Greta Thunberg returns to the climate summit: she called COP31 in Antalya 'full of lobbyists'

Thunberg returns to the climate talks

Swedish activist Greta Thunberg is attending the annual climate summit for the first time since 2021 — the two-week COP31 negotiations began this week in Antalya, Turkey, and will run until November 20. According to Euronews, upon arriving at the conference she called the summits 'hypocrisy every year' and said the talks are 'full of lobbyists paid for by the most destructive industries', which benefit from preserving the status quo. 'Everything and everyone we love is at stake,' Thunberg said, calling for protecting people rather than the profits and geopolitical power of 'the lucky few'.

Guterres: 'fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs'

UN Secretary-General António Guterres, for whom this is the last summit before his term ends in December, addressed dozens of world leaders with a harsh speech: 'The blunt truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us.' He called on governments to tax the windfall profits of oil companies and said: 'Fossil fuel interests continue to profit while killing our planet.' According to him, 'the dinosaurs did not have a lobby, but fossil fuels do,' and the industry's strategy is to 'distort science, delay policy, action and accountability'.

Context: what to expect from COP31

The key themes of the talks are electrification and waste reduction: Turkey wants electricity, preferably from renewable sources, to account for 35% of global energy consumption by 2035, up from 23% today. At the same time, countries have struggled to advance this goal since 2023, when they first agreed to transition away from fossil fuels. No breakthroughs are expected at COP31: states are facing an oil price shock and geopolitical tensions amid the US war with Iran and Russia's war in Ukraine. The leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Spain are being criticized for not attending the summit of heads of state, which takes place during the first two days of the conference. The co-chairs themselves — Turkey and Australia — promote renewable energy and rooftop solar panels, but still remain heavily dependent on coal.

Youth activists and protests

Thunberg's arrival sparked enthusiasm among young climate activists. 'I hope Greta's presence reminds us why we started this work in the first place,' said Amber Turner, a 26-year-old fellow of the Alliance of Small Island States, adding that the worsening climate impacts make it harder for young people to feel confident about a safe future. Kamori Osthananda, a young negotiator from the Thai delegation, called the presence of the famous activist symbolic and expressed hope that it would put pressure on the COP for real action. Protests took place on the sidelines of the summit demanding more climate finance and criticizing the growing interest in nuclear power. Thunberg herself, who is expected to spend several days at the conference, remarked: 'We have to take the wins that we have, because we are so desperate that we have to cling to every positive sign to save as much as we can.'