COP31 is the 31st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the annual United Nations climate conference. It takes place in Antalya, Türkiye, from 9 to 20 November 2026. COPs bring together almost every country on Earth, along with business leaders, scientists, young people, Indigenous Peoples and civil society, in the UN’s only multilateral decision-making forum on climate change.

This year’s conference is shared between two countries. Türkiye is hosting the conference, with Murat Kurum nominated as President of COP31 in Antalya, while Chris Bowen of Australia will be President of Negotiations. Brazil hosted COP30 in Belém in 2025.

What is on the agenda at COP31?

As with COP30, the focus is on implementation: turning existing climate commitments into concrete action rather than negotiating a new set of pledges. The main issues on the table are cutting emissions, climate finance, and adaptation and resilience. Negotiations will also consider how to implement the climate finance goal agreed at COP29, and the COP31 presidency has published a draft pledge to raise the share of global energy demand met by electricity from about 23% now to 35% by 2035.

Why does COP31 matter?

The UN says COP is where the world comes together to agree action on the climate crisis, such as limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius, helping vulnerable communities adapt to the effects of climate change, and achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Recent UN reports found governments are increasingly turning Paris Agreement commitments into action, but overall progress remains substantially insufficient. What is agreed in Antalya will be judged less on new promises than on whether existing ones are delivered.