LAHORE / RAWALPINDI — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres railed against the oil and gas lobby on Wednesday, telling world leaders fossil fuels “must go the way of the dinosaurs” at a climate summit missing several prominent figures. The two-week COP31 talks kicked off in Turkiye this week with governments under pressure to tackle climate change after a year of searing heatwaves and wildfires in Europe, and deadly floods in Nepal.
“The brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us,” Guterres told dozens of world leaders assembled in the Mediterranean city of Antalya for two days of speeches by heads of state and government. But few major breakthroughs are anticipated at the COP31 negotiations, which run until November 20, as countries grapple with an oil price shock and geopolitical tensions fuelled by the US war with Iran and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Since agreeing in 2023 for the first time to transition away from fossil fuels — the main driver of climate change — nations have struggled to advance that goal at the annual UN conferences.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (C), flanked by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres (C-L), Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev (C-R), and other heads of state pose for a family photo during the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) at the Antalya Expo Center in Antalya, Turkiye on November 11, 2026.