United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Monday that the world is entering a “new era” in which extreme weather events have become the norm, calling on leaders gathered at the COP31 climate conference in Turkey to “deal seriously” with this situation.
“We have entered a new era of extreme weather events,” Guterres said in a statement. “The extremely powerful El Niño phenomenon is occurring while the planet is suffering from excessive temperature increases as a result of human-caused climate change.”
He urged the leaders participating in the conference to “show seriousness by accelerating the reduction of emissions, accelerating the achievement of a just transition away from fossil fuels, and providing the necessary financing and protection to the countries most vulnerable to climate change,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
Representatives of about 200 countries are meeting in Turkey, within the framework of the annual United Nations climate conference, amid increasing pressure on countries to take action after a year that witnessed disasters resulting from extreme weather events, but a disagreement emerged, from the beginning, between negotiators from rich and developing countries regarding financing issues.
The opening of the COP31 conference, held in the Turkish city of Antalya on the Mediterranean coast, was delayed for an hour without any explanation being given, while the negotiators engaged in discussions, which continued until late yesterday, Sunday, about the demands of developing countries to include items related to financing in the official agenda. The head of the Greenpeace delegation to the conference, Jasper Inventor, said: “It was a difficult start to the COP31 conference.”
Under the United Nations climate agreements, developed countries, which historically bear the bulk of greenhouse gas emissions, have provided financial support to help developing countries adapt to the repercussions of climate change and shift toward cleaner energy. However, the poorest countries believe that these amounts are still insufficient.
Inventor stated that developed countries are taking a “hard stance” regarding the inclusion of a platform that was agreed upon during the “COP30” conference in Brazil, last year, which aims to discuss mechanisms for rich countries to provide financing to developing countries.
African countries are seeking to include an item on the agenda of the COP31 conference to discuss increasing funding for adaptation efforts by three times. With the aim of helping the poorest countries cover the costs of measures such as building sea barriers or growing drought-resistant crops.
A senior European Union official warned last week that there would be “no political will” to make additional funding pledges during the COP31 conference.
Observers do not expect major breakthroughs to be achieved, at a time when countries around the world are making efforts to contain the repercussions of the oil price crisis, in light of geopolitical tensions fueled by the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine.
In parallel, the climate crisis continues to cause enormous damage this year, as severe heat waves swept Europe, forest fires broke out in Indonesia, and an avalanche caused devastating floods in Nepal.
The El Niño climate phenomenon is expected to reach its peak this year, increasing the severity of extreme weather events, and may contribute to making 2026 or 2027 the hottest year on record.
The outlook is bleak. The United Nations warned last September that global temperatures could exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, exceeding the threshold set by the Paris Climate Agreement.
Rachel Cletus, director of the climate program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said: “World leaders must rescue us from the brink of the abyss, commit to a rapid transition away from fossil fuels, and expand the use of renewable energy, a necessity that is becoming increasingly urgent in light of the current energy cost crisis.”
Türkiye chairs the COP31 conference, while Australia leads the negotiations, under an exceptional arrangement established to end a dispute over the host country for the conference.
The two partners named this summit “Implementation Cup,” with a focus on transforming commitments into concrete actions, after years of ambitious pledges and declarations.
In parallel with the official negotiations, Türkiye is putting forward an “action agenda” aimed at encouraging countries to support non-binding pledges on various issues, from artificial intelligence to waste management.
This effort revolves around an electricity initiative that aims to raise the share of electricity in meeting global energy demand from about 20 percent currently to 35 percent by 2035. However, this initiative may constitute a source of tension, according to the Agence France-Presse report.
The European Union has called for the adoption of “clean” electricity, a term that may raise controversy about the role of fossil fuels in the Turkish proposal.
In a historic agreement, during the COP28 conference in Dubai in 2023, countries committed to transitioning away from fossil fuels, but they faced difficulties in agreeing on how to turn this pledge into reality.
The COP30 conference concluded with an agreement that did not explicitly refer to fossil fuels, after oil-producing countries opposed the inclusion of such language.
Instead, Brazil has presented a voluntary “road map” with proposals to phase out fossil fuels, which each country can adapt to its own circumstances.
Climate diplomacy still lacks a major actor, after the United States withdrew from the Paris Agreement under President Donald Trump, and did not send any officials to attend the COP31 conference.
However, a delegation from the US Congress is scheduled to arrive in Antalya, amid optimism among Democrats following their historic victory in the midterm elections in the United States last week.
Tens of thousands demonstrated today, Sunday, in Amsterdam to denounce the ongoing violence against Palestinians in Gaza, raising banners bearing the phrase “Stop genocide,” according to what was reported by Agence France-Presse.
The organizers of the demonstration, which was held under the title “Red Line” (Rode lijn), estimated the number of participants at about 200,000. The demonstrators, wearing red clothes, demanded that the Dutch government take action against Israel.
Stephen Eisinger, who was wearing a red scarf around his neck, told Agence France-Presse during the demonstration: “Stop supplying weapons to Israel.”
The American, in his thirties, residing in Amsterdam, added: “I am Jewish, and there are members of my family who currently reside in Israel, but I was keen to express my support for Palestine and my opposition to genocide.”
The Gaza Strip is witnessing a ceasefire that entered into force on October 10, 2025, after two years of war that broke out following the unprecedented attack launched by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Despite the agreement on a ceasefire that was reached through Egyptian, Qatari and American mediation, the Israeli army continues its air strikes and military operations on the ground on an almost daily basis.
However, a severe humanitarian crisis is still ravaging the Gaza Strip, and Israeli aircraft continue to launch raids on it, while settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is escalating.
The Netherlands did not follow the example of other European countries such as France and Belgium in recognizing Palestine as an independent state.
Prime Minister Rob Yetten said during his weekly press conference on Friday that his participation in this demonstration was “no longer appropriate,” after he had participated in similar events when he was a candidate for the 2025 legislative elections.
His position prompted Jan Willem de Leeuw, one of the participants in Sunday's demonstration, to describe him as a "coward."
However, as of last September, the Dutch government imposed a ban on importing products from Israeli settlements established in the occupied Palestinian territories, which are illegal under international law.
As this decision entered into force, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar announced the cancellation of the accreditation of Dutch diplomats working in the West Bank.
Similar movements were previously organized in May, June and October 2025 in The Hague and Amsterdam, and the number of participants reached record levels for the Netherlands. The organizers of one of them in the capital estimated at about 250,000.
In late October, the Dutch Public Broadcasting Corporation (NBO) announced the Netherlands’ withdrawal from the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest, attributing the decision to the fact that Israel’s participation “raises mixed reactions in society and is a source of controversy and division.”
In parallel, a man climbed the flagpole in front of the German Parliament building known as the Reichstag, where he removed the German flag and raised the Palestinian flag in its place.
This afternoon, fire brigades in Berlin removed the Palestinian flag again, according to a police spokeswoman. The 22-year-old was temporarily arrested, as was a person who helped him. The man had thrown the German flag on the ground.
According to the police, the man remained on the mast for about an hour, using climbing equipment, before he came down. There were two men at the base of the mast, aged 20 and 32, who supported him and filmed the incident. The police spokeswoman confirmed that the three men hold German citizenship.
The man who climbed the pole will be referred to the police's State Security Service, which is responsible for politically motivated crimes. The 20-year-old was later released from detention, with an order prohibiting him from remaining at the scene. As for the third man, aged 32, he was only given an order to leave the place.
The State Security Service is conducting investigations on suspicion of insulting the state and its symbols, damaging public property, and violating the freedom of assembly law in the state of Berlin, as well as suspicion of violating the sanctity of a private place.
Earlier this afternoon, the group “Peacefully Against Genocide” claimed responsibility for the incident. A statement published online said that the matter is about “civil society’s solidarity with the people in Palestine.”
