Singapore calls for focus on climate action, not new targets at COP31

SINGAPORE: Global climate talks starting on Monday are unlikely to yield new targets on curbing greenhouse gases, but negotiators have plenty to do to implement measures already agreed, Singapore's environment minister said.

"I think that we are not expecting a major upgrade in mitigation targets" at the annual UN talks in Turkiye, Grace Fu told reporters. "But we have enough, even within the Paris Agreement, with what we have already agreed on. There is enough to work on."

Delegations from nearly 200 countries are meeting in Antalya for the 12-day COP31 conference, seeking to thrash out more steps on reducing emissions. They are set to negotiate on areas including electrification, limiting the rise in global temperatures and climate finance.

While negotiators face "headwinds", including energy security concerns arising from the US-Israeli war against Iran, there is room for progress on issues like climate adaptation and opportunities to reach separate agreements outside the main negotiation process, Fu said on Friday.

LEADERSHIP NEEDED WITH TALKS 'FRAGMENTED', FU SAYS

The climate negotiation process has come under criticism. Fu's Panamanian counterpart, Juan Carlos Navarro, told a recent UN biodiversity conference that the need to secure unanimity allowed single delegations to "torpedo" progress.

There are also calls to broaden the funding base, with now-prosperous economies like China and Middle East petrostates still classified as developing countries — which are not obliged to contribute to climate financing.

"Like many multilateral for a, there's a frustration about lack of progress and how maybe the systems have not kept up with the latest geopolitical realities," Fu said, adding: "It's about how we have that change and where the leadership is coming from. I don't see that leadership for such drastic change appearing at this COP."

She said talks were now "a lot more fragmented", with President Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out of the Paris pact still weighing on the process. Five years ago, Fu said, countries were "more prepared to exercise their political capital, their leadership, to bring about solutions," but they were now "more distracted."

For much of October, Singapore was swathed in hazardous haze generated by wildfires raging across large parts of Indonesia. The city-state amended its transboundary haze law last week to give it more powers to punish those responsible for the fires.

Fu said the ultimate aim was to "shape the behaviour" of businesses.

"I'm hoping that we will not have to prosecute, but the fact that it's there will just make businesses realise that there are consequences and that they will do the right thing to avoid being prosecuted," she said.

"It's really just do whatever that is legally required of you, so that you don't cause harm to others. And that harm is not just to Singaporeans, it's to Indonesia and Indonesians."--REUTERS