Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged COP31 leaders to unlock clean-energy investment and climate finance for countries most in need, as he warned that global warming is likely to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Albanese addressed the COP31 Leaders’ Summit in Antalya on Wednesday. Türkiye is hosting the conference, while Australia holds the presidency of the negotiations. He called for faster electrification alongside support for vulnerable countries and action on ocean protection.
Albanese cited estimates that put the world’s warming path at about 4 degrees before the Paris Agreement and roughly 2.6 degrees today. He said the 1.5-degree goal is likely to be surpassed, but that preventing further warming still matters. He described the current period as a critical decade for action.
He credited the Paris Agreement with helping expand renewable energy and redirecting financial flows toward cleaner energy. Albanese said the agreement had also shifted the trajectory of emissions, while adding that its targets remain under pressure.
Albanese pointed to the Pacific Resilience Facility, which Australia and other Pacific nations established in 2025. He described it as a regional channel for climate funding under Pacific leadership and said vulnerable countries need capital to confront climate risks.
At a joint news conference, Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen, COP31 president of negotiations, said Australia and Türkiye had discussed including electrification in a conference decision, as EconoTimes reported earlier. A United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change schedule lists a Nov. 12 roundtable on implementing the Paris Agreement and access to finance. World leaders’ meetings in Antalya are scheduled through Nov. 12, and COP31 runs through Nov. 20.
