The COP31 climate summit opened on 9 November in Antalya, Türkiye, and runs until 20 November. Türkiye holds the presidency and hosts the talks, while Australia steers the negotiations, an arrangement Euronews calls unprecedented after both countries bid to host.
Türkiye is proposing a “35-by-35” goal: raise electricity’s share of global energy demand from about 20% to 35% by 2035. Climate Action Tracker says current policies deliver only 28%. Other agenda items include methane cuts under the Global Methane Pledge (over 150 countries, 30% below 2020 levels by 2030), the start of the second Global Stocktake, and finance for adaptation and loss and damage. The transition away from fossil fuels is not on the formal agenda.
The US has no official delegation after Trump withdrew from the Paris Agreement, though members of Congress and businesses will attend. Critics note that the consensus rule lets oil and gas producers weaken commitments, and Turkish NGOs say protest space is shrinking. COP President-Designate Murat Kurum said: “We will not lower our ambition.”