COP31 Leaders Pivot Climate Strategy Toward Economic Gains and Energy Security

By Ezgi Erkoyun and Valerie Volcovici

ANTALYA, Turkey, Nov 11 (Reuters) – COP31 leaders at the summit in Turkey are testing a new sales pitch for climate action that is tailored to current realities: adopt it to strengthen the economy and reduce the cost of living.

The message, echoed in the hallways and on the plenary stage of the UN conference, reflects an effort to capture the attention of governments facing crises that have pushed climate change down the priority list.

One of the most pressing drivers is rampant inflation fueled by disruptions to Middle East crude oil shipments since the start of the Iran conflict. Fuel and food price pressures were a major factor behind the US midterm elections that handed Congress to Democrats, and represent a key vulnerability for leaders across Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

“Three-quarters of the world’s population live in countries that import fossil fuels, hostage to price shocks they did not create and cannot control,” UN Secretary‑General Antonio Guterres told world leaders at the summit on Wednesday.

“Recent conflicts make clear that this is a recipe for chronic insecurity and a cost‑of‑living meltdown,” he added, noting that the clear solution is a shift to renewable energy.

Simon Stiell, head of the UN climate office, made the same point. “Today, chaos in global energy markets and climate disasters are supercharging inflation, slamming government budgets, pushing household bills up, and lowering living standards,” he said at the conference.

“The political costs of fossil‑fuel dependency are unforgiving. Climate action can help relieve the pressures.”

John Kerry, former US secretary of state, said he appreciated the re‑framing of the issue.

Climate change has become a highly divisive political matter in recent years, including the United States, where President Donald Trump last year withdrew the world’s top historical greenhouse‑gas emitter from international climate cooperation after dismissing warming as a hoax.

“I think everyone working on climate needs to change the way they talk about it,” Kerry told reporters on the sidelines of the summit.

“Grouping of security, health, jobs, community stability and food supply are all very real and very much on people’s minds when I speak to them.”

European energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen said the approach could help build consensus for action that might even include climate sceptics.

“Even if you don’t believe in climate change, which I obviously do, we should be able to agree that moving away from fossil‑fuel dependence is extremely smart for security reasons,” he said.

(Additional reporting by Tuvan Gumrukcu, William James, Simon Jessop and Richard Valdmanis) Editing by Peter Graff

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