COP31 opens with climate finance clash as rich, developing nations spar

An opening-day fight over climate finance and trade underlined the widening divide between developed and developing nations as COP31 began in Antalya, Türkiye

The gloves were off even before COP31, the world’s biggest United Nations-led climate summit, began in Antalya on November 9, with nearly 100,000 participants expected to descend on the Mediterranean resort city over the course of the conference.

 

The rancour between developed countries, including the Umbrella Group and the European Union (EU), and the G77 and China, a coalition of developing countries, centred on climate finance and the COP agenda — the document that determines the issues taken up in formal negotiations.

 

The disagreement spilled over into the opening day, with negotiations over the agenda continuing before it was eventually adopted.

 

At the heart of the dispute was the Climate Finance Work Programme, which developing countries want to use to discuss how developed nations intend to meet their obligations under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement to provide financial resources for mitigation and adaptation.

 

 

Climate-related trade measures also emerged as a point of contention.

 

A senior Sri Lankan official said trade had become a sore point, while disagreements over the agenda constrained substantive discussions early in the summit.

 

“There was a huge battle and a push from the EU and the Umbrella group, who were resisting the adoption of an agenda with the Climate Finance Work Programme, a call by the Group of 77 and China to discuss how developed countries intend to meet their obligations under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, an obligation by developed countries to provide climate finance for mitigation and adaptation,” said Meenakshi Raman, head of programmes at Malaysia-based non-profit Third World Network.

 

“Since this is an implementation COP, it's time to sit at the table in good faith and negotiate what developed countries can provide or cannot provide and tell the reasons for why they are not able to ensure the provision of climate finance,” she said.

 

Disagreements between developed and developing countries are a familiar feature of climate negotiations, but COP31 comes against a particularly difficult geopolitical and economic backdrop.

 

The nine-month-old West Asian war has pushed up fossil fuel prices, while rapid growth in power- and water-intensive data centres is adding to energy demand. European governments are also facing fiscal and political pressures amid ongoing conflicts, officials attending the summit said.

 

An EU official, citing the latest Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures, told Business Standard that Europe remained a major contributor to climate finance.

 

Developed countries provided and mobilised $136.7 billion in climate finance for developing economies in 2024, according to the OECD.

 

The figure was above the $100 billion-a-year climate finance goal agreed at COP15 in Copenhagen in 2009. However, the target was initially meant to be reached by 2020 and was achieved for the first time only in 2022.

 

Under the new collective quantified goal agreed at COP29 in Baku in 2024, developed countries are expected to take the lead in mobilising at least $300 billion annually for developing countries by 2035.

 

Developing countries argue that this remains far below their financing needs and have continued to press for greater clarity on public finance and developed-country obligations.

 

The urgency of the negotiations was underlined by the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO’s) State of the Climate Update 2026, released on COP31’s opening day.

 

It said the 12 years from 2015 to 2026 are set to be the warmest on record, while the global average surface temperature between January and September 2026 was around 1.47 degrees Celsius above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial average.

 

Sea levels were also at their highest in the satellite record and preliminary data pointed to a tenth consecutive year of record ocean heat content.

 

WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo warned of the growing risks posed by a warming planet and the danger of crossing irreversible climate tipping points.

 

“No single COP is a silver bullet that can stop climate change overnight,” UN climate chief Simon Stiell said, seeking to temper expectations from the summit.

 

Türkiye, which holds the COP31 presidency, is putting implementation at the centre of its agenda.

 

Among its flagship initiatives is the voluntary “35 by 35” electrification target, aimed at increasing electricity’s share of global final energy demand to 35 per cent by 2035.

 

COP31 President Murat Kurum has called for the summit to become an “implementation COP”, focused on translating existing commitments into action rather than continuously adding new pledges.

 

Ali Mohamed, Kenya’s climate change envoy and head of delegation, said Africa could support the 35 by 35 electrification push provided the required investments and technology were made available.

 

Most electrification investment was still flowing to Europe and the US, he said.

 

India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy and the third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, has kept a relatively low profile at the summit, similar to its approach at COP29 in Baku.

 

While neighbouring countries including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal have set up national pavilions, along with smaller Central Asian and African countries, India does not have a country pavilion at COP31, according to a government official at the venue.

 

Indian interactions are instead being conducted through a smaller delegation office, the official said.

 

It was also unclear on the opening day when Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Bhupender Yadav would arrive at the summit.

 

China, meanwhile, has again brought a large delegation and set up a substantial pavilion displaying clean-energy technologies, including a dancing robot.

 

Industry officials questioned why India had not used a pavilion to showcase its rapidly expanding renewable-energy and clean-technology manufacturing capabilities.

 

A senior petroleum ministry official also cancelled a planned visit to the Global Biofuels Alliance pavilion, according to an industry source.

 

India’s longstanding negotiating position has centred on climate equity and greater finance from developed countries, which it argues have a larger historical responsibility for greenhouse gas emissions.

 

Ahead of COP31, the government said predictable climate finance, technology transfer, just transition and equitable mitigation and adaptation outcomes would remain among its key priorities.

 

India has also backed the G77 and China position on the Climate Finance Work Programme and argued that developed countries must fulfil their obligations under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement.

 

Trade has emerged as another important issue for New Delhi.

 

India and other developing countries have sought greater discussion of climate-related trade measures, including the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), arguing that unilateral measures should not become disguised restrictions on international trade.

 

The issue, however, was not added as a separate item to the formal COP31 agenda, although discussions on trade and climate will continue through other channels.

 

The divide over finance has been sharpened by a tougher stance from Europe.

 

EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra said ahead of COP31 that fresh demands for new climate-finance commitments were “dead in the water”, arguing against another round of financing negotiations.

 

The remarks have reinforced concerns among developing countries that the implementation COP could instead become another battle over who pays for the transition.

 

With finance, trade and responsibility again dividing negotiating blocs, the opening exchanges in Antalya suggested that delivering on existing climate commitments may prove every bit as contentious as agreeing to them.