COP31 Opens in Antalya With Call to Turn Climate Promises Into Action
The UN climate summit opened in Antalya, Türkiye, on Monday, with leaders pressing countries to close the gap between climate pledges and results as talks run through November 20.
The COP31 climate summit opened in Antalya, Türkiye, on Monday, with the conference president calling on countries to turn climate promises into practical action over two weeks of talks that run through November 20.
Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s environment minister and COP31 president, told delegates the meeting would be an “Implementation COP” aimed at closing the gap between pledges made in negotiating rooms and results in people’s lives. He said the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels “remains our guide.”
Electrification and finance at the center
The presidency is pushing a “35-by-35” pledge to raise electricity to 35 percent of final energy use by 2035, up from 23 percent today, through renewable energy, stronger grids, storage and clean transport. Kurum also pointed to the climate finance goal agreed in Baku: at least $300 billion a year for developing countries by 2035, with finance from all sources rising to at least $1.3 trillion a year.
UN climate chief Simon Stiell told the opening session that renewable energy saved $265 billion in the first half of this year alone, while “fossil fuel cost chaos” had hit households and spread inflation. The World Meteorological Organization said in an update released on the opening day that the past 12 years have each been the warmest on record, with the past four years the warmest four.
A transitional summit with a world leaders meeting
COP31 is being run in an unusual shared arrangement: Türkiye holds the presidency and hosts the meeting, while Australia’s climate minister, Chris Bowen, leads the formal negotiations as president of negotiations. A world leaders’ summit is set for November 11 and 12, and about 60,000 people are expected over the two weeks. French President Emmanuel Macron will not attend, according to Le Monde. Analysts expect no landmark deal from the meeting, which follows COP30 in Brazil last year and comes before the next global stocktake in 2028. The United States is not a party to the talks, having left the UN climate convention in January.
The first day focused on food, agriculture and health. The presidency said the current Super El Niño could push nearly 50 million more people into acute hunger, and it launched a health initiative with the World Health Organization to help countries prepare health systems for climate risks.
Reporting based on coverage by the COP31 Presidency and Le Monde.
