At his final New York climate meeting as UN chief, Antonio Guterres urged countries to raise emissions-cutting targets and publish plans to quit fossil fuels, saying renewables are the cheapest, fastest and most secure source of new electricity almost everywhere.
Germany published a fossil-fuel exit roadmap hours before Guterres spoke, becoming the third country with such a plan after France and the Netherlands. He also urged leaders to expand climate finance for developing countries and make life-saving early-warning systems available to everyone by 2027.
Australia and Turkey are co-hosting November’s COP31 in Antalya, with Australia running the talks and Turkey hosting the event. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said climate proposals must reconcile environmental goals with social and economic realities. Britain pledged £330 million ($437 million) to the Global Environment Facility; an E3G analyst told AFP there were too few new commitments and announcements, while praising Germany’s roadmap.
