World leaders set out clashing priorities as COP31 turns to negotiations

World leaders have set out competing positions and made clashing demands in two days of intense speech-making at the COP31 climate change talks in Türkiye, leaving negotiators with a tough task to draft a meaningful deal that all can agree.



Small island states, among the most vulnerable in the world as global warming makes sea levels rise, pleaded for urgent cuts to greenhouse gas emissions.



European leaders, meanwhile, lined up behind a proposal to expand global electrification, developing countries asked for more finance from rich ones, and fossil fuel producers said oil, gas, and coal should continue to be used.