On the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, in the resort city of Antalya, the world's climate negotiators have gathered again, and Greta Thunberg has come to watch them with a judgment already formed. Her charge is an old one dressed in new circumstances: that the host nations use these gatherings to polish their own reputations while their economies still lean on coal and oil, and that the rooms are crowded with those who profit from delay. The talks arrive after a year of deadly heat and flood and an energy shock born of war, conditions that make the question of who gains and who pays feel less a
Thunberg Arrives at COP31, Warns 'Everything We Love Is at Stake' as Antalya Talks Open
A year of deadly climate-related disasters, including heat waves and floods, has killed people and disrupted energy supplies.
Everything and everyone we love is at stake
Mark
Why does Thunberg's arrival matter this year specifically?
Mimi
It's her first summit since Glasgow in 2021, where she dismissed leaders' promises as "blah, blah, blah." So her return, and her tone, is being measured against that.
Mark
She called the talks hypocritical. What's her specific complaint?
Mimi
Two things: hosts get to whitewash themselves, and the rooms are full of lobbyists paid by destructive industries.
Mark
And the hosts, Turkey and Australia, do rely on fossil fuels?
Mimi
Yes. Both promote renewables and rooftop solar, but both still lean heavily on coal for electricity.
Luke
Worth separating things here. The coal reliance is reported as fact. The whitewashing and lobbyist claims are Thunberg's characterization. The report gives no numbers on lobbyist attendance.
Mark
Is there anything concrete on the other side?
Mimi
Turkey's electrification goal: electricity at 35 per cent of global energy consumption by 2035, up from 23 per cent now.
Luke
That's a stated target, not a commitment anyone has signed. We don't yet know whether other countries will back it.
Mark
Did Thunberg offer any hope?
Mimi
Cautiously. She said we have to take the victories we have, because the situation is desperate.
Luke
Fair, though the report doesn't say what victories she means. We'll know more as the talks run to November 20.
El Pulso
- Greta Thunberg landed in Antalya and immediately called COP31 hypocritical, setting a confrontational tone before the first session.
- Turkey and Australia, co-hosting the summit, face accusations that they promote rooftop solar while still burning heavy amounts of coal.
- A year of deadly heat waves, floods and an energy shock tied to the Iran war pushes negotiators into a room already under pressure.
- Turkey is pressing a plan to electrify transport, buildings and heavy industry, aiming for electricity to cover 35 percent of global energy by 2035.
- The talks run until November 20, and Thunberg is expected to stay for several days, keeping scrutiny on the outcome.
On the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, in the resort city of Antalya, the world's climate negotiators have gathered again, and Greta Thunberg has come to watch them with a judgment already formed. Her charge is an old one dressed in new circumstances: that the host nations use these gatherings to polish their own reputations while their economies still lean on coal and oil, and that the rooms are crowded with those who profit from delay. The talks arrive after a year of deadly heat and flood and an energy shock born of war, conditions that make the question of who gains and who pays feel less abstract. Whether the summit becomes another ritual of promises or a turning point will be measured in the seasons ahead, and the talks run until November 20.
Greta Thunberg has arrived in Antalya, the Turkish resort city hosting this year's UN climate talks, and she did not wait long to make her view known. Speaking on arrival, she called the annual proceedings hypocritical and urged leaders to put people and the planet ahead of profits and power.
The summit opens after a year of deadly heat waves and floods, and after an energy shock caused by the Iran war. Negotiators begin their work under that weight.
Her sharpest words were for the hosts and for the lobbyists seated at the table. Host countries, she said, use these talks to whitewash themselves, while industries that profit from a violent status quo fill the negotiations. Turkey and Australia, co-hosts, promote renewables and rooftop solar, yet both still rely heavily on fossil fuels, coal above all.
Thunberg has not been at a climate summit since Glasgow in 2021, where she dismissed world leaders' promises as "blah, blah, blah." She has also argued that climate change threatens everything we love, and that action must serve people rather than sacrifice them for a fortunate few.
Turkey's central goal is electrification, moving transport, buildings and heavy industry onto power generated from solar and wind, with electricity reaching 35 per cent of global energy use by 2035. Thunberg acknowledged that such steps matter, saying every positive sign should be counted in order to save what can still be saved. She is expected to remain in Antalya for several days, and the talks continue until November 20.
Greta Thunberg has arrived in Antalya, the Turkish resort city hosting this year's UN climate talks, and she wasted little time saying what she thinks of the event. Speaking as she got there, she called the annual proceedings hypocritical and urged leaders to put people and the planet ahead of profits and power.
COP31 opens after a year of deadly climate-related disasters, including heat waves and floods. It also follows another energy shock, this one caused by the Iran war. Those are the conditions the negotiators are working under as the talks begin.
Thunberg's main criticism was aimed at the hosts and at the people around the table. Every year, she said, host countries get a chance to whitewash themselves, and the negotiations are filled with lobbyists paid by the destructive industries that benefit from what she called an extremely violent status quo. She added that political and economic systems have become incompatible with human nature.
The hosting arrangement gives her argument some material. Turkey and Australia are co-hosting, and both are promoting renewable energy and rooftop solar installations. Both also still depend heavily on fossil fuels, coal especially, to generate electricity. Earlier hosts Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan are major oil producers.
Climate change, Thunberg said, is threatening everything, and everything and everyone we love is at stake. She argued that action should protect and benefit people instead of constantly sacrificing the global majority and the planet itself so that a fortunate few can keep making unimaginable profits and holding geopolitical power.
This is her first climate summit since the 2021 talks in Glasgow, Scotland, where she dismissed world leaders' promises as "blah, blah, blah." She came to prominence in 2018, at age 15, when she began a solitary School Strike for Climate outside the Swedish Parliament. In 2022 she published The Climate Book, which outlines actions to address the crisis.
She did not only offer criticism. Turkey's central goal is global electrification, moving sectors such as transportation, buildings and heavy industry off fossil fuels and onto electricity, ideally from renewables like solar and wind. It wants electricity to supply 35 per cent of global energy consumption by 2035, up from 23 per cent today. Thunberg said the situation is so desperate that victories must be taken where they come, and every positive sign counted, to save as much as can still be saved.
She is expected to spend several days at COP31. The talks in Antalya run until November 20.
Citas Notables
It's a hypocrisy every year that the host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash themselves.— Greta Thunberg
We have to take the victories we have, because we are so desperate in this situation.— Greta Thunberg
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