Key facts
- Guterres said nine oil companies are on track to make more than $95 billion in three months, without naming them.
- COP31 host Turkey is seeking to put a 35% electricity share goal for 2035 into the talks' formal outcome, per a person familiar.
- COP31 President Murat Kurum said the pledge does not require the added electricity to come from low-carbon sources.
- Coal generated about a third of Turkey's electricity last year and more than 40% of Australia's, per government data.
- Erdogan said Gabar field oil output would exceed 100,000 barrels per day in the second half of 2027.
- A UN report last month said the world is poised to warm well beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used the COP31 climate conference in Antalya, Turkey, on November 10 to criticize fossil fuel dependency, saying it carries a steep economic and security price. He said nine oil companies are on track to make more than $95 billion in three months, more than $1 billion a day, without naming them. Exxon Mobil, Chevron Corp, BP and Shell have reported windfall earnings since the Iran war began at the end of February, Reuters reported.
Host Turkey urged countries to sign a goal of raising electricity's share of global energy use to 35% by 2035 from around a fifth. Turkey is seeking to put the goal into the talks' formal outcome, according to a person familiar with the matter. COP31 President Murat Kurum said the target would cut emissions, drive growth and ensure energy security, and that it does not require the added electricity to come from low-carbon sources.
Climate advocates criticized the pledge for that reason. A UN report last month showed the world is poised to warm well beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold scientists say could unleash the worst consequences of climate change.
Turkey and Australia, which is leading the negotiations, both rely on fossil fuels for electricity. Coal generated about a third of Turkey's electricity last year and more than 40% of Australia's, according to government data. The previous COP in Brazil could not reach consensus on a global plan to reduce fossil fuel dependency.
Erdogan said on November 9 that oil production from the Gabar fields in southeast Turkey would exceed 100,000 barrels per day in the second half of 2027. Former US secretary of state John Kerry said investment had poured into new oil and gas fields despite past COP agreements. Greta Thunberg, attending her first COP in five years, told reporters the talks had become "greenwash circuses."