Guterres takes on fossil fuel lobby in final speech as UN chief

Antonio Guterres used his final address as United Nations Secretary-General to go after the fossil fuel industry, telling COP31 in Antalya, Turkey on Friday that the planet's future cannot be bargained away by the people wrecking it. The planet's future, he said, cannot be negotiated on the terms of those profiting from its destruction. His warning that you cannot build peace on a burning planet came in his last outing as the UN's top official.

Guterres said climate disasters keep shoving people back into poverty, and that the blow lands hardest on those who did the least to cause the crisis. He told delegates that civil society has to be the counterweight to the lobbies and powerful players leaning on governments, so that governments understand things must change and the fight against climate change gets won.

The outgoing UN chief wasn't the only one swinging at COP31. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that world leaders have turned to silence on climate change, swapping it for weapons and tariffs. Lula pointed to the G7 and G20 — forums that gather the biggest greenhouse gas emitters — and said concern there had gone quiet, with some treating the energy transition as an obstacle to security and prosperity.

The summit, running November 9 to 20 in Turkey, also has a concrete number on the table: a voluntary pledge to lift electricity's share of total final energy consumption to 35% by 2035 and 50% by 2050. According to Politico, the European Union will back the 35% target after member states settled initial disagreements, with three diplomats familiar with the matter saying consensus was reached.