United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent action to reduce fossil fuel use at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey. (Foto: Instagram)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent global action to reduce fossil fuel use in a speech at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday, Nov. 11. He said it was time to stop treating the shift away from fossil fuels as taboo or impossible.
Guterres urged delegates to move beyond discussing the transition and focus on organizing, financing and carrying it out. He also said the climate conference should produce concrete results that help accelerate the global energy transition.
He said major oil companies should be held responsible for environmental damage linked to fossil fuel extraction and use. According to Guterres, the companies made $95 billion in profits in the previous quarter, while the Loss and Damage Fund received about $600 million. He said the oil companies earned that amount in roughly 14 hours.
Guterres called on governments to tax what he described as extraordinary profits and direct the proceeds toward helping vulnerable countries recover. “Polluters must pay,” he said.
COP31, the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, began Monday, Nov. 9, in Antalya, bringing together representatives from 196 countries. The meeting seeks to turn recent instability in oil and gas markets into momentum for the global energy transition.
