The internal document, which was seen by Reuters, was prepared by the upcoming Irish presidency of the 27-nation European Union and spells out the strategy the EU should take for the United Nations’ COP31 climate summit in Turkey

International News via Reuters:

The EU wants to target fewer, clearer goals at the world’s annual climate summit in November, building alliances in advance to avoid a repeat of last year’s bruising talks where the bloc struggled to advance its agenda, a document showed on Monday.

The internal document, which was seen by Reuters, was prepared by the upcoming Irish presidency of the 27-nation European Union and spells out the strategy the EU should take for the United Nations’ COP31 climate summit in Turkey.

The EU’s negotiating mandate should be “shorter, sharper and more strategic” than in previous years, the document said. 

“We should say fewer things, more clearly – and stand firmly behind them,” it said.

The previous global climate conference, COP30, in Brazil, ended without deals on EU priorities to accelerate cuts to planet-heating emissions and reduce fossil fuel use.

“Europe should continue to stand firmly for ambitious climate action and for the integrity of the multilateral process. But ambition alone is not a strategy,” the document said.

While discussions of a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels and plans to increase climate funding dominated the talks in Brazil last year, the 15-page EU negotiating mandate that its member countries had agreed ahead of the summit did not include positions on those issues. 

Some diplomats said the EU’s failure to push through its agenda was in part due to a lack of preparation.

‘DEPLOYING STRATEGICALLY’ AS IRAN WAR LOOMS OVER SUMMIT

The challenge to agree on ambitious climate action at this year’s COP comes as countries around the world struggle to respond to the Iran war’s disruption of energy supplies, with some expanding renewable energy while others burn more coal.

Ireland will also focus on early outreach by EU member governments to other countries, building cooperation with both allies and opponents in the talks, the document said.

This will involve dividing up negotiating responsibilities among member states’ ministers to ensure they are “deployed strategically both in the lead-up to and during COP31 itself.”

“Political ownership matters. Ministers should not arrive at COP only to react to events as they unfold,” the document said.

Asked about the document, a spokesperson for Ireland’s climate ministry told Reuters the country was taking a streamlined approach to preparing for COP, and “concentrating our efforts where we can make the greatest contribution and on key priorities”.

“Climate diplomacy is not just about two weeks at a COP; it is a year-round process of engagement, relationship-building and delivery,” the spokesperson said.

Reporting by Kate Abnett; additional reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Jan Strupczewski and Joe Bavier

The European Union released nearly €2.8 billion ($3.2 billion) to Ukraine on Monday as part of ongoing efforts to finance Ukraine as it deals with its war with Russia, the European Commission said

International News via Reuters:

The European Union released nearly €2.8 billion ($3.2 billion) to Ukraine on Monday as part of ongoing efforts to finance Ukraine as it deals with its war with Russia, the European Commission said.

“Ukraine’s speed and commitment to delivering meaningful reforms has merited this payment, and we are now also paving the way for further progress in the accession negotiations,” Marta Kos, European Commissioner for Enlargement, said in a statement.

($1 = 0.8687 euros)

Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Aidan Lewis

Leo, who has adopted a more forceful tone recently against the direction of global leadership, also firmly repeated his opposition to increased European military spending, urging politicians instead to end the wars ravaging the globe and help migrants

International News via Reuters:

Pope Leo told Spain’s parliament that escalating conflict, deepening polarization and widespread disregard for human rights had pushed the world into a profound crisis, in one of his most expansive political addresses yet on Monday.

Leo, who has adopted a more forceful tone recently against the direction of global leadership, also firmly repeated his opposition to increased European military spending, urging politicians instead to end the wars ravaging the globe and help migrants.

“The world is undergoing a profound spiritual and cultural crisis, which is manifested in multiple forms of violence, polarization, and mutual distrust,” the pope said in the address, which came hours after Israel and Iran renewed their attacks on one another in the most serious test of a two-month ceasefire.

“Weapons can impose a temporary silence; but they can never build an authentic and lasting peace,” he said.

MIGRATION CHALLENGING WORLD’S ‘ETHICAL FOUNDATION’ 

Leo’s speech, which was delivered in Spanish and was received with a seven-minute standing ovation by lawmakers, was a rare papal address to a national legislature and the first by a pope to Spain’s parliament. It is part of a week-long visit to the country in which the pontiff has met with migrants and the homeless, and called on national leaders to stop dividing their electorates.

The pope, whose Spain tour will culminate with the pontiff meeting migrants in the Canary Islands who braved dangerous Atlantic waters to enter Europe, said a lack of help for the world’s migrants was challenging “the ethical foundation of the international order”.

He said countries must look for solutions that go beyond “the mere management of flows” and should address the causes that force people to leave their countries of origin, including war, poverty and climate change.

The pope told parliament that “the moral greatness of a nation is manifested above all in its capacity to accompany, protect, and love those lives that pass through the greatest fragility”.

More than 3,000 people died in 2025 trying to reach the Canary Islands, off the western coast of Africa, often in makeshift dinghies, according to NGO ​Caminando Fronteras.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s government has opened a mass amnesty programme, allowing an estimated 500,000 immigrants to apply for legal status.

POPE CALLS EUROPEAN REARMAMENT ‘TROUBLING’

Leo, who issued a fervent manifesto last month urging global governments to slow down the development of AI systems, called on Monday for “rigorous ethical vigilance” over how AI was used in warfare.

He said that rising European military spending, which grew ‌last year by the highest amount since the end of the Cold War amid pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, was “troubling.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has refused to meet Trump’s demands for NATO member countries to increase defence spending to 5% of GDP, although the expenditure has tripled since he took office in 2018, rising from around €10 billion ($11.5 billion) to more than €34 billion.

The pope last month called European rearmament a betrayal of diplomacy.

Leo also offered some of his most in-depth remarks yet addressing the balance in the relationship between Church and state. He urged protection of religious freedom, saying that faith “cannot be relegated to silence as though it were irrelevant to public life”.

The pope likewise defended the privacy of the Catholic seal of confession, which obliges a priest not to reveal any information given to him by penitents.

Several countries, including France, have debated whether to compel priests to report sexual abuse disclosed in confessions, following scandals that have shaken the Church internationally.

Protecting the seal, Leo said, preserves “a sacred space of inner freedom, where the believer can open his or her soul before God”.

A ​2023 report ⁠by Spain’s human rights ombudsman estimated hundreds ​of thousands of victims ​of ⁠clerical abuse there over decades. 

In a meeting with Catholic bishops on Monday after his speech in parliament, Leo said they must listen to survivors of abuse and offer them reparations.

The Vatican has said the pope would meet with a group of victims during the visit, but has yet to offer further details.

($1 = 0.8690 euros)

Reporting by Joshua McElwee; editing by Charlie Devereux and Alex Richardson