Nearly 200 countries are set to gather in Türkiye on Nov. 9 for COP31, with the Antalya summit offering a fresh opportunity to strengthen global climate cooperation and turn previous commitments into concrete action, despite mounting geopolitical and financial challenges.
More than 100,000 people are expected at the U.N.’s two-week climate negotiations in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya.
Tougher action on fossil fuels, the main driver of climate change, appears unlikely and budget-strapped developed countries are reluctant to commit more money to help developing nations cope with climate impacts.
An energy crisis and cost-of-living pressures, fueled by the war in the Middle East, are also looming over the gathering.
Türkiye is presiding over COP31, with Australia leading negotiations under an unusual arrangement that settled a dispute over who would host the conference.
COP31 President Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s environment minister, said the conference would strive “to turn the commitments of past COPs into real results.”
Türkiye is promoting an “action agenda” alongside the formal negotiations that encourages countries to support non-binding pledges on issues from artificial intelligence to waste management.
Its centerpiece is an “electrification” drive to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from around 20 percent today to 35 percent by 2035.
“This year’s energy crisis has shocked us out of our complacency,” Kurum said. “Electrification is the answer. It protects communities from volatile global markets and cuts emissions.”
Türkiye and Australia also want electrification to appear in a “cover decision,” an overarching political statement negotiated by consensus and reflecting the main outcomes of the summit.
The European Union has called for “clean” electrification, a term that could spark debate over the role of fossil fuels in the Turkish initiative.
The talks follow deadly floods in Nepal, searing heatwaves in Europe and major wildfires in Indonesia.
An exceptionally strong El Nino climate phenomenon is forecast to peak later this year, adding to extreme weather and possibly helping to make 2026 or 2027 the hottest year on record.
The outlook is increasingly bleak: the United Nations warned in September that global temperatures were on course to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, breaching the most ambitious threshold set by the Paris Agreement.
