UN climate summit opens in Antalya amid low expectations for new targets

The UN climate summit opened in Antalya on Monday, bringing diplomats, leaders and other delegates together for two weeks of talks on tackling climate change and its effects. Expectations for major new targets are low, with countries divided and no looming deadlines likely to force a deal.

The formal opening came more than an hour later than planned. Brazil’s André Corrêa do Lago, who chaired last year’s summit, opened the meeting; Türkiye’s climate minister, Murat Kurum, takes over as summit president. Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, is leading the official negotiations.

Talks are expected to focus on advancing commitments already agreed, including plans to phase out fossil fuels and climate finance for poorer countries. Dozens of countries backed the idea of drawing up fossil-fuel transition roadmaps at last year’s summit in Brazil. The Netherlands is expected to focus on adaptation, working with Malta.

The summit comes amid growing concern about climate impacts. The report cites a scientific estimate that extreme heat contributed to nearly 50,000 deaths in Europe during a record-hot summer, as well as devastating landslides and floods in Nepal. The UN Environment Programme has said global warming is certain to exceed 1.5C by at least several tenths of a degree, meaning the international goal of limiting warming to that level is no longer achievable under any scenario.

The Netherlands has also said it will make phasing out oil, coal and gas a priority at the summit. Its roadmap for the transition aims to minimise fossil-fuel use by 2050 but sets no specific end dates for the fuels.