Overview
- Speaking in Istanbul alongside Turkey’s COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum, Simon Stiell said international cooperation faces an unprecedented threat and described the moment as a “new world disorder.”
- He urged countries to deliver COP28 commitments to triple renewable capacity by 2030, double energy efficiency, and transition away from fossil fuels, calling for ambitious “coalitions of the willing.”
- He argued renewables are now the cheapest route to energy security, noting clean energy investment last year was more than double fossil fuels and that renewables surpassed coal in electricity generation.
- His remarks followed US steps under President Donald Trump to withdraw from the UNFCCC and the IPCC, with Stiell emphasizing the door remains open for a US return to the climate accords.
- He cited the past three years as the hottest on record and pressed for scaled finance and concrete project pipelines ahead of COP31 in Antalya, which Turkey will host with Australia leading the negotiations.