Climate Negotiators Seize on Fossil Fuel Crisis Ahead of COP31

In a converted warehouse on the banks of an inland port in Berlin, climate ministers and delegates from almost 40 countries sensed an opportunity. With crucial supplies of oil and gas blocked off by the Strait of Hormuz, fossil fuels were losing their claim to being the most secure source of energy.

The diplomats were gathered for the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, the opening salvo in a seven-month roadshow of events leading up to November’s United Nations COP31 summit in Turkey. As the crisis in the Middle East continues to pummel energy markets, negotiators from the European Union to China, and as ...