Climate & Environment
COP31 Begins in Turkey Amid Climate Urgency and Geopolitical Tensions
By AFP
The United Nations climate conference, COP31, opened on Monday, November 9, 2026, in Antalya, Turkey. The event is set to host more than 100,000 participants at a large expo centre on the Mediterranean coast. Delegates from almost 200 countries are expected to negotiate how to speed up the energy transition and secure funding for developing nations facing a worsening climate emergency.
Observers say significant breakthroughs are unlikely as countries contend with an oil‑price shock and geopolitical tensions linked to the United States’ war with Iran and Russia’s conflict in Ukraine. This year’s climate crisis has already caused severe heatwaves in Europe, wildfires in Indonesia, and a glacier collapse that triggered floods in Nepal. An exceptionally strong El Niño is forecast to peak later in the year, potentially making 2026 or 2027 the hottest on record. In September, the United Nations warned that global temperatures were on track to exceed 1.5 °C above pre‑industrial levels, breaching the Paris Agreement’s most ambitious threshold.
Rachel Cleetus, climate programme director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said, “Global leaders must pull us back from the brink and commit to rapidly transitioning away from fossil fuels and expanding renewable energy, an imperative reinforced by the current energy affordability crisis.”
Turkey is presiding over COP31, with Australia leading negotiations under an arrangement that resolved a dispute over the host country. The summit is branded as the “implementation COP,” aiming to turn pledges into concrete action after years of announcements. Turkey promotes an “action agenda” that encourages non‑binding pledges on topics such as artificial intelligence and waste management. A key element is an “electrification” drive to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from about 20 % today to 35 % by 2035. The EU has called for “clean” electrification, a term that could spark debate over the role of fossil fuels in the Turkish proposal.
Countries that committed to phasing out fossil fuels at COP28 in Dubai in 2023 have struggled to agree on how to implement that pledge. COP30 ended with a deal that made no explicit mention of fossil fuels after oil‑producing nations opposed the language. Brazil produced a voluntary roadmap with proposals for phasing out fossil fuels that each country can tailor to its circumstances.
Finance remains a contentious issue. The EU and other developed countries face pressure from developing nations to deliver the funds needed to adapt to climate impacts and recover from extreme weather disasters. A senior EU official warned that there would be “no political will” for extra funding pledges. African countries are pushing for the COP31 agenda to include discussions on tripling adaptation finance, which would help poorer nations pay for measures such as building sea walls or planting drought‑resistant crops.
The United States, which withdrew from the Paris Agreement under President Donald Trump, has not sent officials to COP31. A U.S. congressional delegation will attend Antalya, with Democrats celebrating the historic midterm election win last week.
Despite the challenges, Azerbaijan’s chief negotiator Yalchin Rafiyev told AFP that the mood is very good. He said, “Countries need to turn this positive spirit of being in a favourable environment into concrete, successful results.”