At COP31, small island states and developing countries pressed major emitters to cut greenhouse-gas emissions quickly and wealthy nations to provide more climate finance, while Greta Thunberg and others criticized the lack of urgency.

Leaders from the Bahamas, Tuvalu, the Solomon Islands and Saint Lucia called for urgent action, with Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre urging major emitters to move beyond promises and reduce emissions.

Despite those appeals, COP31’s opening speeches and agreed priorities have largely sidestepped fossil fuels, with no plan or timetable to phase them out; the proposed agreement could revisit the COP28 commitment to transition away from fossil fuels, left out of the final decisions at COP29 and COP30.

The outcome remains unsettled, with one week of negotiations left for governments to produce a more ambitious text.

COP31 runs from Nov. 9 to 20 in Antalya, Türkiye, under an unusual leadership arrangement: Türkiye hosts and presides over the conference, while Australia leads the international negotiations.

Australia’s negotiations president, Chris Bowen, said his role was to build consensus around the strongest possible outcome, but that further consultations were needed.

As an alternative focus, Australia and Türkiye are promoting a goal of raising electricity’s share of global final energy consumption from about 20% to 35% by 2035, though the proposal does not specify that the added electricity must be renewable.

Campaigners warn that electrification alone will not resolve the contradiction if countries continue developing coal and gas supplies, while European leaders have backed the 35% target.

A first informal negotiating note proposes extending a climate programme through 2029 and refocusing it on stronger implementation of this decade’s climate targets, including better access to investment and finance.

The stakes remain high: Climate Action Tracker projects nearly 5 degrees Fahrenheit of warming by 2100, while full implementation of current policies and pledges would still mean about 3.4 degrees, a level scientists consider extremely dangerous.

The article says the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C warming limit, long championed as “Keep 1.5 Alive,” is now effectively out of reach.

Australia’s effort to align itself with Pacific nations is undercut by its continued fossil-fuel expansion, deepening concerns among island states facing rising seas and extreme weather and risking damage to Australia’s regional influence.