The Japan Times - Just telling nations to quit fossil fuels 'not realistic': COP31 chief

Murat Kurum, who is also Turkey's climate minister, spoke to AFP as the war in the Middle East has fuelled calls for the world to speed up the deployment of renewable energy.

Last year's COP30 climate conference in Brazil produced a watered-down final text that lacked any explicit mention of a fossil-fuel transition.

Instead, Brazil offered to create a voluntary "roadmap" on transitioning away from fossil fuels.

Speaking on the sidelines of a high-level meeting on the energy transition at the International Energy Agency (IEA) in Paris, Kurum said that COP31 would "continue to implement" the roadmap initiated by Brazil.

But when pressed on whether the words "fossil fuels" could appear in a COP31 final decision, Kurum said: "It's not about putting some words in a text."

Nearly 200 countries agreed at COP28 in 2023 to transition away from fossil fuels in a landmark deal, but efforts to turn that pledge into action have stalled.

Nearly 60 nations hailed progress in the fight to exit fossil fuels on Wednesday at a conference in Colombia that gained new urgency after the COP30 failure to spell out the goal.

An urban planner by training who ran an unsuccessful campaign for mayor of Istanbul in 2024, Kurum took a diplomatic tone when talking about issues that are major sources of tension at climate summits.

"Each and every country is dependent on fossil fuels. So just telling them to phase out of fossil fuels is not realistic," he said through an interpreter.

"What should happen is that countries work on clean energy, renewable energy as soon as possible so that they can reduce their dependency on fossil fuels," he said.

"We need to do this not only by writing something, writing a statement on paper, but we need to make sure that people actually see that reality," Kurum added.

On another divisive issue that will top the COP 31 agenda -- climate finance -- he said pledges by developed countries to provide money to developing nations have not reached "the desired level".

"On the one hand, we are aware of the expectations of developing countries, but we are also aware of the concerns of the developed countries," he said.

- 'No surprises in Antalya' -

Under a compromise deal following a battle over hosting COP31, Australia will lead the negotiations at COP31 while Turkey will preside over the summit in the Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

When asked if he would have a role in the negotiations, Kurum said: "Turkey will play a role anywhere, everywhere, because Turkey is the COP31 president."

Australia will lead the negotiations "in coordination" with the COP31 presidency, he said, adding: "At end of the day, the decisions will be taken by the COP31 presidency."

Kurum said he was working in "great harmony and great coordination" with Australia's Climate Minister Chris Bowen, who is steering the COP31 negotiations.

He said the goal of COP31 can be summed up in one word: sincerity.

"We want sincerity at COP31. We want promises kept at COP31," Kurum said. "At the end of the day, we want a result-oriented, implementation-oriented COP."

Kurum sounded optimistic that COP31 would run smoothly -- a pledge some of his predecessors have also made but struggled to deliver as climate summits notoriously run into overtime due to tense negotiations.

"At COP31 in Antalya in November there will be no surprises," he said. "Everything will be planned, decided and implemented ahead of time."

S.Ogawa--JT