COP31: world leaders to gather in Turkiye as climate action faces renewed scrutiny

The 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP31) will begin in Antalya, Turkiye, on Monday, November 9, bringing together representatives from nearly 200 countries to discuss climate action, funding and the transition to cleaner energy.

The two-week summit will run until November 20.

It comes as rising global temperatures, extreme weather events and growing climate risks increase pressure on governments to turn climate commitments into concrete action.

Hosted by Turkiye, COP31 will bring together world leaders, policymakers, scientists and climate experts. A separate World Leaders' Summit is scheduled for November 11 and 12.

COP, or Conference of the Parties, is the annual meeting held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Countries use the platform to negotiate collective responses to climate change.

The 2015 Paris Agreement, adopted at COP21, set the goal of limiting global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius while pursuing efforts to keep the rise within 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

COP31 is expected to focus on implementing existing commitments, particularly through increased climate finance, faster adoption of clean energy and support for countries vulnerable to climate impacts.

The previous summit, COP30, was held in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025. It concluded with the adoption of the Belém Package, which called for tripling adaptation finance by 2035 to help developing countries address climate impacts.

Countries also agreed to establish a mechanism to support workers and communities during the transition to cleaner energy.

However, the summit failed to include a roadmap for moving away from fossil fuels, despite calls from more than 80 countries.

COP31 will face pressure to address unresolved issues surrounding fossil fuels, emissions reductions, and climate finance.