Former US Vice President Al Gore has criticised Saudi Arabia’s influence over international climate negotiations, arguing that individual countries should not have the power to obstruct global efforts. He described the situation as “literally insane” and urged sweeping changes to the United Nations climate negotiation process.
Speaking on the sidelines of the COP31 summit in Antalya, Turkey, Gore called for replacing the existing consensus-based decision-making system. Instead, he proposed introducing a supermajority model to prevent individual nations from blocking climate agreements supported by most countries.
Saudi Arabia and other fossil fuel-producing nations, including Russia and India, have faced accusations of obstructing stronger international commitments. Their opposition has particularly affected discussions surrounding oil, gas and coal.
“There’s growing support for moving away from a so-called consensus model,” Gore said Thursday in Antalya.
“The idea that one individual country like Saudi Arabia can block anything the entire world wants to do is literally insane. We are facing the most serious threat to the future of humanity that we have ever faced,” he said.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate also accused Saudi Arabia of attempting to “sabotage” the work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The panel provides scientific assessments of climate change for governments worldwide.
Meanwhile, the Saudi government had not immediately responded to the request for comment.
Fossil Fuel Disagreements Continue to Divide Climate Talks
Nearly 200 countries agreed to transition away from fossil fuels at the COP28 conference in Dubai in 2023. The agreement marked a significant development after prolonged resistance from major oil-producing nations.
However, international progress has faced further political challenges. Since Donald Trump returned to the US presidency in 2025, Washington has withdrawn from the Paris Agreement and skipped UN climate negotiations.
Trump’s administration has also promoted increased domestic oil production, creating uncertainty around America’s international climate commitments.
“The change in the approach that Donald Trump has taken does embolden the large polluters around the world,” Gore said.
Last year’s COP30 summit in Brazil ended without explicitly mentioning fossil fuels in its final agreement. Saudi Arabia, Russia and India faced criticism over their positions during the negotiations.
At COP31, Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman and Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodriguez defended their countries’ right to develop their oil industries.
Despite the absence of explicit fossil fuel transition language in subsequent COP decisions, Gore argued that the existing commitment remains valid.
“it hasn’t been removed either”, Gore said.
“It is a firm part of the set of agreements that every nation in the world has signed on to. So, this will continue and I’m hopeful there will be a growing recognition that the climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis,” he said.
Turkey Promotes Electrification as Climate Solution
As host of COP31, Turkey is promoting a voluntary initiative to accelerate electrification across transportation, buildings and industrial sectors.
The proposal aims to encourage wider electricity use across major areas of economic activity. However, critics argue that it does not clearly require countries to use clean energy.
This leaves open the possibility of generating electricity through fossil fuels, potentially limiting the initiative’s environmental benefits.
Gore welcomed Turkey’s proposal but stressed the importance of connecting electrification with cleaner energy sources.
He said the initiative should be “coupled with an insistence that clean energy be used as much as possible in reaching that goal.”
His Climate TRACE initiative also presented new findings during COP31. The initiative uses satellite imagery and artificial intelligence to monitor greenhouse gas emissions.
Its latest analysis suggested that combining electrification targets with cleaner electricity grids could double emissions reductions.
US Absence at COP31 Creates Mixed Outlook
Despite Washington’s absence from COP31 and the rollback of American climate policies, Gore expressed optimism about future political developments.
He pointed to the Democrats’ major defeat of Trump’s Republican Party in last week’s midterm elections. According to Gore, the political outcome could create pressure for changes in US climate policy.
Although Trump will remain president for another two years, Gore predicted “significant improvements” in certain environmental measures.
He specifically highlighted the possibility of restoring tax credits for electric vehicles, which could encourage wider adoption of cleaner transportation.
“There are a number of measures that will be so popular with the public that, especially in the wake of this election, he will have a lot of pressure on him to agree to some of these measures,” he said.
A congressional delegation of Democrats is expected to attend COP31 over the weekend. However, Gore questioned how much influence the delegation could exercise without official US government participation.
He described the American government’s absence as a complicated development for international negotiations.
“I do believe that it’s a mixed blessing that some of the individuals in the Trump administration are not here able to interfere personally in the negotiations,” Gore said.
“But it’s bad enough that they have tried to block climate action at every single turn,” he added.
The disagreements at COP31 highlight the continuing challenges facing international climate negotiations. Meanwhile, Gore’s criticism has renewed questions about whether the UN’s consensus-based system can deliver stronger commitments when individual countries oppose collective action.
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