Cop31 must deliver climate progress that people can see is real, host says

People wade through a flooded street after heavy rain in Bangkok, Thailand, in September. Photograph: Sakchai Lalit/AP View image in fullscreen People wade through a flooded street after heavy rain in Bangkok, Thailand, in September. Photograph: Sakchai Lalit/AP High-stakes talks involving 190 countries begin on Monday as world grapples with El Niño supercharged Cop31 summit must produce progress, “a tangible outcome ... that people can see is real”, its host has said as scores of world leaders and representatives of close to 190 countries gather in Turkey for the UN climate talks. The high-stakes meeting begins on Monday, as countries around the world grapple with the strongest El Niño weather system on record, supercharged , which is set to take hundreds of thousands of lives and cause damage costing trillions of dollars. Friction is expected between the rich and poor worlds over who pays for the impacts of the climate crisis, and the slow pace of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Temperatures have broken records this year, surpassing the limit of 1.5C above preindustrial levels aimed for in the 2015 Paris climate agreement. Adão Soares Barbosa, the chair of the Least Developed Countries, a negotiating group of 44 nations, said: “Keeping 1.5C within reach , delivering accessible and predictable climate finance, strengthening adaptation, and addressing loss and damage [caused to poor countries ] are not political choices but matters of survival. The credibility of the Paris agreement will be measured not , but , and lives protected in vulnerable countries.” View image in fullscreen Although the summit is being held in Turkey, the formal negotiations will be presided over by Australia. Photograph: Sandro Basili/ShutterstockUnusually, the talks will have dual hosts: they will take place in the Turkish city of Antalya but the formal negotiations will be presided over by Australia, following a compromise reached last year over their competing bids. Chris Bowen, Australia’s climate and energy minister and president of negotiations for Cop31, told the Guardian in an interview: “We need a tangible outcome focused on implementation [of emissions cuts and finance] that people can see is real. We need progress, it needs to be a step forward on previous Cops.” How do you broker UN climate talks when your own country is a big coal and gas exporter? The summit will have a notable absentee, with the US refusing to send a delegation for the second year in a row. The Trump administration wants no part of “extremist climate policies” embraced , according to a White House spokesperson.