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U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged world leaders at COP31 in Antalya on Wednesday to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels and proposed a new “Climate Justice Compact” aimed at expanding climate finance, protecting vulnerable countries and strengthening international cooperation.
“The brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us,” Guterres told dozens of leaders gathered for the U.N. climate conference in Türkiye.
He called on governments to “end the fossil fuel addiction” and said the proposed compact should be based on “shared responsibility, shared security and shared benefits,” according to Anadolu Agency.
The two-week COP31 conference began earlier this week and runs through Nov. 20, with governments facing pressure to respond to climate change following a year marked by severe heat waves and wildfires in Europe and deadly flooding in Nepal.
Guterres criticized the oil and gas industry and called on governments to tax windfall profits earned by major oil companies.
“Fossil fuel interests keep making a killing, while killing our planet,” he said.
“Fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs, but that won’t happen on its own. The dinosaurs did not have a lobby, but fossil fuels do,” Guterres said.
He accused fossil fuel interests of seeking to “distort the science,” delay policy, action and accountability.
“It’s time to kick the habit—and end the fossil fuel addiction,” he said.
Countries agreed for the first time in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels, which are the main driver of climate change, but have since struggled to advance that objective at annual COP meetings.
Guterres said his proposed Climate Justice Compact would rest on four pillars: accelerating a just transition away from fossil fuels, protecting vulnerable populations, securing adequate financing and choosing multilateral cooperation over geopolitical fragmentation.
He said global renewable energy capacity must triple from 2025 levels by 2035 to meet the 1.5°C threshold, while unabated coal power must decline by at least 75%.
Guterres urged developed countries to provide at least $300 billion annually in climate finance by 2035.
He also proposed taxes on windfall profits from major oil companies to support vulnerable countries, noting that the nine largest companies earned $95 billion in the last quarter.
Climate disasters are “pounding lives, livelihoods and economies” around the world, he said, describing the current trajectory as a “path to mutually assured destruction.”
“Either plan this just transition, or pay for it in chaos and lost livelihoods,” he warned.
Major breakthroughs are not widely anticipated during the negotiations as countries contend with an oil price shock and geopolitical tensions fueled by the U.S. war with Iran and Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
The summit is also taking place without several prominent figures.
Guterres, who has made climate change a central issue during his tenure, is attending his final COP before his term ends in December.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian are among the leaders scheduled to address the COP31 high-level segment Wednesday and Thursday.
Türkiye is hosting COP31 in the southern city of Antalya.
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