UN warns against backsliding on geopolitics

States have made “real progress” in climate discussions in Bonn in recent days, said UN Climate boss Simon Stiell on Thursday at the end of a preparatory meeting for COP31, while warning of the effects of “tensions geopolitics” on the discussions.

“In key areas, we have made real progress, demonstrating that climate cooperation works and that this process is bearing fruit,” said Simon Stiell, in a statement closing a two-week preparatory meeting at COP31, in Bonn, Germany.

The leader cited in particular the fact that States have made progress on the “just transition”, in order to ensure that the evolution towards a low-carbon economy takes place under fair and inclusive conditions.

He also highlighted that Turkey, host country of COP31, had announced its objective of ensuring that electricity represents a third of global energy demand by 2035.

“In these areas, we have made significant progress. In others, we noted a certain reluctance and blockages. We have seen geopolitical tensions reverberate in these corridors,” he continued in his statement, at a time when the energy crisis caused by the conflict in the Middle East only seems to be easing after months of tension.

“We simply cannot afford to reverse previous decisions, renegotiate existing goals or go backwards,” he said, warning states against “picking apart” global commitments to retain only those that “are strategically relevant.” appropriate at the moment.

The leader, however, highlighted the tendency “in certain negotiating rooms” to “a well-known tendency to favor every man for himself: groups refusing to make commitments or to allow the process to move forward until others have taken the first step,” he said.

It is in Bonn that the texts are drawn up and differences are ironed out ahead of the decisions that will be taken by political leaders at COP31, the climate conference sponsored by the UN, which is due to begin on November 9 in Antalya, Turkey.

Representatives from dozens of developing countries, the European Union (EU) and Switzerland have expressed concerns in recent days that some countries are seeking to undermine the scientific consensus on global warming.