Overview
- Delegates from nearly 200 countries gathered in Antalya, Turkey, for COP31 on Monday, Nov. 9, 2026, to begin two weeks of talks focused on delivering action rather than new targets.
- Turkey and Australia are promoting a nonbinding goal to raise electricity’s share of final energy use to about 35 percent by 2035 as the conference’s centrepiece pledge.
- The United States is not taking part in formal negotiations after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Paris framework, though a Democratic congressional delegation is attending and cannot negotiate for the U.S.
- Developing countries are pressing for far more adaptation finance, with UN estimates that roughly $305 billion a year will be needed by 2035 while current public funding is a fraction of that amount.
- War-driven fuel shocks, Russia’s conflict with Ukraine, and surging power demand from AI are raising short-term fossil fuel use and complicating efforts to ensure that new electricity is supplied from low‑carbon sources.