Planet before profits: Greta Thunberg slams world leaders at COP31

Résumé détaillé

Greta Thunberg criticised COP31 hosts for using climate negotiations to whitewash their environmental records. Her return amplified youth demands for accountability, climate financing and tangible action.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg on Tuesday criticised the annual UN climate negotiations as "hypocritical", accusing host countries of using the global platform to whitewash their environmental records and urging world leaders to prioritise people and the planet over profits and geopolitical power.

Thunberg made the remarks upon arriving at the COP31 climate conference in Turkey's resort city of Antalya, where negotiations are taking place against the backdrop of deadly climate-related disasters, including heat waves and floods, and an energy crisis triggered by the Iran war.

"It's a hypocrisy every year that the host countries are given an opportunity to whitewash themselves," she said, alleging that the negotiations were influenced by lobbyists representing industries responsible for environmental destruction.

"Our political and economic systems have become incompatible with human nature," she added.

Thunberg warned that climate change was "threatening everything", saying the future of people and the planet was at stake.

"We should act to protect and benefit people rather than constantly sacrificing the global majority and the very planet we are all living on, for a fortunate few to keep making unimaginable profits and maintaining geopolitical power," she said.

The conference is being co-hosted by Turkey and Australia, both of which are promoting renewable energy and rooftop solar installations but continue to depend heavily on fossil fuels, particularly coal, for electricity generation.

Previous COP hosts, including Brazil, the United Arab Emirates and Azerbaijan, have also faced scrutiny over their reliance on fossil fuels and oil production.

A key priority for Turkey at COP31 is global electrification, involving a shift in transportation, buildings and heavy industries away from fossil fuels towards electricity.

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