The COP31 climate summit opened on Monday, November 8, 2026, in Antalya, Turkey, with delegates from nearly 200 nations gathering for two weeks of talks that run through November 20. Turkey is hosting the summit and leading its action agenda, while Australia is running the formal negotiations under a rare shared arrangement. The United States is not sending an official delegation after its formal withdrawal from the Paris Agreement at the start of the year. The headline goal on the table is electrification: raising the share of electricity in world energy use to 35 percent by 2035, up from about 23 percent today.
Table of Contents
| Detail | Fact |
|---|---|
| Event | COP31, the 31st Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change |
| Location | Antalya, Turkey |
| Dates | November 8 to November 20, 2026 |
| Nations taking part | Nearly 200 |
| Host President | Murat Kurum of Turkey |
| President of Negotiations | Chris Bowen of Australia |
| Headline goal | Electricity to reach 35 percent of final energy use by 2035, up from 23 percent |
| United States | No official delegation after Paris Agreement withdrawal |
| Leaders Summit | Wednesday to Thursday of the opening week |
What COP31 Is and Why It Matters Now
COP stands for the Conference of the Parties, the yearly climate meeting held under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It is the highest level forum where nearly every country in the world negotiates together on how to cut greenhouse gas emissions, pay for climate damage, and help vulnerable nations adapt to a warming planet. This is the 31st edition, and it is being held in Antalya, a resort city on the Mediterranean coast of southern Turkey.
The timing is hard. A United Nations report released just before the summit warned that the world is all but certain to pass the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. Adaptation finance, the money meant to help countries cope with floods, droughts, and rising seas, still falls far short of what is needed. Against that backdrop, the question hanging over Antalya is simple: can nearly 200 countries still agree on anything meaningful when geopolitics and energy security are pulling them in different directions?
The summit is also the first to take place since the United States formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement at the start of 2026. That absence changes the room. The United States has long been one of the largest emitters and one of the biggest sources of climate finance, and its empty chair leaves a gap that other nations, including China, the European Union, and Brazil, are now expected to fill in different ways.
The Unusual Two President Setup
COP31 has an unusual structure at the top. Turkey and Australia both wanted to host this year, and the compromise they reached splits the job in two. Turkey holds the COP31 host Presidency and leads the global climate action agenda, the part of the summit that focuses on real world projects, business pledges, and voluntary targets. Australia has exclusive authority over the political negotiations, the formal talks where countries argue over the wording of decisions and the rules that bind them.
Turkey’s COP31 President is Murat Kurum, and Australia’s Minister Chris Bowen serves as President of Negotiations. The arrangement is rare in the history of the climate talks, and it will be watched closely as a test of whether a split presidency can keep a summit of this size moving. The World Meteorological Organisation is supporting the proceedings with scientific updates, including the launch of its flagship State of Climate Update 2026 on the opening day.
COP31 Climate Summit Goal: Electrification and the 35 by 35 Pledge
Turkey has made electrification the centerpiece of COP31. The presidency has proposed a voluntary goal known as 35 by 35: increase the share of electricity in global final energy consumption to 35 percent by 2035, up from about 23 percent today. The idea is that more of the world runs on electricity, from cars and heating to factories, and that the electricity itself comes increasingly from clean sources such as solar, wind, and hydro power.
The focus on electrification is a deliberate choice. Rather than asking countries to sign up to another round of hard emissions targets, the Turkish presidency is pushing a goal that most nations can agree on in principle, since cheaper and more abundant electricity is something every economy wants. The catch, as climate experts have pointed out, is that electrification only cuts planet warming emissions if the power is low carbon.
That is why the finance debate matters as much as the headline goal. Poorer nations say they need far more money and technology to build clean grids. The UN review of national climate plans released on October 27 showed that 154 countries have now lodged 2035 targets with the UN, covering about 71 percent of global emissions. The question in Antalya is whether the money and the rules will follow the targets.
The same month has already brought a reminder of how fast extreme weather can arrive, with an earliest polar vortex disruption on record pushing cold air into parts of the Northern Hemisphere weeks ahead of schedule. For negotiators, that kind of event is the lived reality behind the numbers in their briefing papers.
The United States Is Staying Away
For the first time since its formal withdrawal earlier this year, the United States will not send an official delegation to the climate summit. The withdrawal from the Paris Agreement was completed at the start of 2026, and the empty American chair is one of the most talked about facts of this COP. Some delegates worry it leaves a leadership vacuum. Others argue it frees the remaining countries to move faster without waiting for Washington.
There are also signs of fresh optimism. Recent elections in the United States and Brazil have given climate advocates some hope, with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who saw off a climate skeptic opponent in his country’s poll last month, traveling to Antalya for part of the talks. He is among a modest group of world leaders attending, along with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The absence of the United States also sharpens the economic questions at the summit. American tariffs and trade tensions are already rattling markets, and a global stocks slide in recent days showed how quickly fears about growth and technology spending can spread across borders. Climate finance depends on healthy economies, and a shaky global economy makes every pledge harder to keep.
What the Science Says Before the Talks Begin
The science arriving with the delegates is sobering. The United Nations Environment Programme released its 2026 Adaptation Gap Report, titled Ready? Not, in the run up to the summit. It warns that with global warming set to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius, adaptation finance falls far short of needs, implementation is held back by institutional barriers, and losses and damages are mounting in the countries least able to bear them.
The World Meteorological Organisation’s State of Climate Update 2026, launched on the opening day, gives the latest official picture of climate indicators and impacts around the world. Together, the two reports set a hard test for the summit: the gap between what science says is needed and what countries are actually doing is still wide.
There is some progress to point to. The UN review found that 154 countries have now lodged 2035 targets, covering about 71 percent of global emissions. That is a real step forward from a few years ago. But targets on paper are not the same as power plants, grids, and flood defenses on the ground, and the summit will be judged on whether the next two weeks close any of that gap.
What to Watch in the Next Two Weeks
The Leaders Summit, scheduled for Wednesday to Thursday of the opening week, will be the first big test of the mood in Antalya. With only a modest group of heads of state attending, the speeches will matter less than the private meetings, where the real bargaining over finance and electrification will take place.
Outside the conference halls, the human cost of the energy transition is already visible. In the Turkish village of Ikizkoy, near the Akbelen forest in Mugla province, villagers living beside a lignite coal mine are demanding that world leaders leave the venue and see for themselves the devastation decades of coal extraction have caused. Local official Nejla Isik is among those calling on leaders to visit, and the protest is a reminder that the shift to cleaner energy has real consequences for the communities that depend on the old fuels.
The talks also open against a tense regional backdrop in the Gulf, where shipping and naval friction have been in the news, including the UAE rescue of 22 crew from a burning cargo ship in the Gulf of Oman earlier today. Climate talks do not happen in a vacuum, and the security and energy worries of the region will be present in the corridors even when they are not on the formal agenda.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is COP31?
COP31 is the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the yearly global climate summit. It is being held in Antalya, Turkey, from November 8 to November 20, 2026, with nearly 200 nations taking part in talks on clean energy, climate finance, and adaptation.
Why is the United States not at COP31?
The United States formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement at the start of 2026, and it is not sending an official delegation to this summit. It is the first COP since the withdrawal, and the absence leaves a leadership gap that other major economies are expected to help fill.
What is the 35 by 35 electrification goal?
The COP31 presidency has proposed raising the share of electricity in global final energy use to 35 percent by 2035, up from about 23 percent today. The aim is to power more of the economy with electricity and to make that electricity cleaner, though experts note the goal only helps the climate if the power comes from low carbon sources.
When does COP31 end and what happens next?
The summit runs through November 20, 2026. After it closes, attention turns to whether countries deliver on the finance and electrification pledges made in Antalya, and to the next Global Stocktake, the formal review of collective climate progress that is due to conclude at COP33 in 2028.
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Final Thoughts
COP31 opened in Antalya with a clear message and an unclear path. The science says the world is all but certain to pass 1.5 degrees of warming, the money to adapt is still far short of what is needed, and the largest historical emitter is not in the room. Yet nearly 200 nations still showed up, a shared electrification goal is on the table, and new leaders in Brazil and elsewhere are pushing for faster action. The next two weeks will show whether a summit without the United States can still move the world forward.
The answer will not come from the opening speeches. It will come from the finance figures and the final text agreed on November 20.
