Turkey's COP31 president-designate Murat Kurum, speaking at a Pacific pre-COP summit in Fiji, called on wealthy countries to spend far more than the 5% of GDP pledged for NATO defence on addressing the climate crisis. He argued that 'the climate issue is the security issue', though he hedged on repeating the previous agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.
Read the full story at The GuardianThis story is directly usable in essays on whether wealthy nations bear greater responsibility for climate action, and whether economic or security priorities consistently override environmental ones. The tension between defence spending commitments and climate finance illustrates the difficulty of persuading governments to sacrifice other priorities for environmental goals. Students can also use Kurum's hedging on fossil fuel language to argue that even climate summit hosts are reluctant to take the steps needed, showing the limits of international cooperation.