ANTALYA, TURKIYE, Nov 9: Nepal's Himalayan disaster featured prominently in the opening statements at COP31, with COP30 President André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell and Australia's Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen highlighting the devastating consequences of global warming for vulnerable communities and calling for faster international climate action.
Addressing the opening session of the UN climate conference in Antalya on Monday, Stiell said: “Appalling tragedy has hit the Himalayas, adding to the ever-expanding catalogue hitting communities across every region.”
His remarks came against the backdrop of Nepal's devastating Bhote Koshi disaster, triggered by a massive ice-and-rock collapse in the Himalayas, which killed more than 1,450 people and left nearly 6,000 missing. The disaster exposed the growing vulnerability of Himalayan communities to climate-related hazards.
Australia's Bowen made a more explicit reference to Nepal, citing the Himalayan disaster as evidence of the escalating impacts of global warming.
“Whether it be glacial collapse in Nepal, heat deaths in Europe, or an intensifying El Niño. Climate change is here. It is not a forecast. It is not a prediction. It is the lived reality for billions of people,” said Bowen, who is serving as COP31 President of Negotiations.
The references by the UN climate chief and Australia's COP31 President of Negotiations have drawn renewed international attention to the vulnerability of mountain regions and the growing consequences of climate change in the Hindu Kush Himalaya.
In his departing address at the opening ceremony, COP30 President Ambassador André Aranha Corrêa do Lago also urged the international community not to forget climate victims in Nepal and other vulnerable countries.
“We have to remember the climate victims every day — be it in Brazil, Nepal, and many countries in Africa and Europe. We have to remember every day that we must be guided by science. This is essentially an agenda for people. We cannot fail our people, and we cannot fail the most vulnerable people, because all our countries have them,” he said.
The remarks by the three climate leaders, alongside those of newly elected COP31 President Murat Kurum of Türkiye, conveyed a common message: climate negotiations must move beyond setting targets and announcing commitments to implementing solutions that reach vulnerable countries and communities.
COP31 opens as climate and geopolitical pressures mount
Stiell described COP31 as a conference that must “supercharge solutions” by translating existing global targets and national plans into practical action. He called for a tripling of adaptation finance, improved access to committed funds, an expansion of global renewable energy capacity and reductions in methane emissions.
He said action on methane and electrification together could cut projected global warming by half a degree Celsius, describing them as a “planetary icepack”.
Stiell also highlighted the economic benefits of the energy transition, saying renewable energy had saved around half a trillion dollars globally last year and a further $265 billion in the first half of this year. He noted that 90 percent of large renewable energy projects were now cheaper than fossil fuel alternatives.
He said strong negotiating outcomes were essential to translating national climate targets into real-world results. He also called for clarity on delivering climate finance commitments of at least $300 billion annually by 2035 and scaling up financing to $1.3 trillion, without reopening previous agreements.
Kurum, meanwhile, called for COP31 to become an “Implementation COP”, arguing that climate decisions must translate into tangible improvements in people's lives.
“The decisions we take in Antalya will only truly come to life when they leave these halls,” he said.
COP31, the 31st UN Climate Change Conference, is taking place in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20. The conference is focused on translating global climate commitments into concrete action, with key issues including climate finance, adaptation and resilience, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, accelerating the transition to clean energy, and ensuring a just transition for vulnerable countries and communities.
In one of the notable initiatives announced by the Turkish presidency, Kurum introduced the Climate Implementation Bridge, designed to connect countries requiring climate finance and technology with investors and countries capable of providing them.
The initiative aims to match local needs with global financial resources, technology, knowledge and expertise, addressing the gap between countries that can access finance and those that struggle to secure it.
Kurum said climate finance commitments agreed in Baku, including at least $300 billion annually by 2035 and efforts to scale up public and private financing to $1.3 trillion, must now be translated into actual investments.
He also reaffirmed the importance of the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature goal, saying the voices of vulnerable countries and communities would be at the centre of the COP31 agenda.
The Turkish presidency also highlighted its 35-by-35 Global Electrification Pledge, which aims to increase electricity's share of final energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035. The initiative brings together renewable energy, electricity grids, storage, energy efficiency, clean transport and green industry.
Bowen also identified electrification and climate finance as two major priorities emerging from consultations with countries ahead of COP31.
He said electricity currently accounts for only around one-fifth of global final energy consumption, with much of the remainder still dependent on fossil fuels. Increasing electricity's share to one-third, powered by clean energy, would strengthen energy security, reduce emissions and protect households from volatile energy prices.
On climate finance, Bowen said countries with credible adaptation and energy transition plans were still struggling to access funds at the speed, scale and on the terms required.
“The countries that need climate finance the most are getting it the least,” he said.
He referred to Australia's Access to Finance Statement and Action Plan for Small Island Developing States and least developed countries, launched at the Pacific Pre-COP, which aims to simplify and accelerate access to climate finance.
Another significant development announced by Bowen was a presidency-initiated, Party-led decision at COP31. Developed jointly by Türkiye and Australia following consultations with countries, the proposed decision is intended to provide a focused and practical response to the climate challenge rather than produce another lengthy political declaration.
It could recognise progress under the Paris Agreement and accelerate concrete solutions to keep the 1.5-degree goal within reach, strengthen resilience and improve international cooperation.
Bowen acknowledged that the latest scientific assessments indicate the world will overshoot 1.5 degrees Celsius but argued that temperatures could still be brought back down through urgent collective action.
He noted that global warming projections had fallen from nearly 4 degrees before the Paris Agreement to around 2.6 degrees today, demonstrating that international climate cooperation was making a difference, although progress remained insufficient.
Referring to the scale of the negotiations, Bowen said COP31 had more than 160 agenda items and 60 substantive negotiation mandates on the table, each presenting an opportunity to advance climate action.
The COP31 negotiations will also address the operationalisation of the Just Transition Mechanism, strengthening the Global Goal on Adaptation, accelerating mitigation efforts and advancing climate finance commitments.
