UN chief Guterres urges developed nations to deliver $300bn a year by 2035 at COP31

UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged developed countries on Wednesday to deliver at least $300bn a year in climate finance by 2035. He spoke at the World Leaders Summit of the 31st UN Climate Change Conference, COP31, in Antalya, Türkiye.

Punch reported that Guterres said the wider $1.3tn financing ambition must translate into actual funding for developing countries. "Developed countries must lead in delivering at least $300 billion a year by 2035, and set out concrete plans with clear milestones to at least triple adaptation finance by then," he said, according to Punch. He added: "The $1.3tn goal must become real finance flowing to developing countries and this demands that every source of finance pull its weight."

PM News Nigeria reported that Guterres urged the international community to mobilise $1.3 trillion annually in climate financing for developing countries by 2035. The outlet said he expressed concern that developing economies outside China, which account for nearly two-thirds of humanity, receive less than one-fifth of global clean energy investments. It also reported that he said many of these countries pay between two and three times more to borrow money than wealthier nations.

On oil company profits, PM News Nigeria reported that Guterres said the world's nine largest oil companies earned $95 billion in the last quarter, while the Loss and Damage Fund had received approximately $600 million. "It’s time for governments to tax these windfall profits and use them to help vulnerable countries recover. Polluters must pay," he said, according to the outlet. Türkiye Today also reported the $95 billion figure and his call for windfall taxes.

Türkiye Today reported that Guterres proposed a "Climate Justice Compact", which it said, citing Anadolu Agency, should rest on "shared responsibility, shared security and shared benefits". The outlet said it would have four pillars: accelerating a just transition away from fossil fuels, protecting vulnerable populations, securing adequate financing and choosing multilateral cooperation over geopolitical fragmentation. It added that he said global renewable energy capacity must triple from 2025 levels by 2035 to meet the 1.5°C threshold, while unabated coal power must decline by at least 75%.

Punch and PM News Nigeria both reported that Guterres said global emissions must fall by approximately six per cent annually. PM News Nigeria added that he said existing national climate commitments would deliver only about one-third of the required reductions, even if fully implemented. "Science is not telling us to surrender. It’s telling us to fight harder," he said, according to that outlet.

The Peninsula Qatar quoted Guterres telling dozens of world leaders: "The brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us." It reported, citing AFP, that few major breakthroughs are anticipated at the talks, which run until November 20. Wopke Hoekstra, the EU's top climate official, told reporters in Brussels that "expectations are not necessarily high", the outlet said.

The Peninsula Qatar and Türkiye Today both reported that Guterres is attending his last COP before his term ends in December. The Peninsula Qatar said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Iran's Masoud Pezeshkian were among the leaders due to speak in the high-level segment on Wednesday and Thursday.