UN climate chief says fossil fuel price crisis is "spreading inflation like a cancer"

The UN's chief climate negotiator, Simon Stiell, told delegates at the opening plenary of the Cop31 climate summit in Turkey that a global fossil fuel price crisis is "spreading inflation like a cancer." The Guardian reported his remarks.

Stiell described what he called "fossil fuel cost chaos," the sharp swings in the prices of coal, oil and gas, which he said had hit households hard. Fossil fuels are the energy sources that power much of the world's transport, electricity and industry, and their prices feed into the cost of nearly everything else. Stiell's comments were made as the summit opened.

The talks are being hosted by Turkey and Australia, with Australia leading the negotiations. Australia's climate change minister, Chris Bowen, is president of the negotiations. The summit is being held in Antalya, a resort city on Turkey's Mediterranean coast, and AP reported on the opening.

Delegates from almost 200 countries attended the opening plenary, the session where all participants gather together. Turkey expected around 100,000 visitors, including national delegations, for the two-week talks. At least 95 heads of state were expected to attend, with a global leaders summit scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Turkey's presidency of the summit has focused on a goal to electrify more than a third of the global economy by 2035, according to Reuters. The Turkish presidency, working closely with Australia, has also set targets under the summit's Action Agenda, including raising the share of final energy demand met by electricity to 35%, as the UN Climate Change secretariat has outlined.

Stiell has also called on Australia to set an ambitious 2035 emissions target and speed up its clean energy transition, a message Reuters reported in 2025.