Antalya, 9 November (askanews) – The United Nations Climate Conference, COP 31, opens in Antalya, Turkey, with a specific and ambitious goal: to concretely implement the commitments made in previous years, at least in part, it must be added, given that the context in which it operates is extremely complex, the interests at stake are enormous, and some key countries, such as the United States, are not participating in the conference.
The joint presidency of Turkey and Australia hopes to make progress on this path of action, in the face of a climate crisis that, despite the substantial global silence, is the greatest emergency of our time. But results are far from guaranteed, especially since multilateralism, of which the UN remains the last, albeit tenacious, bastion, is increasingly less recognized as a method for managing international relations. On the table at the COP—which, we must remember, is the forum in which the most important and historic decisions on climate change were made—are many crucial issues, including, of course, the energy transition, including the associated abandonment of fossil fuels. But there will also be discussion of climate finance and mitigation, another key word and topic today if we want to address the ongoing emergency with clarity.
"Climate conferences," wrote Ferdinando Cotugno, one of the most knowledgeable commentators, "are a way to read the world, from every side of power: if leaders find disinterest, they act accordingly. Today, climate negotiations require the scarcest raw material in the world: attention." And this is precisely where we need to start, with the optimism of willpower in the face of the unfortunately inevitable pessimism of reason.
Askanews