COP31 cooperation must deliver practical results: Australian Premier Albanese tells Antalya summit

The UN Climate Conference (COP31), hosted by Türkiye, must deliver "practical results," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told a summit in the Turkish resort city of Antalya on Wednesday.

"By acting together, the world can make a practical difference," Albanese said, addressing the COP31 Leaders' Summit.

Türkiye is hosting COP31, and Australia is president of the negotiations.

"There is hope. (And) the good news is that real and rapid progress is possible," he said, citing progress made under the Paris Agreement.

Before the Paris Agreement, he added, "the world was heading for around four degrees of warming."

"Today, estimates put that trajectory at around 2.6 degrees. The world's goal, of course, is 1.5. But while we will likely overshoot 1.5 degrees, every fraction of a degree of warming we prevent will count," Albanese said.

The Australian prime minister said the ongoing period was a "critical decade (and) we must take that action now, and that is why we are all here to demonstrate what we can achieve together (with) every nation acting."

"We have a solemn responsibility to this and to future generations to act," Albanese said.

COP31 "must be where our cooperation delivers practical results, unlocking investment in clean energy technologies, accelerating electrification, speeding up action for our oceans, unlocking climate finance for those who need it most," he added.

"We must ensure that we are heading towards a future where our energy is clean, reliable, and affordable, and our economies are strong."

Acknowledging that the Paris Agreement's target was "under pressure," Albanese, however, said: "This is a movement of people that know that this agreement represents the opportunity, not just for a more sustainable environment, but as we just heard from the (UN) secretary-general, a more prosperous economy as well."

Addressing the summit before Albanese, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a new "Climate Justice Compact" built on shared responsibility.

The Paris Agreement has "bent the emissions curve and helped drive the rapid expansion of renewable energy," Albanese said.

"It has changed the direction of global financial flows towards cleaner energy," he said, adding that Australia was "playing our part" and that the country's "progress is strong, and our successes are significant."

Albanese also drew attention to the climate challenges faced by Pacific nations.

"The most vulnerable countries need capital. We must ensure that they get it, and that's why last year, with other Pacific nations, we established the Pacific Resilience Facility. It is the first Pacific-led regional climate financing mechanism, a promise to our Pacific family that they will not face the climate crisis alone," he said.

Seeking support for Pacific nations to confront the climate challenge, Albanese emphasized that no nation should be "left behind."

"Let's turn ambition into implementation, commitments into action, and keep forging ahead," he stressed.