COP31: UN Secretary-General Warns Climate Crisis Is Spiraling Out of Control

On November 11, 2026, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned at the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkey, that the international community’s slow response to climate change was putting the world on a path to “mutual destruction.” He said emissions and global temperatures continued to rise and climate-related disasters were growing more severe, and called on governments to do more for future generations.

The 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference was held in Antalya, Turkey, on November 11, 2026.（VietVance）

Former French Prime Minister Laurent Fabius, who chaired the 2015 Paris climate conference and now heads an advisory council of former COP presidents, said leaders should use the meeting to explain how they would fulfill their commitments. He said the keyword in Antalya was “implementation.”

As host, Turkey is pushing countries to include an electrification target in the final COP31 agreement. The proposal aims to raise electricity’s share of global energy consumption from more than 20% today to 35% by 2035; in principle, this could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars, factories and buildings. However, the proposal does not require new electricity to come from clean energy sources, and a broader plan for moving away from coal, oil and gas has yet to be clarified.

Guterres called on countries to accelerate the shift to clean energy, saying dependence on fossil fuels harms the economy as well as the climate. The United States was absent from COP negotiations for the second consecutive year; France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada did not send senior leaders to the 2026 talks and had no representatives scheduled to speak.

Source: VietVance