Overview
- The 31st UN Climate Conference formally opened in Antalya on Monday, November 9, 2026, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres urging immediate, stronger cuts in emissions and faster action for vulnerable states.
- Turkey presented a headline proposal called '35 by 35' to raise the share of electricity in final energy use from about 20 percent to 35 percent by 2035, and Germany has signalled formal support while urging that the extra power must come from renewables.
- For the first time the COP is jointly led by the host Turkey and Australia, a split presidency that observers say could both broker compromise and complicate progress because both countries still rely heavily on fossil-fuel industries.
- Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz did not attend the opening and the German team is led by Environment Minister Carsten Schneider, a move critics say weakens German credibility after public climate finance fell short of pledges from about €6 billion to roughly €4.7 billion.
- Delegates enter high-stakes negotiations with UN projections pointing to roughly 2.8°C of warming under current policies, so outcomes on concrete fossil-fuel exit plans, clear finance timelines and stronger national measures will determine whether COP31 moves the world off its dangerous path.