COP31 Host Urges NATO Nations to Spend More on Climate Than Defense | OilPrice.com
Felicity Bradstock
Felicity Bradstock is a writer and journalist based in Mexico City. She writes for energy websites and covers several other industries, as well as writing…
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By Felicity Bradstock – Oct 25, 2026, 10:00 AM CDT
- Turkey’s COP31 president-designate is calling on wealthy countries to spend more on climate action than military defense.
- Turkey and Australia are pushing for greater climate finance and a global electrification target of 35% by 2035.
- Both COP31 hosts face criticism for supporting fossil fuel expansion despite advocating stronger climate action.
The host of the United Nations’ COP31 climate summit, Turkey, is encouraging wealthy countries participating in the conference to spend more on climate support than on defence. This follows Turkey’s announcement in September that it plans to invest heavily in developing its renewable energy capacity in the coming years. However, Turkey also intends to expand its oil and gas production, which could be at odds with its climate aims.
COP31 will be held in the southern Turkish province of Antalya from 9th – 20th November with a first-of-its-kind joint presidency arrangement between Türkiye and Australia. The summit brings together government, business, and civil society representatives from around the world to discuss how the various world powers can best work together to tackle climate change.
For the first time, Turkey and Australia held a “pre-summit” in the Fijian city of Nadi in the South Pacific from 5th – 8th October to draw attention to the climate challenges being faced by island nations. However, only 13 national leaders attended the summit alongside Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese, ahead of the main COP31 event in November. Nevertheless, around 30 ministers, including those from India and European nations and representatives from China and Saudi Arabia, attended the pre-summit alongside approximately 4,000 others.
During the summit, Pacific leaders reiterated their demands, stating that COP countries must act to “keep 1.5C alive”, that climate finance must be made available to the poor and vulnerable communities most at risk, and that the health of the oceans must be prioritised. Australia’s climate change minister, Chris Bowen, stressed that only 0.2 per cent of the world’s climate finance supports small island developing countries in adapting, even though they are most at risk of climate change. “That has got to change,” said Bowen.
Meanwhile, the COP31 president-designate from Turkey, Murat Kurum, suggested that NATO countries should focus more on investing in combating climate change rather than spending heavily on defence, arguing that climate change poses an even greater threat to safety and security. When asked if he thought as much should be spent on climate as defence, Kurum said: “Much more”. Kurum urged NATO members to spend more than their planned 5% of GDP increase to their defence budgets by 2035 on addressing the climate crisis.
Kurum told reporters, “The climate issue is the security issue itself… If you don’t spend one unit of money prior to the disasters, then you are left in a position where you have to spend 10 units of money after the disaster. It’s cheaper pre-disaster.”
Both Kurum and Bowen said that COP31 would focus on garnering support for a global goal of 35 per cent of the energy required to power homes, businesses, factories, and vehicles coming from electricity by 2035, a figure that stands at around 21 per cent at present.
Kurum divided opinion when he suggested that the world was “already in a transition” away from fossil fuels and that further progress may not be possible. The president-designate said that the focus on the wording around “transitioning” may not be productive at COP31, a stance supported by several oil-producing states, such as Saudi Arabia and Russia. However, the International Energy Agency and several Pacific island leaders continue to call for an urgent phaseout of fossil fuels.
In September, the Turkish government published an agenda for COP31 aimed at translating existing climate commitments into projects and measurable results. Meanwhile, when speaking at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, Turkey’s President Tayyip Erdogan said that it was unrealistic to expect all countries to make the same progress on climate policy while inequalities in access to financing and technology persist.
Erdogan stated, “Every proposal in which we don’t make our climate targets meet societal and economic realities is bound for failure.” The president added, “Steps that will strengthen countries’ prosperity must be shaped by their own conditions, resources, and development priorities. While inequalities persist over access to financing and technology, it is not realistic to expect all countries to advance at the same pace.” He added, “We can only make a just transition lasting to the extent that we establish a strong link between climate goals and development and prosperity.”
Both Turkey and Australia are calling for high-income countries to contribute more to tackling climate change, particularly to protect the countries that did not cause the climate crisis but are suffering the most. However, the two hosts have also been criticised for continuing to invest in expanding their fossil fuel industries, including announcing new projects for the “dirtiest fossil fuel” – coal. The hosts now face an uphill battle to convince COP31 participants that a green transition and increased investment in combating climate change are crucial.
By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com
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Felicity Bradstock
Felicity Bradstock is a writer and journalist ba
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