Oil dependence is bad for the climate and the economy, UN chief tells COP31

Résumé détaillé

The discourse on November 10, the second day of COP31 in Turkey, highlights a tension at the heart of the climate debate: fossil fuels underpin the global economy, but also hurt it through costly climate damage and often-volatile energy prices

PROTEST. Activists take part in a demonstration organized by Oil Change International at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Turkey, on November 10, 2026.

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ANTALYA, Turkey – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres took aim at oil companies making billions of dollars in profits while families, businesses and governments suffer, as he used the COP31 climate conference to criticize fossil fuel dependency.

Tayyip Erdogan, president of the talks’ host nation Turkey, meanwhile, welcomed an oil discovery in the Turkish mountains, and the country’s climate negotiators pushed governments to sign a pledge to electrify their economies. The pledge does not specify whether the electricity involved would be renewable or from fossil fuels.

Taken together, the discourse on Tuesday, November 10, the second day of the two-week UN conference in Antalya, highlights a tension at the heart of the climate debate: fossil fuels underpin the global economy, but also hurt it through costly climate damage and often-volatile energy prices.

A UN report last month showed the world is poised to warm well beyond the 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) threshold scientists say could unleash the worst consequences of climate change, as greenhouse gas emissions continue to grow.

While many people endure the impact of inflation, oil companies have largely benefited from a rise in fossil fuel prices since the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted energy shipments from the Middle East.

“Fossil fuels are not only driving the climate crisis. Dependence on them carries a steep economic and security price — as the crisis in the Middle East has laid bare,” Guterres, who will step down at the end of the year, said.

“Families, businesses and governments are paying the price. Meanwhile, nine oil companies are on track to rake in more than $95 billion in just three months. That is more than one billion dollars a day.

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