EU Prepares Strong Message for COP31 Climate Summit
The European Union is increasingly concerned that countries may not fulfill their climate goals as it prepares for the UN COP31 climate summit, according to a Council document obtained by Euronews.
“The Council notes with concern that the current level of ambition and commitment remains insufficient to limit warming to 1.5 °C,” the draft conclusions from September 14 state, addressing the Paris Agreement.
Similar concerns were recently expressed by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which warned that the world is close to exceeding the 1.5°C global warming threshold but can still limit temperature rise and adapt to a hotter climate.
Earlier this summer, EU Commissioner for Climate Vopke Hoekstra stated that recent COP conferences have not delivered the urgent progress needed to tackle the climate crisis, calling their outcomes “disappointing.”
In Antalya, where COP31 will take place in November, Brussels aims to uphold the Paris Agreement and keep the 1.5 °C goal at the center of international diplomacy while shifting focus to practical implementation, investments, and fulfilling commitments.
Instead of agreeing on new targets, the EU seeks tangible results from COP31: faster deployment of clean energy, phasing out fossil fuels, large-scale electrification, tripling the share of renewable energy, doubling energy efficiency growth, and reducing methane and other non-CO₂ greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
EU ambassadors expect COP31 to deliver “tangible progress” in bridging the gap between global goals and their implementation, recognizing that promises alone are no longer sufficient.
The draft document also calls on the largest polluters to enhance their ambitions and minimize both the scale and duration of exceeding the warming threshold, a necessity previously highlighted by UNEP and many other climate scientists.
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“The Council urges all parties, especially the largest emitters, to act with the highest possible level of ambition, make every effort to return to a trajectory compatible with limiting warming to 1.5 °C, and minimize the scale and duration of exceeding this threshold,” the draft states.
As noted by authors of an energy sector study prepared by the Climate Action Tracker initiative and published on Wednesday, Turkey, the host of COP31, continues to rely on fossil fuels despite its significant potential for transitioning to clean energy and recent success in increasing renewable energy capacity.
Energy Transition and Climate Adaptation
Facing global price fluctuations due to upheavals in the Middle East, the EU now views the transition from fossil fuels not just as an environmental policy but as a matter of energy security and availability.
The Union asserts that renewable and low-carbon energy sources, increased energy efficiency, and electrification can simultaneously strengthen energy security, reduce strategic dependencies, and enhance resilience.
In the international climate agenda, the Council follows the same energy line promoted by the European Commission, although disagreements remain within the EU on key legislative acts, such as the future of the carbon market and the ban on new diesel and petrol vehicles.
The EU also emphasizes that climate resilience is a crucial condition for safe and prosperous economies and that emissions reduction and adaptation must go hand in hand — a reality Europeans increasingly face at home after a summer marked by extreme heatwaves, wildfires, and drought.
To address this challenge, the EU proposes that all countries participating in COP31 integrate their national adaptation plans into broader investment programs and development strategies, reflecting a broader understanding that climate policy must now account for both preventing future warming and addressing current damage.
However, climate financing issues are likely to become one of the most challenging elements of political negotiations.
The Main Uncomfortable Question
The EU intends to again demand increased funding for developing countries — both for emissions reduction and for adaptation and addressing loss and damage. It will also reaffirm its efforts to triple adaptation funding. At the same time, the Union emphasizes that public funds alone are clearly insufficient for the necessary scale of investments.
The draft also highlights that establishing a carbon price is an effective way to reduce emissions and redirect financial flows towards climate action.
After the absence of major polluters at last year’s COP30, the EU intends to reaffirm its commitment to a multilateral approach and call for reforms that will make the system more effective and inclusive — this point is expected to be a particularly contentious topic of discussion.
Given the current geopolitical situation, the EU's desire to uphold a multilateral format means that COP31 will address not only individual measures for emissions reduction but also the protection of the entire international climate architecture.
Commenting on the draft document, Sven Harmeling, head of the climate program at the NGO Climate Action Network Europe, welcomed the EU's position in support of the 1.5 °C goal, the tripling of the share of renewables, and a just transition and adaptation to climate change, but criticized the ongoing lack of ambition in climate financing.
“The draft still sidesteps the main question: what exactly does the EU intend to offer?” Harmeling stated.
