COP31: Environment MEPs set out priorities ahead of Antalya climate summit
Preparing for the COP31 in Antalya, the Environment Committee is calling for a faster fossil fuel phase-out, more climate finance and stronger support for vulnerable countries.
The draft resolution on Parliament’s priorities for the 9-20 November UN Climate Change Conference (COP31), to be held in Antalya, Türkiye, was adopted by the Committee on the Environment, Climate and Food Safety, by 50 votes to 16 and with 3 abstentions on Thursday. The climate summit is set to focus on advancing the transition away from fossil fuels, launching the process for the next global stocktake, and scaling up climate finance, including through the operationalisation of the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) agreed at COP29.
In the draft resolution, MEPs stress that 2025 was one of the hottest years on record and that Europe remains the fastest-warming continent. They underline the need for the EU to keep driving ambitious climate action. Noting that the EU is currently on course to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by around 54% by 2030 compared with 1990 levels if member states fully implement existing and planned measures, they nevertheless flag with concern preliminary data showing that EU emissions rose by 1% between 2024 and 2025. The MEPs call on member states to close this gap and on the Commission to support them, and stress that all EU policies must remain aligned with the Paris Agreement and guided by the best available science.
Phasing out fossil fuels
The text urges all parties to advance the roadmap on transitioning away from fossil fuels, as agreed at the previous climate conference COP30. MEPs call for the EU to take a leading role in the negotiations towards a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty and for time-bound plans to phase out fossil fuel subsidies and production, urging the EU to lead by example with its own timeline and strategy for an economy-wide phase-out. They also highlight the vulnerabilities created by fossil fuel dependence at a time of geopolitical instability, and the importance of decarbonisation for the EU’s strategic autonomy.
Scaling up climate finance
MEPs stress that the gap between climate finance needs and what is currently being provided is significant and growing and call for it to be urgently addressed. While noting that the EU and its member states remain the largest providers of public climate finance, they call for continued increases in contributions, in particular through grants and highly concessional finance, and warn against double-counting or re-categorising existing funds to meet the NCQG. The resolution also calls for climate finance to be allocated so as not to worsen the debt burden on climate-vulnerable countries, giving priority to grant-based finance and debt relief instruments.
Adaptation, loss and damage
Noting that up to 3.6 billion people are living in contexts highly vulnerable to climate change, the MEPs call for the rapid scaling-up of predictable and accessible finance for the fund for responding to loss and damage, and for all parties to deliver on the goal of tripling adaptation finance by 2035. They also call for the swift operationalisation of the just transition mechanism agreed at COP30, and for climate action to be paired with measures supporting green jobs, reskilling and social dialogue.
Next steps
Parliament as a whole will vote on the final resolution during its 19-22 October plenary session. A delegation of 15 MEPs, headed by Lídia Pereira (EPP, PT), will attend the climate talks from 16 to 20 November.
