COP31 talks in Turkey: Leaders from US, China and India skip summit

News now for you. World leaders are gathered in the Turkish Mediterranean city of Antalya for the COP 31 climate conference with progress at past gatherings slow to be implemented. It's worth mentioning that the mood, at least among some, was somewhat defeatist today, especially as some of the world's biggest polluting nations did indeed skip the leaders summit for more on this conference. Then France 24's environment editor Valerie Kemp is with me now on set. Hi, Valerie. So it's hard to ignore the absences then. Yeah, I mean, fewer than 80 world leaders have confirmed attendance, Erin, and in comparison, More than 170 showed up for COP28 in Dubai a couple of years ago. So we're not seeing that many VIPs this year either. The big names on the list include Brazil's Lula da Silva, China's Vice President Han Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who has emerged as an outspoken climate defender in recent years. Big no-show from major EU economies, France, Germany, Italy, not represented by their heads of state. European Commission. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will be the sole high-level leader representing Europe. And UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham is the only G7 leader to address the conference. Fossil fuel interests, however, have come out in force in Turkey. Turkey's state-owned oil and gas company has 15 representatives. Executives from Saudi Aramco Shell have also been invited by the co-host Turkey. ExxonMobil's CEO is also attending, registered under the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and French oil giant Total, their CEO Patrick Pouyanné, is an official member of the French delegation. In many ways, fossil fuel producers have been emboldened by the current energy crisis as many countries turn to coal and liquefied natural gas in a way to avoid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. And in a way, fossil fuels have also come out in force, I think, because they have also seen the wind turn. It's now become abundantly clear that fossil fuels are a strategic liability. They're also fueling social unrest because of high of high energy prices. And many countries are going to be using that argument at COP 31 to make the case that the days of fossil fuels are numbered. Valerie, so speaking of fossil fuels, I mean, how far along is the international community in transitioning away from them? Has any progress been made at all? Well, just to give our viewers some positive context, according to a recent article published, 59 countries emitted less fossil fuel CO2 emissions in 2025 compared to before the COVID pandemic in 2019. That's 51% more. countries than in the early 2000s, when only 39 countries did. So that goes to show that the energy transition is helping to cut greenhouse gas emissions and that it's also spreading geographically because more countries are able to do that. Another interesting point, 2025 was the first year ever in which wind and solar power contributed more new energy than fossil fuels. That does not take away the fact that fossil fuels continue to dominate And in 2023, during the COP28 summit in Dubai, countries agreed for the first time to transition away from fossil fuels in what became a historic moment because fossil fuels had never been mentioned before. In a final cover text, which sounds hard to believe, that's only three years ago. Since then, they've had a hard time building on that momentum. And so what we're seeing now, and COP 31 is an example of that, is that there's a so-called coalition of the willing of countries that are willing to push ahead on a fossil fuel exit outside formal negotiations. And so what we're seeing now, for example, this COP, are two voluntary, non-negotiated items we've already talked about at the beginning of COP. a global roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels. It was presented, unveiled by Brazil, Brazil having worked on that last year at COP30. And it was revealed on the lead up to COP 31. It's not like a magic recipe for countries to ditch fossil fuels, but it's quite a pragmatic tool, according to observers, because it includes different pathways depending on where countries currently are, if they are exporters or importers of fossil fuels. Then there's also Turkey's electrification goal to electrify a third of the global economy by 2035. Again, it's only a voluntary measure, but it's those two initiatives are actually the ones that are being most talked about, you know, on the margins of COP 31. So it goes to show that. On the one hand, countries are under pressure to show that COPs are not a failure and that COPs do matter because important things are being discussed. But it also goes to show that countries are saying, OK, even if there are laggards out there, climate deniers, we will continue to push ahead even though others are not on board. And so I think it's it's it's there's even appetite. By some countries to even include those initiatives in a final cover text. So even though it sounds like things are not moving as quickly as they should, which is true, there is, you know, still momentum by some countries to do that. hope in the tailor-made then ad hoc initiatives, at least for now, it sounds. Valerie de Kim, thank you very much. Thank you, Erin.