she said, after 59 such indicators were adopted at COP30 in Brazil in 2025.
Fu said Singapore would send a delegation of businesses, policymakers and university researchers. She cited recent climate disasters, including floods in Nepal, as evidence of the urgency of climate action.