COP31 leaders try out new sales pitch for climate action

ANTALYA, Nov 11: Leaders at the COP31 summit in Turkey are trying out a new sales pitch for climate action that is tailored to the times: do it to bolster the economy and bring down the cost of living.

The message, being repeated in the hallways and on the plenary stage of the annual UN conference, reflects efforts by organizers to capture the attention of governments wrestling with crises that have pushed global warming down the list of priorities.

Among those is rampant inflation driven in part by disruptions to Middle East crude oil shipments since the onset of the Iran war. 

Consumer price pressures from fuel to food were a major driver in the US midterm elections that handed control of Congress to Democrats, and are an important vulnerability for leaders across Europe, Asia and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Wars and trade disputes should not be allowed to distract the world from its struggle to combat global warming, the leaders of Brazil and Turkey told the COP31 climate conference on Wednesday.�" REUTERS