Singapore, November 9 - The global climate negotiations starting on Monday are unlikely to set new greenhouse gas reduction targets, but Singapore's Minister of the Environment, Grace Fu, said negotiators face a significant amount of work to implement previously agreed measures.
No Expectation for New Targets
Grace Fu told reporters, "I think we do not expect to see major advancements in gas reduction targets at this annual UN negotiation in Turkey. However, we have enough agreements even within the framework of the Paris Agreement. There is a lot of work to be done."
Representatives from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Antalya for the COP31 conference for 12 days to negotiate further steps to reduce gas emissions. They will discuss areas such as electrification, limiting global temperature rises, and climate financing.
Need for Leadership in Fragmented Negotiations
The Singapore minister also referenced criticisms of the climate negotiation process, stating, "The need to secure consensus has allowed individual delegations to 'terrorize' progress." There are also calls to broaden the financing base, as now wealthy economies like China and oil-rich Middle Eastern countries are still classified as developing countries and are not obligated to participate in climate financing.
Fu stated, "Like many multilateral forums, there is frustration regarding the lack of progress and that perhaps the systems have not kept pace with new geographical and political realities. This relates to how leadership is generated and sourced. I do not see such leadership for major changes at this conference."
She added that negotiations are now "much more fragmented" and President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris Agreement still impacts the process. Five years ago, Fu said, countries were "more willing to leverage their political capital and leadership to create solutions," but now they are "more distracted."
During October, Singapore was affected by hazardous smoke from widespread fires in large parts of Indonesia. The city-state amended its transboundary haze law last week to gain more power to penalize those responsible for the fires.
Fu said, "The ultimate goal is to shape business behavior. I hope there will be no need for legal action, but its existence simply makes businesses aware that there are consequences, and they will take the right actions to avoid prosecution."
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