Overview
- On Wednesday UN Secretary‑General António Guterres and Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used the Antalya leaders’ summit to demand a faster phase‑out of fossil fuels and much larger, faster climate funding for vulnerable countries.
- Provisional summit lists show roughly 80 heads of state or government will speak, well below past leaders’ summits, with Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz and several large EU leaders absent from the Antalya roster.
- EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pledged that Europe will "do its part" and cited about €32 billion in climate finance last year, while EU Climate Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra has publicly said talks about new, fresh money are unlikely to succeed.
- Delegates from the global South and activists sharply criticized Europe’s stance, saying slow or no new funding and shifting national spending priorities, including rising defense budgets, leave vulnerable countries without needed adaptation support.
- The low high‑level turnout and the emerging finance standoff deepen questions about European credibility—coverage notes Germany’s slide in international climate rankings—and set the political terms that will shape negotiations through the rest of COP31 and into next year’s talks in Ethiopia.