COP31 is indeed being held in Antalya, and leaders/UN officials are pushing climate finance and a transition away from fossil fuels, while several major economies did not send top leaders. However, the available summit coverage does not support the claim that leaders are pushing “new global taxes on fossil fuel producers.”
World leaders at COP31 in Antalya did warn that the climate crisis is outpacing action, with the UN chief saying the “brutal truth is that the climate crisis is outrunning us.” The US was absent, and China's Xi Jinping did not attend the leaders' summit.
The CO2 emissions increase ranking from 2000–2023 is consistent with U.S. EIA data: China up about 8.7 billion tonnes, India up about 1.9 billion tonnes, followed by Indonesia, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
US-mediated Ukraine-Russia talks did begin Tuesday in Abu Dhabi, and the only tangible result reported from that round was a large-scale prisoner swap, with no breakthrough on a ceasefire.
BA data post on X lays out where carbon dioxide emissions have grown most since 2000.
BAnd it's not the United States. China added eight point seven billion tonnes, India almost two billion.
BMeasured World posted the ranking on X from US government data. The US and Europe don't even make the top five.
BThat's the uncomfortable truth behind the climate fight. New emissions are coming from places that want to grow.
BTheWatcher posted on X about new global taxes on fossil fuels. That part isn't in coverage.
BGood. A global tax on energy producers would just raise prices for normal people.
BThe actual proposals are about climate finance—who pays for the transition, not a tax.
BFine, but the data still says China and India are the problem now.
BPer person, the United States is still far above both. That's the part the ranking hides.
BOh, come on. China's population is four times bigger. Of course total emissions are higher.
BExactly. Comparing totals without history is misleading.
BHistory doesn't reduce a tonne of carbon emitted now.
BBut the countries that built their grids on coal now want developing countries to skip coal entirely.
BBecause that's the only way the planet survives. You can't give everyone a coal pass.
BThen pay for it. You can't lecture India while refusing to fund its transition.
BWe already send billions overseas. Where does it go?
BAdaptation money. Flood barriers, drought-resistant crops. Not luxury handouts.
BAnd that will stop China's eight billion tonnes?
BChina is installing more solar and wind than any country. The transition is happening.
BAnd still burning more coal every year. That's the problem.
BThey also need base load power to lift people out of poverty.
BSo they get to use coal while we shut ours down? That's the double standard.
BThe double standard is ours. We used coal for a century and now call it dirty.
BBecause now we know what it does. Knowledge changes responsibility.
BDoes it change ability to pay? India's per capita income is a fraction of ours.
BThen let the historical emitters fund it. That's my point.
BAnd the finance pot is still nowhere near what was promised.
BMaybe because the finance talks are a shakedown.
BA shakedown? Climate change is already displacing people.
BThen fix the dams and irrigation, not some global tax.
BBut the tax wasn't real. You're arguing with a fake.
BI conceded that. I'm arguing with sending money without conditions.
BConditions set by whom? The same countries that caused the mess?
BThat's realpolitik. Donors get a say.
BFine, but don't call it climate justice. Call it leverage.
BI can live with that.
BMeanwhile, a different kind of shock in Europe. Poland's prime minister is calling the Krakow shooting an act of terrorism.
BNathan Elledge's briefing on X paired it with other claims. The confirmed facts are the deadly attack and the prime minister's words.
BThat's serious enough. What else was in that briefing?
BUnverified claims about EU flags at half-mast and other leaders. Those weren't in the sources I saw.
BThat's how bad information spreads—real tragedy wrapped in guesswork.
BAnd it matters here because if it's terrorism, Poland's entire security posture changes.
BWhich is why we keep it clean. The confirmed story: a deadly attack, a prime minister calling it terrorism.
BAnd the rest of Europe is watching, because terrorism in one EU country crosses borders.
BThat's the thread we'll keep pulling, but without the unsourced extras.