United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent global efforts to reduce fossil fuel use during a speech at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday, Nov. 11. (Foto: Instagram)
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent efforts to reduce fossil fuel use worldwide during a speech at COP31 in Antalya, Turkey, on Wednesday, Nov. 11. He said the shift away from fossil fuels should no longer be treated as taboo or as a problem that cannot be solved.
Guterres urged delegates to move beyond discussing the energy transition and focus on organizing, financing and carrying it out. He also said the conference should produce concrete outcomes and measures that can speed the transition.
He argued that major oil companies should take responsibility for environmental damage linked to fossil fuel extraction and use. Guterres said the companies earned $95 billion in profits in the previous quarter, while the Loss and Damage Fund received about $600 million. He added that the oil companies had earned an amount equal to the fund’s receipts in roughly 14 hours.
Guterres called on governments to tax those extraordinary profits and use the revenue to help vulnerable countries recover. “Polluters must pay,” he said.
The 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference began Monday, Nov. 9, in Antalya, bringing together representatives of 196 countries. The multilateral meeting is seeking to turn recent instability in oil and gas markets into momentum for the global energy transition.
