COP31 Host Urges Wealthy Nations to Spend More on Climate Than Defence

The next UN climate summit, COP31, will be hosted by Turkey and is already drawing attention to the funding gap between climate action and defence spending. Turkish Climate Minister Murat Kurum, who will preside over the negotiations, warned that wealthy nations should allocate far more of their budgets to the climate crisis than the 5 % of GDP that NATO members have pledged for defence. He said the climate issue is itself a security issue and that spending on mitigation is cheaper than post‑disaster recovery.

Ahead of the summit, a pre‑COP gathering in Fiji saw a small group of national leaders, ministers and civil society members prepare for the Antalya talks. The trip included a visit to Tuvalu, a low‑lying island nation threatened by rising seas. A 13‑year‑old Tuvaluan student spoke of her dreams being eclipsed by the question of whether the country can survive, while Fiji’s climate minister, Lynda Tabuya, delivered an emotional closing address that urged delegates to carry the urgency of the Pacific with them.

Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, highlighted that only 0.2 % of global climate finance reaches small island developing states, a figure he said must change. He and Kurum also stressed the importance of raising the share of electricity from renewable sources to 35 % by 2035, up from the current 21 %.

Despite both host nations signing a multi‑country statement supporting a transition away from fossil fuels, they have faced criticism for backing new coal and gas projects and for being silent on the need to phase out fossil fuels during the pre‑COP.

Pacific leaders, led by Tzeporah Berman of the Fossil Fuel Non‑Proliferation Treaty Initiative, have called for an urgent phase‑out, insisting that no new fossil‑fuel projects should be approved. They plan to revisit the issue in a July meeting in Tuvalu, hoping to secure a firm agreement for COP31 in Antalya.