‘Climate crisis is outrunning us,’ UN chief Guterres says at COP31

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has sought world leaders’ immediate response to climate change, which has put the world on a path to destruction, at the 31st Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkiye.

Accusing the fossil fuel lobby of “delaying” climate action, Guterres called on leaders on Wednesday to work to ensure that coal, gas and oil cease to exist as energy sources, saying it is needed to avert “disaster”.

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“Fossil fuels must go the way of the dinosaurs, but that won’t happen on its own. The dinosaurs did not have a lobby, but fossil fuels do,” the UN chief said.

“The brutal truth is that ⁠the climate crisis is outrunning us. Emissions in 2025 reached all-time highs. Heat records keep shattering,” he said.

Iran’s Pezeshkian said he would use the event as an opportunity to express Tehran’s position on environmental destruction in war.

“At this conference, we will speak about the actions of the United States and Israel in destroying the environment,” he said before departing for Turkiye, according to Iranian state television.

A UN report last month found the world on ‌course to break through the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7F) warming limit that countries had agreed to pursue under the Paris Agreement to prevent the worst effects of climate change.

Meanwhile, 2026 has also been marked by a series of extreme heatwaves across Western Europe and a glacier collapse in Nepal that triggered a catastrophic flash flood, killing more than 1,500 people, with thousands still missing.